Academic and theoretical foundations of Slovenian emigration research were set at the University of Ljubljana in the 1930s. In the 1960s, more systematic, complex and multi-disciplinary Slovenian ...emigration research began to develop. As part of this process, Slovenian Migration Institute was established in 1982. The book was conceived upon the 30th anniversary of the Institute's affiliation to ZRC SAZU. Besides the Institute's researchers, some other scholars were invited to contribute chapters, especially members of younger generations who tend to test most up-to-date research approaches and treat their themes from new or under-researched angles.The central part of the book is thus thematically divided into three sections: “Selected aspects of Slovenian emigration research”, “Approaches, methods, categorisation”, and “Topical issues”. With such thematic structure and contents, the book is primarily aimed at touching upon some new questions concerning the present state and future development of Slovenian emigration research, taking into account contemporary international trends in migration studies as well as some specificities pertaining to Slovenian emigration.
Matija (Matt) Arko, known to family and friends as Hojer (Hoyer), was born in Slovenia. He emigrated to the States as a teenager, bringing alongside his love for music and the accordion. Music became ...an important part of his life and his Hoyer instrumental trio became extremely popular amongst Slovenians as well as emigrants of other nationalities. By mixing elements of Slovenian traditional music and various popular American genres of the time, he created the foundations of the polka music, the appeal of which crossed ethnic boundaries and later on achieved general popularity. Most of Matija Arko’s tunes have been recorded on gramophone records, which give us insight into his musical activities and the history of Slovenian music in the USA. Very little is known in his homeland about Matija Arko, known in the States as Matt Hoyer, and his musical endeavours. This publication (‘Music From Both Sides. Gramophone Records Made by Matija Arko and the Hoyer Trio’) aims to shed light on his activities and music.
Childhood in Slovenian emigration context is one of the least researched topics within Slovenian migration studies. The book ('Slovenian emigration in the light of children’s experience') tries to ...shed light upon it from the angles of different disciplines. Drawing on various definitions of children and categories of children in connection with migration, presented in the first chapter, the authors were mainly interested in those aspects that have been more or less neglected in the past. The second part of the book thus examines childhood in emigration context as it can be observed in the literary works and various websites created by Slovenian emigrants and their descendants. The third part of the book focuses on some specific migrant situations. The authors of these chapters have examined some intimate aspects of migrant experience of children of the so-called Alexandrian Women, children involved in forced migration during the Second World War, and children of diplomats. The fourth part of the book discusses the Yugoslav public care for the children in Slovenian diaspora between the World Wars, migration of children within the Yugoslav area, and the care for the children of Slovenian descent in Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of their learning and preservation of Slovenian language.
Immigration of Slovenians to other areas of the former Yugoslavia and their organization of ethnic societies there is a subject of research that became interesting for researchers in the field of ...international migration studies only after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. Compared to the research into Slovenian immigration to other countries and continents, this subject had been neglected for decades. The book ('Slovenian Immigration and Society Activities across the Former Yugoslavia: Historical Outline and the Present') is divided into three chronological parts: Historical Outline, Between the Past and the Present, and The Current Situation. In this book, the data and findings of previous research are revised, upgraded and completed by the results of the authors' own archival and statistical research as well as extensive fieldwork (questionnaire, half-structured interviews, meetings/roundtables, informal interviews, observation with participation), carried out in the framework of two research projects.
The closing of the “Golden Gate” to the promised land, the United States of America, after the First World War triggered a new wave of migration to the developed countries of Europe, primarily ...France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. This was the time of the first Yugoslavia, officially known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Part of these migrations included Slovene emigrants and their children. The interwar period was marked by a major economic crisis and intensified ideological and political pressures. The Catholic Church was a strong presence with regard to the emigrants. The book ('Slovene emigrants and Western Europe during the time of the first Yugoslavia') describes and analyses the emigrants’ everyday lives, the work of emigrant societies, the publication of emigrant newsletters, the work of emigrant teachers and priests, the work of consular offices, the organisation of contacts with the homeland, the organisation of children’s holiday camps, and the children’s pen-pal contacts all over the world. It discusses emigrant activities, the zeitgeist, creativity and contacts with the new environments. We also find numerous simple literary highlights in the emigrant contacts. Singing, acting and music were always and everywhere present among the emigrants, both during joyful celebrations and solemn occasions. The book gives us a deep insight into the world of the emigrants during the period between the two world wars.
Women migrants and their personal experiences have been in the focus of research scrutiny only for these past two decades. The attention has been paid to them since a general belief prevailed in the ...academic world that migration has always been a process characterized by distinct gender-related specifics. The life stories of migrant women present “lives in a context”, in regard to various social, economic and historical circumstances. They also indicate how these lives depended on cultural landscapes, personal attitudes, intimate calculations and independent decisions. The collected life stories show how the decisions in the life-long migration processes are not influenced only by economic and political factors, but mainly by family and friendship networks and bonds, and by intimate reasons and aspirations. It is impossible to understand migration phenomena without personal accounts of migrants along with subjective experiences of those who leave and those who stay. The use of auto/biographical sources has enriched the migration studies with new insights into the different roles, experiences, statuses and dealings of men and women in migration contexts. The book by seven authors – Mirjam Milharčič Hladnik, Jernej Mlekuž, Marjan Drnovšek, Katja Škrlj, Sanja Cukut, Urška Strle, Špela Kalčič – is a contribution to a better understanding of migration dynamics in Slovenia today and in the past.
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