The main topic of this diploma thesis is the comparison of the peasant position or the public image of the peasant population in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia between 1963 and 1991, and in the Republic of Slovenia from 1991 onwards. In the diploma thesis I present the legal changes concerning the peasant population since 1945, focusing foremost on the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. I pay special attention to the 1980s when the country faced an internal crisis and the death of the president, which consequently influenced also the different perception of the peasant population. I also present the processes of deagrarization and to it connected urbanization, and a part of the thesis is dedicated to the question of how the newly formed independent Republic of Slovenia faced the formation of its own peasant politic. The chapter about stereotypes and prejudices analyses the stereotypical presentation of the peasant population, which one could come across during the analysis of the newspaper sources from the 1980s and from 2011 onwards. The research is based on the analysis of the newspaper material, existing literature and the analysis of a segment of popular culture – a played reality show.
I establish that peasants were worst presented immediately after the World War II, as the then authorities saw them as a class enemy. In the following decades this view improved, as the authorities saw peasants as co-workers. Despite all this, an increasingly bigger difference between city and village was being created, especially due to the process of deagrarization and industrialization. The connectedness between the peasant class and the urban working class was still being maintained, especially because many workers came from the countryside and were during the times of an uncertain future frequently dependent on the produce from the countryside. On the other hand, we can notice contempt and distancing of the city population from the peasants and countryside, which led to conflict relationships and formation of many prejudices. Some prejudices towards peasants can already be found in peasant stories from the 19th century, which on one hand celebrate the peasants as an important nation-building element, but on the other certain characteristics are already appearing, such as drinking, excessive borrowing of money, adultery and egoism. The continuity of these prejudices can be found in the 1980s, some of them have persisted until today.
In general I establish that the presentation of peasants in media has also changed during the time and is today in some ways much more different than in the middle of the 1980s. Today it is necessary to keep in mind the increasingly greater role of the media which contribute to the presentation of peasants in various ways, including through various popular shows, which can be seen from the analysed show.
|
