Collective narrative: the narrative on Croatian language from academic to far-right discourses in Serbia

Abstract

The paper presents a case of under-represented narrative data which I call “collective narratives”. Drawing upon the concept of group-defining stories, it is argued that these narratives embody an antidote to the ’canonical’ Labovian paradigm as they construct collective subjectivity and causality. The paper explores how “collective narrative” is utilized in the discursive production of national identity by using a case study on Croatian language narrative which is perpetuated in some academic and far-right discourses in Serbia.