Zelen kot Slovenija in rdeč kot ljubezen: Slovenski jezik med Slovenci v prostoru nekdanje Jugoslavije

The territory of the former Yugoslavia, both first and second, is unique with respect to the other envi- ronments to which Slovenes have emigrated. In the past, this was just the broader homeland and the Slovene one of the “indigenous” languages that were spoken within it. Slovenes living in the Yugoslav area outside Slovenia in the common Yugoslav spirit didn’t pay attention to their national identity, and thus also didn’t create a special attitude towards their language. It therefore slowly disappeared from their everyday lives. They realized the importance of maintaining the Slovene language as one of the fundamental signs of Slovenian identity just after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the declaration of independence of Slovenia in 1991. So they began to establish associations that nowadays play not just the role of facilitator, but also promoter of learning and using the Slovene language among members. This is becoming a challenge especially for young people, third and sometimes fourth generation emigrants, for whom it is mostly a foreign language, but they choose to learn it because it creates opportu- nities for them to study and work in Slovenia.Prostor nekdanje Jugoslavije, tako prve kot druge, je poseben glede na druga okolja, v katera so se izseljevali Slovenci. V preteklosti je bila to širša domovina in slovenščina eden od »domačih« jezikov, ki so se v njej govorili. Slovenci, živeči v jugoslovanskem prostoru zunaj meja Slovenije, zaradi skupnega jugoslovanskega duha niso posvečali pozornosti svoji nacionalni identiteti in tudi ne oblikovali posebnega odnosa do svojega jezika. Ta je zato polagoma izginjal iz njihovega vsakdana. Pomena ohranjanja slovenščine kot enega temeljnih znakov slovenstva so se zavedli šele po razpadu Jugoslavije in osamosvojitvi Slovenije leta 1991. Začeli so ustanavljati društva, ki igrajo vlogo njihovega povezovalca, a hkrati tudi spodbujevalca učenja in rabe slovenščine med člani. Ta postaja izziv zlasti mladim, predstavnikom tretje in ponekod že četrte generacije, ki jim je večinoma tuji jezik, a se je učijo, ker jim odpira možnosti za študij in delo v Sloveniji