On the Occasion of the Celebration of the Croatian Language Days

After the public’s dissatisfaction with the spelling solutions proposed in the Pravopis hrvatskosrpskoga književnog jezika (Eng. Orthography of the Serbo-Croatian Literary Language), the so-called Deklaracija o nazivu i položaju hrvatskoga književnog jezika (Eng. Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Literary Language) was published in 1967, which is now considered a watershed moment, not just in the linguistic context. The document was created and signed in the period between 11th and 17th March 1967, in Matica Hrvatska in Zagreb. Thirty years later, on 28th February 1997, the House of Representatives of the National Parliament of the Republic of Croatia passed the decision declaring the ‘Croatian Language Days’ – a commemorative week honouring the 1967 Declaration, the purpose of which is to promote, nurture and develop the culture and purity of the Croatian language in public use. This event aims to emphasize the importance of preserving the mother tongue with all its dialects, and to acquaint the public with the rich Croatian linguistic heritage. It is a known fact that the Croatian language has gone through turbulent developmental periods throughout history, but despite all difficulties, it has preserved its individuality and originality, and today it is freely written and spoken. Therefore, the paper provides an overview of the most relevant events that have marked the Croatian Language Days in the last five years in Zadar’s educational facilities, higher education institutions, institutions such as the Zadar branch of Matica Hrvatska, the Zadar City Library and the Scientific Library. The events will be presented chronologically, with lectures, discussions, round tables and forums, book presentations, workshops and quizzes that took place in the period between 2017 and 2022