Naming Strategies and Neighboring Nations in the Croatian Media B.Kuna, D.

Kuna
The main focus of this article is the description and analysis of different naming strategies for the neighboring South Slavic nations who lived together for seventy years in their common country of Yugoslavia. This is a case of a conscious and deliberate name conversion, or a name modification of the neighboring nations Bosniaks, Serbs, Slovenians and Montenegrins - by different linguistic means. Our interpretation is oriented towards the structuring of such naming, the characteristics and features which in the Croatian media have been ascribed to the other nations, as well as the ways of legitimizing the ethnic intolerance of individuals and groups towards others. The underlying reasons for avoiding the mentioning of proper names are prejudices, stereotypes and the individuals own experiences. By ascribing different names to the other, various pragmatic effects are achieved, which reflect the authors attitudes and moods. These attitudes and moods are not neutral, but have a judgmental power in addition to their political and ideological impact. Key words: naming, stereotypes, referential strategy, perspectivization, modification