Mehr als (nur) eine Schrift

Zwei- und Mehrschriftigkeit in Kroatien, Serbien und Bosnien-Herzegovina

Abstract

More than (just) one script:
Bi- and multiscriptality in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The use of more than one script in a speech community typically gives rise to the semiotization of scripts, i.e. to the association of the respective scripts with specific social and/or cultural values (e.g. Ivković 2015a; 2015b; Bunčić 2016). The present paper argues that script semiotization is a key notion for understanding the use of different scripts, as well as the often fierce debates accompanying this use, in the three Yugoslav successor states of Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bunčić’s (2016, 2019) model of biscriptality will serve as the theoretical framework for the description of the biscriptal situations attested in the respective countries. Although the semiotic values attached to the different scripts and scriptural varieties are rooted in the long-established writing traditions of the nationalities inhabiting this part of the Balkan Peninsula, the paper also shows that the current debate is heated by an often selective and biased interpretation of the history of the scripts.