Everyday Nationhood and the Border(scape): Slovenian Istria and Italian Media Consumption

Abstract

Thie article presents the intersection of everyday nationhood (Fox and Miller Idriss 2008a) and borderland dynamics through the lens of media consumption in Slovenian Istria, a region bordering Italy and Croatia. Drawing on Fox and Miller-Idriss's (2008) framework of everyday nationhood and borderscapes theory (Brambilla 2014; dell'Agnese and Amilhat Szary 2015; Krichker 2019), the study investigates the lived everyday social reality at the border, especially regarding the evocation of nation while engaging with transborder cultural flows. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining a telephone survey (N=715) with in-depth (life-history) interviews (N=30) conducted among the inhabitants of Slovenian Istria. Findings reveal a dual phenomenon: while respondents nationally predominantly identify as Slovenian, they simultaneously acknowledge the region's transcultural character in relation to the proximity of the Italian border and the cultural and social life across it. Italian media, particularly television, widely consumed especially, during the late 20th century, has shaped Istrians sensibilities, providing shared cultural references and interpretive communities among peers. The study demonstrates that media consumption serves as a mundane yet a significant practice through which borderland inhabitants enact, negotiate, and sometimes subvert nationalism's (puristic) frameworks. Despite recognising cultural similarities with Italians, respondents maintain distinct national self-identifications, revealing persistent 'mental borders' alongside lived transculturality. The article contributes to border studies by illustrating how everyday practices – in the case presented, particularly media consumption – reveal the fluidity and complexity of borders as lived spaces, challenging the naturalised equation of 'national territory' with 'national culture' while acknowledging the enduring salience of national frameworks in borderland identities.