Hate-speech in Slovenia. Slovenian Racism, Sexism and Chauvinism

This paper is an analytical study and presentation of the Nightwatch column (Nočna kronika) that has been published weekly in the Slovenian Sunday paper Nedelo since the end of summer 1995. The author in the first place endeavors to present this phenomenon in the light of its chauvinist, macho and racist nature, and (possible as well as actual) the anti-political and extremist impact of the discourse communicated through this column. The ‘products’ of the Nightwatch column presented here are: foreigners, those from the south, Yugoslavia, Balkan creatures, beings with a half-roof over their heads, citizenship granted to foreigners, Bosnians, Muslims, Islam, refugees, sevdah, pedophiles, transvestites, girls, chicks, and women. Through the analysis of this rich material and particularly the characteristic ‘bar flies discourse’, the author exposes the inner workings of unprecedented dehumanization of those seen as “other” and different in Slovenia. He also proves that dreams about a racism-free Slovenia are the dreams of people who believe they are “innocent” and hence can indulge in comfortable pretense and ‘unknowingness’.