ULOGA NOGOMETA U IZGRADNJI I PROMOCIJI NACIONALNOGA I POLITIČKOGA IDENTITETA HRVATA U BIH
THE ROLE OF FOOTBALL IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROMOTION OF THE NATIONAL AND POLITICAL IDENTITY OF CROATS IN BIH

Summary/Abstract: By supporting certain national teams or clubs, a sense of belonging to a specific community is created, and thus football contributes to the construction of collective identities. This paper explores how football participates in the promotion and construction of national identities, with a special focus on the national identity of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One theory posited in the paper is that the nation, comprising millions, seems much clearer when represented by eleven individuals with names and surnames, and that each individual, even in the role of a fan, becomes a symbol of their nation, or, more precisely, when the nation is represented by eleven individuals in confrontation with another nation. Furthermore, models of the formation of national identities are analyzed, especially the Central European model based on history, various myths, and symbols, and how football, through the symbolism it provides, plays a role in the promotion and construction of such national identities. Alongside examples from the world, we analyze this symbolism among Croats during the 20th century, through the founding of football clubs and events that accompanied them throughout the century, and then towards the end of the century, through various wartime events, examining how football clubs in BiH were founded and their contribution to communal unity and the promotion of the national identity of Croats in BiH. The paper presents the research results, where the aim was to explore the connection between football clubs and fans through national identity. In analyzing the construction of the national identity of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a case study, we highlight the contribution of football clubs HŠK Zrinjski Mostar and NK Široki Brijeg. We employ an analytical-deductive method, followed by methods of description and comparison based on collected data and conducted empirical research among fans of the two clubs.

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