Kontroverse um das erste Wörterbuch der montenegrinischen Volks- und Literatursprache
Controversial First Dictionary of Montenegrin Language and Literature

Summary/Abstract: In April 2016 the Montenegrin Academy of Science and Arts published the first of 12 volumes comprising the first Encyclopedia of the Montenegrin language. Within a few weeks the,publication caused protests, particularly from political representatives of the Muslim/Bosniakand Albanian minorities, but also from the Faculty for the Montenegrin language and literaturein Cetinje. 112 intellectuals and public figures published an open letter with the demand towithdraw the book because of questionable definitions and poor quality.The minority representatives rejected some definitions concerning their identity as discriminatory.The relevant team of authors mostly came from the Philological Faculty in Nikšić, whichconsiders Montenegrin to be a variation of the Serbian language. They rejected the criticism asunfounded and based on intentional misunderstandings. Prime Minister Đukanović joined thecritics in Parliament at the end of July 2016 and soon after a resolution was adopted byParliament asking the Academy to withdraw the book and publish a corrected version for whichstate budget funds should be available. This was, however, rejected by the team leader Prof.Natalia Đjurišić-Bečanović. Meanwhile the President of the Academy had to resign. It is not yetknown what will happen with the book.This controversy shows that Montenegro is in many ways a deeply divided country. In particularthe situation of the Muslim minorities is far from being satisfying and they regard themselvesas being discriminated against despite all official rhetoric about interethnic harmony inMontenegro.

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