A Guide to the Labyrinth of Knowledge. Leksykon tradycji chrowackich (Lexicon of Croatian traditions) by Joanna Rapacka as a Synthesis of Croatian Culture

Abstract

The topic of this paper concerns Leksykon tradycji chorwackich [Lexicon of Croatian Traditions] by Joanna Rapacka as a complex text, encyclopedically conceived, which synthetically defines Croatian culture, taking literature as the starting point in the offered interpretations. An attempt will be made to decipher the basic premises on which the author’s vision of Croatian culture is built and, more broadly, her critical approach to culture as a social phenomenon, formed spatially and temporally. The key features of Croatian specificity, as defined by Rapacka, will be discussed, including the relationship between regionalism and national culture (in diachronic and synchronic terms) and the ambivalences of Croatian proto-national and national ideologies. The application of terminology (eg. ideologueme, codifications / codifications) will also be considered, which in many ways influences Rapacka’s approaches to the analysis of cultural phenomena.