Venetic theory

The Venetic theory (Slovene: venetska teorija) is a widely diffused autochthonist theory of the origin of Slovenes which denies the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps in the 6th century, claiming that proto-Slovenes (also regarded as the Veneti people by the proponents of this theory) have inhabited the region since ancient times. Although it has been rejected by scholars,[1][2][3] it has been an influential alternative explanation of the Slovenian ethnogenesis. During the 1980s and 1990s, it gained wide attention in Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia.

Background

The theory was advanced in the mid 1980s by a group of Slovenian authors, notably Jožko Šavli, Matej Bor and Ivan Tomažič. In a book published in 1984, the three authors proposed an alternative view on the ethnogenesis of the Slovene people: they rejected the notion that the Slovenes were descended of Slavs who settled the area in the 6th century, claiming that the ancestors of modern Slovenes were in fact a pre-Roman people they call Veneti (which would include the Adriatic Veneti, the Baltic Veneti, the Pannonians, the Noricans and some other peoples that traditional historiography identified either as Celts or Illyrians). According to the Venetic theory, the ancient Veneti spoke a proto-Slavic language from which modern Slovene and West Slavic languages emerged.

There were several similar antecedents to the Venetic theory. The priest Davorin Trstenjak (1817–1890) claimed that Slovenes were ancient indigenous inhabitants of Slovenia and that Slavs had ruled Europe, Africa, and Asia in antiquity. The lawyer Henrik Tuma (1858–1935) declared that Slovenes had been the first humans to settle Europe. The writer and journalist Franc Jeza (1916–1984) asserted that the Slovenes had Swedish origins.[4]:142

Premises

The Venetic theory is based on several different arguments. One is the traditional Germanic denomination of several Slavic peoples as Wends (Proto-Germanic *Wénethōz > German: Wenden, Winden); this tradition has remained in the archaic German name for the Sorbs (Wenden) and the Slovenes (Windischen or Winden). Some medieval chroniclers also equated ancient Veneti with Slavs. The second argument on which the theory is based are supposed Slavic (proto-Slovene) toponyms found throughout Central Europe and Northern Italy; these toponyms have been studied by Šavli, but his discoveries have been rejected by linguists and historians alike. The third argument is based on the ancient Venetic inscriptions found in North-Eastern Italy and in the Slovenian Littoral, which Bor interpreted as being Slavic. Bor's interpretations have also been completely rejected by scholars.

Reception

The Venetic theory created a great controversy in the Slovenian and Yugoslav public in the late 1980s. Several of the most prominent Slovenian historians, such as Bogo Grafenauer and Peter Štih, entered into open polemics with the creators of the theory. On the other hand, many prominent public figures publicly supported the claims advanced by the Venetic theory, among them the designer Oskar Kogoj, authors Zorko Simčič and Lucijan Vuga, and politician Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti. In the 1990s, the theory gained institutional support of the World Slovenian Congress, publishing much of the literature advocating the theory and organizing international symposiums. The theory has also gained support in some nationalist circles. However, the theory does not have widespread support in Slovenia and has been rejected by mainstream historiography.[4]:145

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rado Lencek. 1990. "The Linguistic Premises of Matej Bor's Slovene-Venetic Theory." Slovene Studies 12(1): 75-86;
  2. ↑ Tom Priestly. 1997. "Vandals, Veneti, Windischer: The Pitfalls of Amateur Historical Linguistics." Slovene Studies 12(1/2): 3-41
  3. ↑ Tom Priestly. 2001. "Vandali, Veneti, Vindišarji: pasti amaterske historične lingvistike." Slavistična revija 49:275-303.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Skrbiš, Zlatko. 2008. "'The First Europeans' Fantasy of Slovenian Venetologists." In: Maruška Svašek (ed.), Postsocialism: Politics and Emotion in Central and Eastern Europe, pp. 138–158. New York: Berghahn Books.

References