{"id":127392,"date":"2021-09-06T13:43:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T11:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/science-portal\/centers\/centre-for-research-on-cultural-identity-and-regional-heritage\/ciljevi\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:02:25","slug":"objectives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/science-portal\/centers\/centre-for-research-on-cultural-identity-and-regional-heritage\/objectives\/","title":{"rendered":"Objectives"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Centre for Research on Cultural Identity and Regional Heritage<\/strong><\/span> is a research platform and a meeting place where science, art and civil society intersect around topics related to the construction of cultural identities<\/strong><\/span> (national, ethnic, gender, religious, class, minority, labour, subcultural, disability as identity, and others).<\/p>\n

We place particular emphasis on the issue of the representation of identity<\/strong><\/span> in regional and local cultural heritage and history, as well as in contemporary culture, especially literature and language. Given the local history that has developed for centuries at the crossroads of different national and religious communities, one of the focuses of our research is the effects of intercultural communication<\/strong><\/span> in terms of the outcomes of the dynamic interaction of cultures, attempts at transmission and the necessary exchange of cultural values as mechanisms of identity formation. We seek to identify and define those heritage values<\/strong><\/span> that participate in the construction and reconstruction of identity and shape collective memory<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

In scientific, professional and educational terms, we examine and disseminate the roles of culture in the broadest sense of the word and its effects on the formation of identities<\/strong><\/span> (national, ethnic, gender, class, labour, minority, etc.), taking regional and local historical heritage into account. We consider cultural heritage to play a key role in the construction of every identity, while the concept of regional identity in the context of globalisation requires particular reflection and redefinition.<\/p>\n

We understand identity<\/strong><\/span> as an effect of language and discourse established through difference from others<\/strong><\/span>, whereby those others may be immediate subjects (parents, friends or teachers, for example) or figures mediated through the media (characters from literary works or comics, historical figures). In our methodological approach, we reject essentialism, in which identity is represented as natural, homogeneous and unproblematic, and instead adopt an anti-essentialist understanding that sees identity<\/strong><\/span> as heterogeneous, fluid and multiple,<\/strong><\/span> specific to a particular place and time; in other words, we recognise identity<\/strong><\/span> as an effect of linguistic and performative-discursive practices<\/strong><\/span>. Language contains information about power relations and privilege in society and at the same time possesses performative power through which it constructs identity. We will consider contemporary culture and art, as well as heritage culture and art, as possible media for the construction of identity. Accordingly, the issues addressed by the Centre include those related to the role of language, discourse, power and resistance, Others, social norms and conventions, stigma, stereotypes, and other related phenomena from a broad perspective.<\/p>\n

In the representation of subjects and events, historiography, literary theory and literature<\/strong><\/span> themselves rely on storytelling. Storytelling<\/strong><\/span> is communication and an important mechanism of identity formation in the sense that the \u201cstories\u201d that surround us every day \u2013 literary, cinematic or theatrical; historical, those displayed on roadside billboards, in comics or in photographs \u2013 represent our world while at the same time helping to constitute it. They provide a source for understanding our surroundings and creating experience, and they influence the formation of individual and collective identities<\/strong><\/span>. Stories can influence the construction of readers\u2019 identities, contribute to a better understanding of the Other, whether similar to or different from oneself, broaden awareness, enrich it with unfamiliar information, indirectly provide experiences, possess empathic potential and activate emotions in reception, and influence and potentially encourage prosocial action.<\/p>\n

Because they are changeable and unstable, dependent on time, place and situation, identities<\/strong><\/span> are subject to negotiation, which is often conditioned by the category of power<\/strong><\/span>. Power is not necessarily repressive but can also be constructive, omnipresent although sometimes invisible. The category of power influences how we recognise ourselves and how groups are formed.<\/p>\n

Through the work of the Centre, we seek to strengthen awareness of the importance of the humanities<\/strong><\/span> today, particularly in view of the growing trend towards their marginalisation in favour of STEM fields. We promote the significance of the humanities, on the one hand, through work in the field of regional heritage and, on the other, through active participation in creating a free and just society. We seek to highlight the importance of equality for all citizens and respect for the human rights of all individuals, particularly vulnerable and marginalised groups. Research into the construction of identity<\/strong><\/span> through the proposed perspective can, for example, provide a powerful tool for recognising and studying discrimination, as well as combating it. We do not dispute the importance of technology; rather, we believe that it can realise its full potential only when directed towards human well-being and connected with people.<\/p>\n

The activities of the researchers and the work of the Centre are also connected with new paradigms in the humanities, such as the digital humanities. Digital humanities projects<\/strong><\/span> are generally related to texts and written heritage, more specifically to collections of old and rare materials that would remain hidden and forgotten without digitisation. By transferring historical materials into the digital environment and connecting them through networks, new possibilities and questions arise regarding the management of these materials and their accessibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Centre for Research on Cultural Identity and Regional Heritage is a research platform and a meeting place where science, art and civil society intersect around topics related to the construction of cultural identities (national, ethnic, gender, religious, class, minority, labour, subcultural, disability as identity, and others). We place particular emphasis on the issue of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"parent":124926,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-127392","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127392"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127394,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127392\/revisions\/127394"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}