This paper is an analytical study and presentation
of the Nightwatch column (Nočna kronika) that has been published
weekly in the Slovenian Sunday paper Nedelo since the end of summer
1995. The author in the first place endeavors to present this phenomenon
in the light of its chauvinist, macho and racist nature, and (possible
as well as actual) the anti-political and extremist impact of the
discourse communicated through this column. The ‘products’ of the
Nightwatch column presented here are: foreigners, those from the
south, Yugoslavia, Balkan creatures, beings with a half-roof over
their heads, citizenship granted to foreigners, Bosnians, Muslims,
Islam, refugees, sevdah, pedophiles, transvestites, girls, chicks,
and women. Through the analysis of this rich material and particularly
the characteristic ‘bar flies discourse’, the author exposes the
inner workings of unprecedented dehumanization of those seen as
“other” and different in Slovenia. He also proves that dreams about
a racism-free Slovenia are the dreams of people who believe they
are “innocent” and hence can indulge in comfortable pretense and
‘unknowingness’. The analysis of Nightwatch reveals numerous criminal
dimensions of chauvinism, sexism, racism and radical intolerance
in general. The author’s main interpretative point is directed towards
antipolitical and criminal impacts of the Nightwatch discourse which
should be taken extremely seriously as a direct incitement to more
or less violent action against those who are seen as other and different.
Last but not least, the author shows that the issue of violence
and even killing cannot be ascribed only to those who kill, but
also to those who sow seeds of hatred into the heads or, if you
like, hearts of potential murderers, thus causing and directing
the very possibility of slaughter.
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