Becoming Slav, Becoming Croat: Identity Transformations in Post-Roman and Early Medieval Dalmatia (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450)

Late antique identities from the Western Balkans were transformed into new, Slavic identities after c. 600 AD. It was a process that is still having continuous impact on the discursive constructions of ethnic and regional identities in the area. Building on the new ways of reading and studying available sources from late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the book explores the appearance of the Croats in early medieval Dalmatia (the southern parts of modern-day Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The appearance of the early medieval Croat identity is seen as a part of the wider process of identity-transformations in post-Roman Europe, the ultimate result of the identity-negotiation between the descendants of the late antique population and the immigrant groups. Croat Origins In The Croatian Imagination -- Theoretical Framework And The Scholarship -- Identities Before The Slavs -- Illyricum And Dalmatia, 378-600 : A Very Brief Overview -- Written Sources On The Slav Migration In The 6th And 7th Centuries In Western Illyricum And Dalmatia -- The Dark Ages : 7th And 8th Century In Post-roman Dalmatia I (cemeteries) -- The Dark Ages : 7th And 8th Century In Post-roman Dalmatia Ii (becoming Slavs) -- The Ninth Century : Chroati Ex Machina -- Appendix: List Of Dalmatian Rulers. By Danijel Dzino. Elaboration Of An Earlier Article By The Author Published In: Hortus Artium Medievalium 14 (2008), And With Changes, In Russian, In: Studia Slavica And Balcanica Petropolitana 2/2008. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [221]-260) And Index. Becoming Slav, Becoming Croat Copyright In memoriam Contents Acknowledgments Notes Abbreviations Collections of Epigraphic Inscriptions List of Pictures and Maps Introduction 1. Croat Origins in the Croatian Imagination 2. Theoretical Framework and the Scholarship 3. Identities Before the Slavs 4. Illyricum and Dalmatia 378–600 : A Very Brief Overview 5. Written Sources on the Slav Migration in the 6th and 7th centuries in Western Illyricum and Dalmatia 6. The “Dark Ages”: 7th and 8th Century in Post-Roman Dalmatia I (Cemeteries) 7. The “Dark Ages”: 7th and 8th Century in Post-Roman Dalmatia II (Becoming Slavs) 8. The Ninth Century: Chroati Ex Machina Conclusion Appendix: List of Dalmatian Rulers Primary Sources Bibliography of Secondary Sources Index Drawing on the new ways of reading and studying ancient and early medieval sources, this book explores the appearance of the Croat identity in early medieval Dalmatia