INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA IN-BETWEEN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY

Abstract

Although the notion of interculturalism was introduced into the scholarly world some fifty years ago, its principles can be studied at every intersection of different cultures. In that sense, Bosnia and Herzegovina presents a place of constant mixture of cultures, both permanent and transitory. The paper deals with the issues of intercultural education viewed within the context of educational trends and dynamism, of cultural and demographic characteristics of ethnicities, as well as political influence exerted on Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Ottoman Empire and by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The research aims at investigating into social circumstances and specificities of education in the last years of the Ottoman rule and the initial years of the Monarchy rule, with a view to determining the traces of intercultural education in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By studying relevant sources and literature, the author has drawn a conclusion that despite the clearly defined goal of the Austro-Hungarian authorities towards intercultural sensitivity in society, the life under the circumstances of non-acceptance  of cultural and other diversity could not support the idea. In other words, the intentional collapse of the respective culture, creed, and ethnic designation of the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina thoroughly opposed the idea of building intercultural identity.