Nesretnici i nevoljnici: o luđacima i siromasima u staroj hrvatskoj periodici

Ivana Zagorac - Izvorni znanstveni članak

The Wretched and the Pitful: About Lunatics and the Poor in the Croatian Historic Newspapers

Sažetak
U tekstu se razmatra način na koji se u hrvatskom javnom prostoru tijekom 19. stoljeća tematizirao status siromaha te osoba koje su bile proglašene umobolnima. Istraživanje se temelji na analizi tekstova iz najstarijih sačuvanih novina koje su objavljivale na hrvatskom jeziku te strukovnih glasila liječnika i učitelja koja su izlazila tijekom 19. stoljeća. Polazna pretpostavka je da tiskovine namijenjene širem krugu čitatelja i posvećene aktualnim događajima svoje sadržaje oblikuju prema postojećim trendovima u javnom prostoru. Autori novinskih članaka često ukazuju na predrasude i diskriminaciju spram marginaliziranih skupina, pritom nastojeći potaknuti emocionalnu reakciju čitatelja. Novinski napisi također ukazuju i na specifičan status pojedinih bolesti uma i tijela. Nadalje, urednici novina, jednako kao i liječnici i učitelji u svojim strukovnim glasilima, jasno uočavaju povezanost između života u neimaštini s tjelesnim i duhovnim propadanjem pučanstva. Velike nade polažu se u obrazovanje koje, prema tadašnjem razumijevanju, ima moć sprječavanja slaboumnosti.

Abstract
The paper examines the way in which the status of the poor and persons who were declared mentally ill was thematized in Croatian public space during the 19th century. The research is based on the analysis of texts from the oldest preserved newspapers that were published in the Croatian language and texts from professional journals of doctors and teachers that were published during the 19th century. The basic assumption is that publications intended for a wider range of readers and dedicated to current events shape their contents according to existing trends in the public space. Authors of newspaper articles often point out prejudice and discrimination against marginalized groups, while trying to provoke an emotional reaction from the reader. Newspaper articles also indicate the specific status of certain diseases of the mind and body. Furthermore, newspaper editors, as well as doctors and teachers in their professional newsletters, clearly see the connection between living in poverty and the physical and spiritual deterioration of the population. Great hopes were placed on education, which, according to the understanding of the time, had the power to prevent feeble-mindedness.