Razprave in gradivo, Ljubljana, March 1986, No.18 
Cedomir B. Kuzmanovié : UDC 323.15(497.113):316.356.72 
Provincial Committee for 
Education and Culture 
Novi Sad, Yugoslavia 
CULTURAL PLURALISM IN THE ETHNICALLY MIXED SOCIALIST AUTONOMOUS 
PROVINCE OF VOJVODINA* 
One of the important characteristics of the development of 
culture in SAP Vojvodina is the creation of political equality 
and equal rights in publishing activities in the languages of the 
nations and nationalities. This subfield of culture had 
consistent priority in the period from 1981 to 1965. As many as 
ten publishing organisations have publishing as their basic 
activity. They issue publications in Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, 
Slovak, Rumanian and Ruthenian, Meanwhile, a spread of publishing 
activity has been evident. A further 120 work organisations have 
registered for publishing as a parallel activity. The Matica 
Srpska (founded for the creation, affirmation and development of 
Serbian culture, it traditionally propagates the culture of the 
Serbian nationality, but in cooperation with the cultures of the 
nationalities of SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia and SFR Yugoslavia) has 
realised numerous collective Yugoslav projects. It regularly 
publishes the almanac Letopis Matice Srpske, one of the oldest 
newspapers in Europe. 
The publishing houses and other publishers in SAP Vojvodina 
annually publish more than 1,000 works (titles) in the languages 
of the nations and nationalities to a total of approximately 3.5 
million copies, as well as 48 works (titles) in the other 
languages. Publishers often bring out collected poems of young 
poets of all the nations and nationalities. 
Dictionaries of self-management and socio-political terms and 
expressions (Serbo-Croatian/Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian/Slovak, 
Serbo-Croatian/Rumanian) have been published as well as 16 
terminological five-language dictionaries for professional and 
other interests in secondary vocationally oriented education. 
One of the basic characteristics of publishing in the Province is 
the collective translation and publication of the spiritual 
creativity of the nations and nationalities, which makes possible 
the closeness of these cultures and their mutual permeation. Two 
hundred original works of literature (over 140 authors) have been 
translated from the Liberation to 1985, published in 
approximately two hundred and fifty volumes. The majority are 
translations from Serbo-Croatian into Hungarian and Slovak, with 
thirteen books translated into the Rumanian language and five 
into Ruthenian. 
Thirty-eight works of literature have been translated from 
Hungarian into Serbo-Croatian, ten books each from Slovak and 
  
* Original: Serbo-Croatian 
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Rumanian into Serbo-Croatian and six works of literature from 
Ruthenian into Serbo-Croatian. However, the overall translation 
of the literature of the nationalities of Vojvodina is still 
unsatisfactory. 
Important results have also been achieved in the publication of 
newspapers, with an annual output of approximately 8.5 million 
copies. Of 72 newspapers that are published in the languages of 
the nations and nationalities, 47 appear in Serbo-Croatian, 9 in 
Hungarian, 3 in Slovak, 4 in Rumanian and 4 in Ruthenian, one is 
multilingual and the remaining four are in other languages. The 
numerous newspapers make it possible for young authors-members of 
all the nations and nationalities to publish their literary and 
other works. 
The number of published original works of writers of literature 
of the nations and nationalities is constantly growing. 
Noticeable results have also been achieved in the publication of 
Marxist literature and of important works on the culture of the 
nations and nationalities of Vojvodina. 
With the aim of promoting translation and publishing activities, 
the SIZ (self-managing community of interest) for culture of 
Vojvodina buys half or part of all the literature translated from 
one of our languages into another (language of a nation or 
nationality) and distributes them among libraries. 
There are 43 national libraries in SAP Vojvodina with over 320 
branches in the organisations of associated labour and town 
communities, whose stock of approximately 3,000,000 books in the 
languages of the nations and nationalities is used by over 
220,000 readers. Of the total number of books, 73% are in Serbo- 
Croatian, 20% are in the languages of the nationalities of 
Vojvodina, 2% in other languages, while 5% are not classified by 
language. 
Although the composition of the library stock is being constantly 
improved with regard to the languages, it is not yet in accord 
with the national structure of the population. It has been found 
wanting especially in Ruthenian language-books. 
There is an exchange of library material with the respective 
institutions in the Socialist Republics and SAP Kosovo and with 
211 institutions in 36 countries throughout the world. 
There are 7 active professional theatres for adults in SAP 
Vojvodina, of which 5 are in Serbo-Croatian and two in Hungarian; 
4 theatres for children in Serbo-Croatian and Hungarian; one 
theatre for children in Slovak and one puppet theatre in 
Rumanian. Provincial cultural festivals and academies of 
collective interests for the nations and nationalities of 
Vojvodina are held regulary, such as meetings of amateur theatres 
in Vojvodina, the Festival of Little Scenes of Vojvodina, "May 
Games," Brankovo kolo, a review of reciters of Vojvodina, a 
review of amateur Slovak theatre in Vojvodina, Theatre Days of 
the Rumanians in Vojvodina, the Drama Memorial of Peter Riznié 
Djade (in Ruthenian). These cultural-artistic events contribute 
to the further development of amateur theatre societies and the 
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affirmation of the creative potential of the nations and 
nationalities of Vojvodina throughout our country. 
of the 40 amateur theatres, 10 hold their shows in Hungarian, 5 
each in Slovak and Rumanian and 4 in Ruthenian. More than 2,200 
theatrical shows with a total attendance of more than half a 
million spectators are given annually. The professional theatres 
give about 1,400 shows per year. 
The annual Yugoslav theatrical games, Sterijino pozorje, are held 
in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, in which 7 to 9 of the most important 
creations of the Yugoslav theatre in all the languages of the 
nations and nationalities of Yugoslavia are shown each year. 
Cinema production upholds the continuity of the themes which 
affirm and care for our unity and togetherness (Vojvodinan movies 
are filmed using the languages of the nations and nationalities 
living in the province), our revolutionary past and self- 
management development and our present based on our equal-rights 
national community of the nationalities and nations, are realised 
in film. More than 8,500 films are shown every year in 220 
cinemas. 
The art of the nations and nationalities is characterised by 
their collective development, mutual permeation and openness 
towards all types of creative expressiveness. The artists of all 
the nations and nationalities are organised within the framework 
of their professional associations. Between 1981 and 1984, the 
association of artists of SAP Vojvodina organised 66 individual 
exhibitions of Vojvodinan and other authors from SFR Yugoslavia 
and five exhibitions each year of its members to which 438 
authors contributed 757 artistic works. The association of 
practical artists and designers has organised 50 individual and 
collective exhibitions of its members in which 209 authors have 
participated with 542 works of art. Eight Yugoslav art events 
have been held in Vojvodina in which 22 manifestations of art in 
Yugoslavia are organised with 1,475 contributors. 
Artists from all over the country and also from abroad come to 8 
permanent art colonies. The Centre for the Art Education of 
Children and Young People of Vojvodina has organised over 40 
exhibitions of children's work, travelling exhibitions in SAP 
Vojvodina and SFR Yugoslavia. The labour association of tapestry 
workers, Atelje 61, has made over 40 tapestries of Vojvodinan 
authors. The Cinema Photographic Association has organised 48 
exhibitions of various forms of artistic activity, in which 232 
Vojvodinan authors have shown 1,100 works. In the past five 
years, 461 works of art have been bought for Vojvodinan 
galleries. In this way, these art works, through their 
acquisition for society, have become part of the general cultural 
inheritance of the nations and nationalities of Vojvodina. 
In the field of music, various forms of music are realised in 
professional and amateur programmes which contribute to the 
development of the cultural heritage and affirmation of the 
traditional and contemporary musical culture of the nations and 
nationalities of Vojvodina, SR Serbia and SFR Yugoslavia. The 
programme includes the Music Centre Vojvodina, The Musical Youth 
of Vojvodina, the Vojvodina Philharmonic Youth Opera with Ballet 
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(The Serbian National Theatre), the Vojvodina Philharmonic (The 
Serbian National Theatre), as well as amateur ensembles which 
present their work in provincial revues, festivals and events 
(the Festival of Musical Societies of Vojvodina, the Musical 
Festival of Children of Vojvodina, the Festival of Youth Choirs 
of Vojvodina, Brankovo kolo, the Festival of Folklore Traditions 
of Vojvodina, the Competition of Slovak Creativity, the Festival 
of Rumanian Musical and Folklore Creativity, the Festival of the 
Culture of Ruthenians and Ukrainians, etc.). 
More than 100 amateur and professional cultural events in all 
fields of creativity - drama, folklore, music, art, film, etc. - 
are organised annually to present the manifold aspects of the 
cultural-artistic activity and the achievements in the 
development of all the nations and nationalities in Vojvodina. An 
expansion of all the forms of amateur cultural art is currently 
underway. 
Of the 186 cultural-artistic societies, 139 work in the Serbo- 
Croatian language, 56 in Hungarian, 24 in Rumanian, 17 in Slovak, 
5 in Ruthenian, 2 in Macedonian, 3 in Ukrainian and 2 in the 
other languages. 
There is equality of all the cultures of all the nations and 
nationalities which live in Vojvodina in the organisation of 
cultural-artistic societies as well as in cultural-artistic 
creativity. The programmes of the cultural-artistic societies 
stress the achievements of the National Liberation War and the 
socialist revolution and the positive cultural heritage of all 
the nations and nationalities... 
The network of cultural centres in SAP Vojvodina is the most 
developed in the country (of the total number of cultural centres 
in the country, 33% are found in Vojvodina). The cultural centres 
have a considerable role in the organisation of cultural life. 
Individual centres concern themselves not only with the 
organisation of amateur cultural art activities and the creative 
work of the working people and citizens (musical plays, folklore, 
art, literature, etc.) but also with the libraries, educational 
and informational activities, as well as with the organisation of 
various top cultural-artistic events, concerts, celebrations, 
exhibitions, the showing of films and other forms of social life 
and entertainment. They have two organisations for folk heritage 
and 17 sports sections. We are not, however, satisfied with the 
standard of the locations and equipment of these organisations. 
The cultural centres pay special attention in their programme 
activity to an equal performance of individual forms of activity, 
depending on the national population makeup in the region in 
which they are active. Thus, for example, in the 1983/84 season, 
709 theatrical shows were presented. Of the remaining amateur 
activities, there were 983 art exhibitions. All together, 2,660 
performances were organised, which were attended by 820,985 
people. 446 exhibitions were organised, with 378,678 visitors. 
There were 16,288 cinema performances with 1,850,283 visitors. Of 
the 135 cultural centres, 131 operate in Serbo-Croatian, 2 in 
Macedonian, 31 in Hungarian, 7 in Slovak, 10 in Rumanian, 3 in 
Ruthenian and one in Ukrainian. Ninety-two centres work in only 
one language, 37 in two languages and 8 centres in three and more 
languages. 
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There is a varied and rich museum activity in SAP Vojvodina; 13 
museums, 14 galleries, 2 museum units and 12 museum collections. 
The museums have collected and now preserve an important 
collection of ethnographic material of the nations and 
nationalities of Vojvodina, which is studied and exhibited. The 
museums and galleries also collect contemporary works of creators 
of the nations and nationalities, all of whom have an equal 
opportunity to affirm themselves through art colonies throughout 
the Province and to exhibit their works at numerous art 
exhibitions. 
There are ten archives in existence on the territory of SAP 
Vojvodina. Valuable archival cultural material, encompassing the 
period from the 17th century to the present is kept, analyzed and 
cared for in the Vojvodinan archives. The publication and study 
of work based on this archival material of cultural heritage 
contribute to the knowledge of the characteristics and the mutual 
influence of the national cultures in Vojvodina, SR Serbia and of 
all our country. 
In the field of conservation of cultural monuments, competent 
organisations take care of those cultural monuments which are of 
importance for an understanding of the culture of the nations and 
nationalities of SAP Vojvodina. Similarly, various memorial 
tablets, busts, etc. mark events and personalities which have 
been of importance for the cultural history of the nations and 
nationalities of Vojvodina. The thorough reconstruction of the 
monastery at Fruska gora now underway is very important for the 
Serbian culture, Experts from SAP Vojvodina are taking part in 
work on four important cultural monuments in SAP Kosovo, and the 
province is contributing to this work with financial help. There 
are more than 600,000 museum exhibits registered in SAP 
Vojvodina, of which more than 260,000 are archeological. 
In accordance with the Statue which defines community relations, 
information bulletins, delegate heralds, newsletters, etc. are 
issued in several languages in 23 communes, while in 16 communes 
information for delegates and delegations and the working people 
and citizens is translated and issued on the basis of equal 
language rights of the nations and nationalities. 
The democratisation of cultural life is continuously spread and 
its content enriched. The newspaper Magyar szo has a cultural- 
artistic, socio-scientific supplement under the title Hilato in 
which, in the spirit of brotherhood, texts by authors in the 
field of culture from among all the nations and nationalities of 
all the socialist republics and SAP Kosovo are published. 
In addition to its 750 employees, every year television Novi Sad 
engages several thousand cultural workers - from film and 
theatre workers, writers, composers and singers - in the creation 
of programmes in the five languages of the nations and 
nationalities of Vojvodina. 
Despite these notable achievements and tendencies in the field of 
information, it is a fact that the information bulletins do not 
yet completely describe the multinational characteristics of the 
overall development of SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia and SFR 
Yugoslavia. Individual editorial departments still close 
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themselves within regional and national confines with regard to 
their programme and content orientation. On the radio and 
especially on television Novi Sad very rough organisational 
schemes still exist with unsatisfactory interlinkages between the 
five editorial departments, which has a negative impact on the 
cultural values of the nations and nationalities of Vojvodina. 
The staff base is still limited, in spite of constant 
strengthening, especially in the languages of the nationalities 
since too little has been done in the planning, preparations and 
the provision of staff for work in this area, 
The use of two languages is regulated in 21 communes; three 
languages are officially used in 12 communes and four languages 
in 7. Only 4 communes have enacted the use of Serbo-Croatian 
only, but in practice more languages are also used in them. The 
communes Of Pancevo and Bela Crkva do regulate by statute and 
observe in practice the equal right to the use of Macedonian or 
Czech, which are not so sanctioned by the constitution of SAP 
Vojvodina. In 4 communes the assembly is provided with 
simultaneous translation service and in 21 communes this is done 
through a translator. There is no simultaneous translation 
service available in 15 communal assemblies. 
In the communal statutes, in the enactments of the organisations 
of associated labour and of local and self-managing communities 
of interest, as well as in other self-management communal acts, 
the equality of the nations and nationalities - and especially 
the equality of language and writing - increasingly figures as an 
integral part of social relations, and in the organised activity 
of all the subjective forces, this is ever more reinforced in the 
process of self-management decision-making, in the exercise of 
power and in cultural and public life. 
The use of national symbols, together with the flying of the 
flags of the nations and nationalities on the occasions of 
national holidays and other events and ceremonies, in addition to 
the country's flag and symbols and the flag and symbols of SR 
Serbia, has become a natural practice in the province and its 
communes. 
However, the achievements in the field of culture in SAP 
Vojvodina are flanked by the following negative aspects: 
- there are too many superficial events in culture and too little 
creative spirit of the workers; 
- there is still not enough attention paid to the creative youth; 
- limitation of staff (this relatively most complex network of 
cultural centres has at its disposal too few workers with 
university education; the province has only one Doctor of 
Ethnology, a total of two Masters degrees in the field of 
musicology, not a single Ph.D.-holder in the fields of art 
history and aesthetics, nor a sociologist of culture, etc.); 
- we have not yet met all of the collective cultural needs of the 
working people and citizens, members of all the nations and 
nationalities in the local communities and in the organisations 
of associated labour; 
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- the financial means allocated for the development of culture 
are rather limited for objective reasons; furthermore, linear 
restrictions are being introduced; 
- there are still not enough jobs for cultural activities. 
In the field of cultural life and the creativity of the nations 
and nationalities of SAP Vojvodina, organised socialist forces 
fight for their humanist and socialist character within the 
framework of openness to the cultural values of the nations and 
nationalities in SR Serbia and SFR Yugoslavia. This is also the 
general direction of movement of the culture of the whole 
country, of which the basic starting point is that the national 
culture will only be developed in full measure when it creatively 
coincides with the general cultural creativity of mankind. 
Since we are aware that getting to know the cultural heritage of 
other nationalities is the prerequisite for our own openness, our 
orientation is towards a cultural opening up for the sake of an 
easier recognition of that which is collective in culture and 
that which is both collective to and of general interest for the 
culture of multinational regions. 
In view of all of this, further strengthening of thee influence 
of the working people and their delegations and delegates upon 
the socialisation of culture, upon the Marxist view of the 
cultural heritage of every nationality and their 
interpenetration, as well as upon the provision of personnel from 
among all our nations and nationalities, remains a very topical 
question. It must be made possible for the proven young cultural 
creators to participate more actively in the process of building 
the cultural image of our province and of the commune in which 
they live. 
The foregoing achievements show that in SAP Vojvodina, the idea 
of cultural integration or collective cultural influence is 
realised in practice. We could say that the territory of the 
province is the best possible place for such an idea, since our 
numerous nations and nationalities have developed a profound 
awareness of a collective historical destiny. 
This, then, is also toward the good of all, in that some people 
cannot close themselves within their ethnic barrier, nor can they 
shut themselves within their provinces or republics, although 
such tendencies are still present. 
The right to the equality of all the nations and nationalities 
and to a free and autonomous development and enrichment of their 
cultural life, with a maximal development of the individual 
creative potential of their cultural creators, is observed in SAP 
Vojvodina, thanks to the efforts of the organised socialist self- 
management forces of the province. The conditions for cultural 
closeness and the interrelation of the nations and nationalities 
in the Province represent the freedom of everyone, especially in 
the development of his own cultural life, his ethnic self, on the 
basis of economic equality. Because of this, there will be still 
further efforts on the part of the organised socialist forces in 
the Province to ensure the conditions for the socialisation of 
culture on the basis of the self-management pooling of labour and 
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for the socialist and humanist content and character of culture 
and the cultural life of all our nations and nationalities. This 
activity will enrich the cultural pluralism of the ethnically 
composite SAP Vojvodina and effectively fight any attempts to 
impose nationalist and unitarianist schemes as well as the 
spurious questions of "ethnic" cultural criteria. 
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