Location

• Pula Hercuov prolaz 1, Croatia 52100
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Languages

• Croatian

Website

• http://library.foi.hr/m3/kds1.php?sqlx=S02007&sqlid=1&sqlnivo=&dlib=1&H=pula

Name of collection

• The Istrian Fighter Digital Collection

Provenance and cultural activities

• The University Library of Pula possesses almost all issues of the Istrian Fighter/IBOR (two issues are missing, No. 1 (1970) and No. 1 (1978)), which are available today as digital versions on the Library website, and also form the Istrian Fighter Digital Collection. The physical collection was established in 1953, which was the first year of the journal’s publication, and also the year when the first issues of the journal arrived at the University Library (then called the Research Library). The digital collection was established when the Istrian Fighter was digitized in 2010. During the nearly twenty-six years of its publication, the library only collected part of the journal's issues, and the remaining issues were obtained at the request of the Croatian Literary Society and Boris Domagoj Biletić and as part of the compilation of the Istrian Fighter/IBOR bibliography collected by a library consultant Marija Petener-Lorenzin.

  The youth journal of Pula Gymnasium students, Istrian Fighter was launched in Pula on October 15, 1953. The first issue of Istrian Fighter was released at the initiative of the literary section of the Branko Semelić Gymnasium and their mentor Ljubica Ivezić, with the subtitle "Literary Section Gazette of the Branko Semelić Gymnasium˝. As of the second issue, the journal was called the "Istrian Youth Journal“ and was financed by the National Youth District Committee, and this status was likely obtained through the party line. According to Ljubica Ivezić, the editorial section was reserved for ideological and political articles (Ivezić: 1992, 97).

  It was the first youth journal in Yugoslavia, which was published continually, with two interruptions (from 1964 to 1969 and from 1974 to 1976) until September 1979, i.e. until the "IBOR Case" arose. Istrian Fighter is important to the development of the Croatian language, literature and culture in Istria, especially in terms of the development of young writers and intellectuals who later became important to the development of culture, history and socio-political life in Istria. Ljubica Ivezić, the initiator of Istrian Fighter, explained it this way: the students "took on the task of using their literary and cultural work in the first place to fight for the affirmation of their domestic word, which was severely persecuted under the Italian fascism" (Ivezić: 1992, 97). In the introduction to the first issue of Istrian Fighter, the editorial board explained the reasons for launching the journal: "The authors of original works will find their topics firstly in their personal lives, then in Istrian and Yugoslav socialistic reality. With this kind of work, we will foster a love for the mother tongue, for our socialist country and our people. We will constantly prove to each and every one that the youngest Istrian generations do not want to substitute their beloved native tongue with a foreign one, nor their national government for dominion by foreigners ever again" (Istrian Fighter, No. 1 (1953) 1).

  However, as time passed, the circumstances, policies and generations changed and the editorial approach of Istrian Fighter also changed, and it no longer sided with the Party. A different attitude toward the journal was first reflected in critiques of their work presented at the Party's meetings as well as publicly, and later in the termination of their funding, which was the end of the journal. According to a member of the last editorial board, Boris Domagoj Biletić: "Istrian Fighter was the only truly democratic light of the written word not only by young people in Istria and beyond, sometimes formally but most often never under the control of any political institution, from the beginning of the 1950s until democratic changes in 1990"(Fund description "IBOR: the Voice of Istrian Youth")

  Dolores Petrinić, the author of the book Croatian Literature in Istrian Journals in the Second Half of the 20th Century, thinks that Istrian Fighter was started "with the mission of spreading literacy and a positive attitude toward the Croatian language and literature" (Petrinić: 2007, 9). And since it published texts that "reflected the current cultural and social issues in a reasoned and engaging way" and how the IBOR had a tendency of growing into a journal “that would seriously and critically address not only literature but also culture and society in general.“ Petrinić believes that escaping political control led to the termination of the journal (Petrinić: 2007, 11)

  The crucial moment was the publication of a translation of the English-language poem with paedophiliac/homosexual content, "Please Master," by Allen Ginsberg, published under the issue's theme “Total Institutions.” The Istrian editions of the daily newspaper Evening Paper (Večernji list) and Voice of Istria (Glas Istre) repeatedly wrote about the "IBOR Case," and the youth journals in Zagreb also became interested. After several months of Party and media debate, funding for the journal was cancelled, and as the result of a private lawsuit by journalist Armand Černjul, the editorial board was convicted for defamation on October 8, 1980.

Description of content

• The journal Istrian Fighter was published from 1953 to 1979, with two interruptions (1964 to 1969, 1974 to 1976). In that period, 73 issues (some as double issues) were published, with a total of 1,996 papers or articles dealing with culture, the arts, and sports, but also local and general social issues that were not looked upon with approval by local socialist leaders. The journal was intended for young people – elementary and secondary school children and college-age youths, who also provided content for  it.

  The digital version of Istrian Fighter is entirely available online, in the repository of the University Library of Pula. Istrian Fighter is located in the "journals" section and is divided into two parts. The first part, under the name Istrian Fighter, cover the period from 1953 to 1974, while the second part, called IBOR, covers the period from 1976 to 1979.

  Nevenko Petrić, a member of the IBOR's last editorial board, created a press clipping of the "IBOR Case," which is located at the University Library of Pula, and which shows the extensive media coverage of the case in youth, republic and local papers.

Content

• publications (books, newspapers, articles, press clippings): 10-99

Operator(s)

• The University Library of Pula

Owner(s)

• The University Library of Pula

Stakeholder(s) of the collection

• Dobrić, Bruno

Geographical scope of recent operation

• international

Topics

• independent journalism
• literature and literary criticism
• student movement

Founder(s)

• The University Library of Pula

Date of founding

• 2015

Place of founding

• Pula, Croatia
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Creator(s) of content

• Petener-Lorenzin, Marija

Collector(s)

• Petener-Lorenzin, Marija

Supporters

• Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia

Important events in the history of the collection

• Book: Bibliography of Journal Istrian Fighter - Ibor. Marija Peterner-Lorenzin, 2006
• Istrian Fighter Digital Collection published on the Internet, 2015

Featured items

• IBORs last issue, 1979. Newspaper
• Verdict against the IBOR editorial board published in Polet, 1980. Newspaper

Access type

• completely open to the public

Publications

• 1) Crnobori, Albino. "Što je za moju generaciju značio literarni klub ˝Istarski borac˝." Istarski mozaik, no. 5/6 (1968), 412-415.

  2) Ivezić, Ljubica. ˝I jedna važna obljetnica između, na koju ne treba zaboraviti.˝ Dometi 26, no. 5/6 (1993), 95-100.

  3) Ivezić, Ljubica. 2012. Odbljesci pamćenja. Pula - Pazin: Istarski ogranak Društva hrvatskih književnika – Matica hrvatska ogranak Pazin 

  4)  Petener-Lorenzin, Marija. 2006. Bibliografija časopisa "Istarski borac" - "Ibor": (1953.-1979.). Pula: Istarski ogranak Društva hrvatskih književnika

  5)  Petrinić, Dolores. 2007. Hrvatska književnost u istarskim časopisima druge polovice XX. st. Rijeka: Društvo hrvatskih književnika

  6) ˝45 godina Istarskoga borca.˝ Nova Istra 10, no. 3 (1998), 225-241. 

Author(s) of this page

• Bencetić, Lidija

References

1) Crnobori, Albino. "Što je za moju generaciju značio literarni klub ˝Istarski borac˝." Istarski mozaik, no. 5/6 (1968), 412-415.

2) Cvitan, Vladimir. "Intervju: Predrag Matvejević. Dosta gruba smjenjivanja." Polet (Zagreb), January 23, 1980, 9-10.

3) Černjul, Armando. "Dosta grube dezinformacije." Polet (Zagreb), February 6, 1980, 2.

4) Černjul, Armando. ˝Kome služi „Ibor“?˝ Večernji list (istarski), October 3, 1979, 6.

5) Članovi redakcije Ibora. ˝Fusnote za A. Černjula.˝ Večernji list (istarski), November 1, 1979, 6.

6) ˝Istarski borci.˝ Studentski list (Zagreb), June 4, 1982, 22.

7) Ivezić, Ljubica. ˝I jedna važna obljetnica između, na koju ne treba zaboraviti.˝ Dometi 26, no. 5/6 (1993), 95-100.

8) Ivezić, Ljubica. 2012. Odbljesci pamćenja. Pula - Pazin: Istarski ogranak Društva hrvatskih književnika – Matica hrvatska ogranak Pazin

9) ˝Jačati društveni utjecaj u „Iboru“.˝ Glas Istre (Pula), December 3, 1979, 6.

10) Kalčić, Slavko and Monfardin, Aldo. ˝Slučaj ˝Ibor˝.˝ Pitanja (Zagreb), no. 3 (1980), 71-77.

11) ˝Nepovoljno o „Iboru“.˝ Glas Istre (Pula), September 10, 1979, 7.

12) Petener-Lorenzin, Marija. 2006. Bibliografija časopisa "Istarski borac" - "Ibor": (1953.-1979.). Pula: Istarski ogranak Društva hrvatskih književnika

13) Petrinić, Dolores. 2007. Hrvatska književnost u istarskim časopisima druge polovice XX. st. Rijeka: Društvo hrvatskih književnika

14) ˝Rasprava o „Iboru“.˝ Glas Istre (Pula), November 27, 1979, 4.

15) ˝Rasturanje redakcije.˝ Studentski list (Zagreb), November 16, 1983, 18.

16) Redakcija Ibora. ˝Fotogenični lažopisac.˝ Polet (Zagreb), February 19, 1980, 2.

17) Vincek, Boris. ˝Iz intimne povijesti Istarskog borca.˝ Glas Istre (Pula), September 26, 2009, 42. 

18) ˝45 godina Istarskoga borca.˝ Nova Istra 10, no. 3 (1998), 225-241. 

Dobrić, Bruno, interview by Bencetić, Lidija , October 31, 2017. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection