Ethnic identity of the Bunjevci from Backa in the population censuses: 1850-2011

The aim of this paper is the analysis of different forms and transfor?mations in defining and declaring the ethnic identity of the people of Bunjevci from Backa in the population census in the territory of today?s Vojvodina in the period from 1850 to 2011, as well as the circumstances that influenced the modalities of expressing their ethnicity in different state frameworks - first in the Kingdom of Hungary, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia, and finally in the Republic of Serbia. The subject of the research is the official results of certain censuses, along with the analysis of political, social and cultural-educational factors that were of the importance to the people of Bunjevci when declaring their ethnic affiliation. Also, the paper analyzes the historical context and social relations that had a decisive influence on the transformations in the declaration of ethnic identity, including various national integration processes in the area of Backa. As a consequence of the intersection of different integration models within one population, two forms of identity were shaped and the ethno-national duality of the Bunjevci and Bunjevci-Croats is present to this day. Analyzing the ethnic identity of the Bunjevci through the official results of the population census contributes not only to better under?standing of the complexity of the process of building awareness of one?s own identity, but also of the specificity of the case of the Bunjevci, who are still the subject of conflicting and mutually opposing interpretations in scientific and public discourse.