Chvála symetrie alebo aj my sme oni
Honour to symmetry: or also we are them

Summary/Abstract: The first part of the article is dealing with the notion of symmetry/asymmetry in the development of ethnography/ethnology in Slovakia. From historical material, which for the first sight brings only the evidence on numerous and differentiated asymmetries, starts with the asymmetry between past and present and finishes with asymmetry between these, who are speaking, and those, who are spoken about. Author turns toward a development of discipline as it appears to someone who attempts to do a philosophical reflection, and for whom the notion of symmetry represent the starting point, because he thinks it is inherent to the very object of his interest. Passage from ethnography to ethnology announced that the discipline overcame a protoscientific stage, entered element of logos, strengthened its methodological base and eliminated everything interlinking it with enlightening or ideological service. It is noteworthy that symmetry, its place and role in the development of the discipline have been several times transformed in the passage from ethnography to ethnology.

• Details
• Contents