Етнологията при социализма и след него
The ethnology during the socialist period and after it

Summary/Abstract: During the last fifty years ethnology in Croatia was not politically involved although socialism as political and ideological system undoubtedly imposed limitations to ethnological research. Instead of discussing positive achievements of Croatian ethnology during the mentioned period the author tries to discover subjects which Croatian ethnologists (and some ethnologists and anthropologists from abroad who were working in the field in Croatia) more or less consciously and deliberately neglected during that period. Those topics were e.g. the repudliation of traditional culture and ritual and the study of specific Croatian national traits in traditional culture and folklore. Modern theory of ethnos, ethnic relations and ethnogenesis as well as modern research of mentality were avoided. Public piety and the process of dechristianization have been treated as taboos. Finally, during the socialist period no general works on Croatian folk culture (which we lack) have been compiled. The analysis of "what we did not research" is important not only in our reflexions on the past but also for our future endeavours. The impact of political system and the limitations it imposes are still our concern.

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