Prospects for Anthropological Research in South-East Europe
Prospects for Anthropological Research in South-East Europe
Contributor(s): Marina Martynova (Editor), Ivana Bašić (Editor)
Subject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Етнографски институт САНУ
Keywords: ethnology; anthropology; Southeast Europe; cultural transformation; interdisciplinarity; identity; contemporary traditions
Summary/Abstract: The book marks a new phase in the fruitful collaboration between the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Ethnography Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. It is an important publication for any future research on the development of ethnology and anthropology in Southeast Europe. The papers presented here, the topics they raise and the methods they employ, comprise an overview of the issues, concepts, phenomena and research methodologies anthropology in this has been dealing with in the early 21st century. Positions of the discipline itself, transformations of traditional culture and various phenomena of contemporary culture in Southeastern Europe are subjected to a theoretical scrutiny in the papers of this volume.
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-542-110-238-0
- Page Count: 239
- Publication Year: 2019
- Language: English
DELIVERY OF ETHNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL. THE WORK OF ETHNOLOGISTS IN THE CONDITIONS OF “PROJECT INTERDISCIPLINARITY”
DELIVERY OF ETHNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL. THE WORK OF ETHNOLOGISTS IN THE CONDITIONS OF “PROJECT INTERDISCIPLINARITY”
(DELIVERY OF ETHNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL. THE WORK OF ETHNOLOGISTS IN THE CONDITIONS OF “PROJECT INTERDISCIPLINARITY”)
- Author(s):Ines Prica
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:15-25
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:ethnography; interdisciplinarity; projectification
- Summary/Abstract:The paper problematises the new conditions in which the humanities are operating, with special emphasis on the requirements imposed upon the institutional foundation and perception of disciplinary identity by the tendency of projectification. The analysis is more narrowly focused on the change in the perception and performative aspects of ethnology in the context of “project interdisciplinarity”. While in such a mosaic common field of various disciplinary claims and goals, it is primarily represented by the symbolic capital of its “famous” ethnographic method, the general ethnological insight, in final outcomes, often left deprived of the key disciplinary strongholds, together with the complex, although somewhat idealistic model of humanistic ethnography. Consequently, the trend leads to the reduction of the professional work of ethnologists to the “suppliers of material” for further analytical procedures and the later finalisation of the scientific product.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL IDENTITY AND NATIONAL TRADITION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF PANEUROPEAN MOBILITY. IS ETHNOLOGY OF A UNITED EUROPE POSSIBLE?
MULTIDIMENSIONAL IDENTITY AND NATIONAL TRADITION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF PANEUROPEAN MOBILITY. IS ETHNOLOGY OF A UNITED EUROPE POSSIBLE?
(MULTIDIMENSIONAL IDENTITY AND NATIONAL TRADITION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF PANEUROPEAN MOBILITY. IS ETHNOLOGY OF A UNITED EUROPE POSSIBLE?)
- Author(s):Petko Hristov
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:27-39
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:identity; tradition; pan-European mobility; ethnology; United Europe
- Summary/Abstract:The beginning of the new millennium posed new challenges for ethnologists from the Balkans. The fall of the Iron Curtain and the enlargement of the EU, the dissolution of multinational states such as Yugoslavia and the USSR, the candidature of Turkey which dragged on in time and the setting of new EU borders in the Balkans drastically transformed the map of this corner of Europe. The subject of ethnological studies has changed and the construction of multidimensional identities in European countries has become a rule rather than an exception. Under the conditions of pan-European mobility, the nature of national identity as well as the attitude towards cultural and historical heritage (understood as “national tradition”) as its main basis is changing. The questions which ethnological studies in Europe, and particularly in the Balkans, face become more and more numerous and the search for answers – more and more responsible. The article share some observations in this respect.
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF POPULAR COSMOLOGY
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF POPULAR COSMOLOGY
(AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF POPULAR COSMOLOGY)
- Author(s):Milan Tomašević
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:43-65
- No. of Pages:23
- Keywords:popular science; the cosmological narrative; myth; folklore; philosophy of science; purpose; sense; secular myth
- Summary/Abstract:This paper represents a short, informative essay on current research into the connections between popular culture, science, religion and anthropology. Using the example of popular cosmology, it points to the relationship between identity, science, philosophy and religion within the framework of contemporary Western society. It also points to the significance of semiotic analysis of the popular cosmological narrative and the possibility of interpreting this narrative as a form of folklore. Furthermore, it emphasizes the social significance of popular science as such, within the contexts of the science and culture wars at the turn of the century.
RITUAL KINSHIP IN SOME CALENDAR CELEBRATIONS A CASE STUDY OF THE CELEBRATION OF EPIPHANY IN MACEDONIA
RITUAL KINSHIP IN SOME CALENDAR CELEBRATIONS A CASE STUDY OF THE CELEBRATION OF EPIPHANY IN MACEDONIA
(RITUAL KINSHIP IN SOME CALENDAR CELEBRATIONS A CASE STUDY OF THE CELEBRATION OF EPIPHANY IN MACEDONIA)
- Author(s):Vesna Petreska
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:67-87
- No. of Pages:21
- Keywords:ritual kinship; godfatherhood; Macedonia; calendar celebrations; Vodici; cultural evenets
- Summary/Abstract:Ritual kinship represented through godfatherhood is portrayed in religious celebrations and cultural events that take place on the holiday of “St. John’s Godfatherhood”, or commonly known as the Epiphany “Vodici”. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice shall be taken into consideration. In terms of perspectives on kinship research, primarily in Macedonian ethnology and anthropology, the use of ritual kinship can be perceived with its multifunctional meanings. It can be seen as actualization (reactualization); as popularization in contemporary times; as protection or preservation of intangible cultural heritage; as a cultural memory and representation of the past through religious celebrations and cultural events that are associated with identity, but also encompassing the various ways of comprehension and interpretation of this kind of kinship associated with celebrations, depending on the “symbolic capital” that the participants in these festivities possess.
FROM THE CLASSICAL SERBIAN EPICS TO THE HAGUE THEMATIC CIRCLE AND BACK: DECASYLLABIC SINGING AS A LINGUISTIC REGISTER SEEN FROM THE FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
FROM THE CLASSICAL SERBIAN EPICS TO THE HAGUE THEMATIC CIRCLE AND BACK: DECASYLLABIC SINGING AS A LINGUISTIC REGISTER SEEN FROM THE FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
(FROM THE CLASSICAL SERBIAN EPICS TO THE HAGUE THEMATIC CIRCLE AND BACK: DECASYLLABIC SINGING AS A LINGUISTIC REGISTER SEEN FROM THE FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE)
- Author(s):Đorđina Trubarac Matić
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature
- Page Range:89-113
- No. of Pages:25
- Keywords:contemporary Serbian epics; decasyllabic register
- Summary/Abstract:Contemporary singing to the gusle and the new decasyllabic songs made in the style of the Serbian “classical epics” ‒ which both gained in public visibility with the break-up of Yugoslavia ‒ is a phenomenon which calls for scholars’ attention. Until recently, the interest has been reduced to the attempts of explaining its sudden expansion by relating it to the rising nationalism and populism during the 1990s. This made some authors reduce the whole contemporary singing to the gusle to the instrument for promoting the warmongering and extreme-nationalist ideas. The disdain for these ideological and political standpoints was transferred not only to the “new” singing to the gusle, but to the gusle itself and their language ‒ which put some scholars in the situation to defend this instrument and the language of the epic genre from accusations of their “historical guilt” for the war during the nineties. This paper aims to show that the contemporary singing to the gusle ‒ at least among the Serbian population ‒ is a complex phenomenon (both from the thematic and functional points of view) and that the songs about the events and historical protagonists of the nineties are only one of its subtypes. Communication in epic decasyllables is discussed as one of the historically recorded registers of the Serbian language, which, as such, should not be the object of ethical evaluation since it does not imply any ethical value in its very form and structure.
ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH OF THE ROLE OF RUSALIAN PROCESSIONS IN FOLK TRADITION
ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH OF THE ROLE OF RUSALIAN PROCESSIONS IN FOLK TRADITION
(ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH OF THE ROLE OF RUSALIAN PROCESSIONS IN FOLK TRADITION)
- Author(s):Katerina Petrovska-Kuzmanova
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:115-131
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:Rusalian ritual processions; magical function; social function; tradition; contemporary
- Summary/Abstract:Rusalian ritual processions with their characteristics attract the attention of folklore researchers in the past and today, because they are one of the most interesting syncretic forms. In the richness of forms and figures of speech, folklorists find a constant provocation for researching the rituals related to these dances. They, with their complex organization, the series of taboos which follow them, the specific clothing, the way of movement and dancing leave space for various scientific interpretations. The paper deals with a comparative analysis of the traditional and contemporary aspects of Rusalian ritual processions. Researching Rusalian processions shows that the way these rituals are performed in contemporary conditions gives them new meanings and functions. Their initial goal was to dance for health and prosperity. That’s why the belief of their health mission is widespread among the people. However, it should be noted that over time the function of these processions changes. From magical it becomes more and more social, which can be observed by the auction of the collected products, joint dinner of the participants and the use of collected assets for the collective good of the community. The paper also elaborates on the contemporary aspects of Rusalian processions and their continuation today, as well as a folk tradition.
THE CELEBRATION OF CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAYS IN BELGRADE AND CONSUMER SOCIETY
THE CELEBRATION OF CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAYS IN BELGRADE AND CONSUMER SOCIETY
(THE CELEBRATION OF CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAYS IN BELGRADE AND CONSUMER SOCIETY)
- Author(s):Aleksandar Krel, Jadranka Đorđević Crnobrnja
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:135-152
- No. of Pages:18
- Keywords:children’s birthday; birthday celebrations; consumer society; Belgrade; Serbia
- Summary/Abstract:In this paper, we analyze the celebration of children's birthdays, the extremely widespread and significant form of social and/or cultural practice in Belgrade, the capital of the Republic of Serbia. This type of social practice, the base of which is the family, was imported from Central and Western Europe to Belgrade between the First World War and the Second World War. The celebration of children’s birthdays achieved its full affirmation in the second half of the 20th century, when it became one of the most important family holidays in both urban and rural areas. It manifested concurrence with the characteristics of the consumer society even in the time of the socialist period, and in particular it fully coincided with the predominant ideal of the consumer society when the post-socialist Serbian society took a neoliberal political course. Despite some changes that mainly relate to the place and way of celebration, the very essence of this social practice has not been drastically changed. In this paper, we are trying to consider the role of birthday celebrations in Belgrade in the context of current economic, social and cultural circumstances.
POLITICS ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD. AN OVERVIEW OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND SPORT IN SERBIA
POLITICS ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD. AN OVERVIEW OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND SPORT IN SERBIA
(POLITICS ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD. AN OVERVIEW OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND SPORT IN SERBIA)
- Author(s):Ivan Đorđević
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Anthropology, Political Theory
- Page Range:153-177
- No. of Pages:25
- Keywords:Serbia; former Yugoslavia; football; ideology; socialism; postsocialism
- Summary/Abstract:This paper focuses on the historical context of the interrelation of sports and ideology in Serbia. Firstly, it focuses on the period between the end of WWII and the end of the 1980s, as well as on the role of sports in the activities of the communist and socialist ideology in Yugoslavia. Secondly, it demonstrates the ways in which football fans assumed the role of the carriers of nationalistic ideology in the political occurrences of the final decade of the twentieth century. The third segment of the paper brings into focus the activities of football fans in the new millennium when, after the wars of the 1990s, Serbia, at least nominally, became a state that internalizes “European values“, and ensured its position of an EU-acceding country. The central argument of the paper refers to the historically conditioned positioning of football fans that, as a group, still hold the role of an important political actor. They simultaneously act as subjects of the neo-liberal politics of the European periphery and keepers of the “national spirit“, which can be let out of the bottle again, if and when needed.
MMORPGS AND NATIONALISM
MMORPGS AND NATIONALISM
(MMORPGS AND NATIONALISM)
- Author(s):Ljiljana Gavrilović
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences, Nationalism Studies
- Page Range:179-206
- No. of Pages:28
- Keywords:MMORPG; World of Warcraft; nationalism
- Summary/Abstract:Communities which form within the worlds of digital games, especially MMORPGs are, in theory, a-national, because the basic premise of digital worlds is their limitlessness and the overcoming of boundaries that exist in the physical world. Gamers from different European countries are based on servers which are designated as international (English language European servers), these people speak different languages, but English is the default lingua franca. Even though it is generally assumed that most guilds (communities) on these servers are international, there is also a strong tendency to form "national" guilds, comprised of gamers who speak the same native language. On the one hand, this is the consequence of the desire for better/easier understanding and communication within the community, but – as analyses of gamer behaviour on Chinese and Taiwanese servers show – also the assumption of shared cultural preferences, that serve to enhance the internal cohesion of the community. “National” guilds will often recruit members by publishing calls in their native language on public channels, which serves to deter anyone who doesn't speak the language in question. In these cases it is irrelevant where (in which country) the players are physically based, as the national borders are equated with the boundaries of language. This paper will analyze recruiting messages published by “national” guilds, the behaviour/attitudes of the players and the discussions of ethnic/national issues on public channels and social networks in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. The data shows that, regardless of the assumed lack of borders in digital worlds, boundaries in online spaces are often set in accordance with ideas about nations that players have in the physical world. On the other hand, there is the possibility that some gamers, through meeting and conversing with people from different countries and cultures in the digital world, correct and change the attitudes they formed in their physical surroundings, which then serves to facilitate their joining international communities, as well as diminishing ethnic barriers in the “real” world.
SOME BASIC FACTORS OF PILGRIMAGE IN CONTEMPORARY SERBIA
SOME BASIC FACTORS OF PILGRIMAGE IN CONTEMPORARY SERBIA
(SOME BASIC FACTORS OF PILGRIMAGE IN CONTEMPORARY SERBIA)
- Author(s):Biljana Anđelković
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Comparative Studies of Religion
- Page Range:207-229
- No. of Pages:23
- Keywords:pilgrimage tourism; pilgrims; monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church; Serbia
- Summary/Abstract:Pilgrimage tourism in Serbia represents a developed, yet highly unregulated activity. Seeing as official tourist organizations, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) or the state take no part in its development, it mostly takes place within the “gray zone”. A lack of control over this activity leaves tour guides and organizers of pilgrimage tours with a lot of leeway in choosing the sacred places which will be visited and narratives utilized during the trips. This kind of “liberty” in (re)presentation is reflected in very uneven concepts of SOC sacred places among pilgrims, as well as in different religious practices in them. In this paper I will present the results of research conducted between 2013 and 2017 on pilgrimage tours in Serbia. The aim of the paper is to point out the most important traits of contemporary pilgrimage in Serbia – ways of organizing, the structure of pilgrim groups, the kinds of narratives used on these voyages, as well as the role and significance that pilgrimages had in the process of “spiritual growth” of traditional orthodox believers.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
(LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS)
- Author(s):Author Not Specified
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Anthropology, Social Sciences
- Page Range:231-237
- No. of Pages:7
