A vallási néprajz meghonosítója és megújítója: Bálint Sándor kutatói szemléletéről
The originator and innovator of religious ethnography. On the research approach of Sándor Bálint

Author(s): Gábor Barna
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Customs / Folklore, History of Religion
Published by: Fórum Kisebbségkutató Intézet
Summary/Abstract: Sándor Bálint was an excellent and sharp-eyed field researcher. This may have played a role in the fact that, coming from a peasant family, he was able to observe the individual in his social environment and his culture from both the inside (emic) and the outside (etic). He did not write theoretical studies, but he introduced changes in perspective that were ahead of his time. His roots lead back to the Franciscan peasant tradition of Szeged-Alsóváros. This was shaped into a conscious worldview by later studies and the influence of Christian social teaching. His thematic innovative proposals have now been incorporated into scientific thinking. The concept of people is used in a broad sense today; the pilgrimage is one of the most prosperous, and even traditional, areas of ethnographic/religious ethnographic research at home and abroad; a number of books testify to the examination of the functioning and social role of „holy men”; and several authors have also dealt with the relationship between the individual and the community; Ethnographers and art historians analyze the role of small icons and tarpaulins in everyday life.

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