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The article studies the functions of “the ritual speech”, dwelling more specifically on one of its forms – “the ritual dialogue”. By analysing the ritual situation, the ritual personages and the verbal formulae, used in the ritual dialogue, the author comes to the conclusion that it performs various functions, whose number is predetermined by the polysemantic character of the ritual speech as a whole.
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This paper is an attempt to give an answer to the question as to why and how the new political and social conditions of postsocialism have proved to be a fertile soil for the development of chalga, at a point, when culture has been in decline. The other question, to which an answer has been sought in the article, is what the functions of chalga are in the everyday culture of the Bulgarian people. Against the background of political developments, the path of the chalga has been followed as a symbolic and ritual phenomenon, associated with the holidays in everyday culture. Having succeeded in getting the upper hand in mass taste, it has broadened its functions: it has been appearing both in the concert halls and over the electronic media. It also became a component part of the mass protest movements in 1997. By way of the sound-recording equipment, chalga is likewise becoming established as a production and commercial product. In conclusion, it has been pointed out that chalga has been well received at holidays, but its attempt to become art are disputable and contradictory.
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Book Review - Juliana Roth. Blichwechsel. Beitrage zur Kommunikation swischen den Kulturen. Munchener Beitrage zur Interkulturellen Kommunikation. Band 15. Waxmann 2003
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REVIEWS AND CRITICISM
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In the development of the ornamentation down the ages some changes in the functions, the selection of the motives, their senses and interpretation, accompanied by relative stability in the structure are seen. The latter follows certain principles in its concrete manifestations. All of them characterize the formal construction convention of the motives, tendency towards geometrizing, rhythm, reiteration, antithesis, symmetry. These formal characteristics strive for an adequate expression of a system based on stable structures, in whose initial schemes the global cosmic order is coded. The dominant factor in the ornamental construction is above all the organization of the elements imposing conditional plastic decision, absence of narrative elements, subordination of the motive content to the structure. The ornamental order itself becomes an expression of organization and harmony, of the positive and the valuable matter. Most probably as an opposite of the chaos, then unorganized and the indistinct matter it causes positive emotions and aesthetic attitude. This positive reaction of the arranged structures is important for the aesthetic effect of the ornamentation - in its' development the aesthetic function becomes a dominant one and seeks for artistic means of expression in the frames of the organizing structures already known.
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In the mythological content of the tale "The three brothers and the golden apple" there are three layers. The first one contains universal elements of the myth (Journey to the underworld; fight with the dragon; struggle between life and death etc.) Two types of the universal myth element "marvellous tree" are presented — tree of life (the golden apple) and tree (in the second part of the tale). The first type bears regional Balkan specificity. The theriomorphic characters belong to the layer full of national specificity. They are strongly connected with the topical mythical beliefs of other nations. The key symbol is the golden apple. It is considered emblematical for the fabulous type in its' Balkan version and according to it the latter is assigned not to the main sort of the international fabulous type AT 301 but to the alternative one. The primary senses in the semantic register of the golden apple are fertility and continuity of life by means of its endless triumphs over death. The fruit golden apple is a semantic equivalent of the protagonists' maturity and readiness for marriage. The initial absence of the apple corresponds to the social and biological status of the character, his unripeness and his condition of the youngest son. The finding of the marvellous fruit (after series of adventures and heroic episodes) is in line with the new social status, wife and maturity gained by him. The sexual symbolism of this fabulous element is shown more clearly in its realizations in other parts of Bulgarian, Greek and Roumanian folklore. The golden fruit is also a poetic metaphor of longing for love typical for growing up and maturing individuality, to whom the fabulous message is addressed. The implied identification of the addressee and the protagonist delicately carries the moral suggestion that the spiritual steadiness is a pledge for the individuals' recognition. The stress on the fantastic nature of the golden apple is the point where the tale, resting on the mythological, moves away and overcomes it. Exactly the fabulous stylization converts the golden apple into image of the achieved unachievable—an episode of the great optimistic saga of life—the fairy tale.
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MUSEUM Let's put the advertisement in a box (Exhibition "Put in a box" in the National museum of folk arts and traditions, Paris, October the 7th 1994 — April the 17th 1995)
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One of the socio-cultural manifestations of the change after November the 10th 1989 is the great amount of graphites on the walls of administrative and residental buildings, monuments, underpasses, fences etc. The article presents an attempt for characterization of the graphites in Sofia, particularly these from the two „hottest" places of the capitals' centre — the former Mausoleum of Georgy Dimitrov and the Monument of the Soviet Army. The graphites had always been connected with the sub-culture of the young people, with their adherence to favourite pop groups or football teams. Nowadays they are strongly affected by the politics. The author presents the findings of an inquiry that gives if not exact at least approximate idea of the way people treat the wall-writing and drawing, the graphites themselves, their authors, the objects of this kind of creation etc. The content of the graphites is analysed. The main conclusion of the research is that despite of their at first sight insignificant role in the political life of the country the graphites are in a position to be a reference point in the development of certain trends and they even are able to predict some events.
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