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English is a global language, and probably already spoken at a great deal at International American Studies conferences without being officialized. Making English the official language of these conferences is, in diplomatic terms, too aggressive; it will imply that a scholarly contribution by a native speaker of English has more global impact and higher quality than by a scholar who does not ‘speak American’. As the author of Weird English (Harvard University Press, 2004), a book that chronicles how English can be combined with foreign languages, I am aware of the virtues of English as a bridge language. But here, as in Weird English, I argue for multilingualism. The American experience is no longer monolingual for anyone. Some English will naturally occur in critiques about America, but imposing a rule that English should be used excludes many scholars. And it may cause a decline in the imaginative and creative potential of American studies scholarship.Across the globe, scholars have critiqued America in any language with occasional English to fill in the holes during translation. Journals (for instance Transtext(e)s/Transcultures) that publish essays in a number of languages are gaining popularity. Critiques of America, from the popular to the academic, are also viewed or read in many languages. Dubbed versions of Borat are causing international buzz. Jean Baudrillard’s America and Tzvetan Todorov’s The Conquest of America had large impact in their original language. And countless scholars have been obsessed with defining Americanness, without even approaching the fluency of Nabokov and his linguist Lolita. For such critiques, we don’t need language requirements. History has shown that people can offer insights into a culture without being fluent in that culture’s language.
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The article deals with the traditional costume worn in the course of calendar festivals and the feast marking the end of the harvest among a Croatian subethnic group in the region of Bačka (county of Vojvodina) in Serbia. The traditional costume carries an important symbolic meaning in the process of revitalising customs and, as such, it represents an ethnocultural identity marker of the group. The customs analysed have undergone a great revival in the past twenty years, being observed in certain calendar periods or on specific days during the ritual year, such as the central cultural and social event – the prelo (spinning bee) in the winter period of Shrovetide, and the Pentecost pageant called kraljice, as well as on the occasion of the Dužijanca, a celebration marking the end of the harvest among the Bunjevci Croats in the region of Bačka, which has existed as a public event for over a century. The article is based on the actual field data gathered by the author and her associates.
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Predmet rada je specifičnost frazeologije, formirane oko orijentalne leksike nasljeđene iz prošlih vremena i posebno postojane u sandžačkim govorima. Rad je koncipiran na situativno-tematskom principu i ima za cilj da pokaže kako jedan segment jezika može biti valjan pokazatelj ne samo posebnosti i originalnosti, već i susretanja različitih kultura i suživota različitih naroda.
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The paper analyzes the сharm function symbols traditional folk dress and sign function Cossack dress as a national symbol. The author stresses that the final status of a national symbol of Ukrainian national clothes came in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ototozhnyvshys particular mythological figure of the beloved folk hero – Zaporozhye Cossacks.
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The article Mythical consciousness as a philosophical problem is an attempt to analyze the subjective reflection of a myth that is concentrated on such notions as: “mythical consciousness”, “mythical imagination”, “mythical thought” or “logic of myth”. The analysis shows the main theses and problems of subjective reflection of the myth, based on philosophical theories (E. Cassirer, L. Kołakowski) and also on the concepts which developed in the area of the cultural anthropology (B. Malinowski, L. L´evy-Bruhl, J.G. Frazer, C. L´evi-Strauss).
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This research was done as a part of the project Orient and Occident in Georgian Folktales: Oral and Literary Traditions [FR 217488], supported by Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation Georgia. During the Eighteenth Century, a romantic philosophical phenomenon about the “orient” kindled major interest in literary works such as The Thousand Nights and a Night, which Jean Antoin Galland translated into French in 1704 and the following years. The enthusiasm with which Galland’s translation has received among the general European public signaled the adoption of this Eastern narrative anthology in the West. Western translators and editors of “The Thousand and One Night” added new texts to their European editions, for example, “Aladdin and the Wonder Lamp”, “Ali-Baba and the forty thieves”, “The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou”, “The Voyages of Sindbad” etc. They are not original stories of “The Thousand and One Night” but they are included in further collected fairy-tale-books by European editors. What is Arabian folktale? Are “Arabian nights” and “Arabian folktales” synonyms? What form of interaction is between Arabian folktales and Arabian literature?According to Hasan El-Shamy, The narrating of folktales survived almost exclusively outside the main stream of the literature. In Arab-Islamic cultures, three categories of narrative traditions may be designated: 1) formal religious– historical stories; 2) semi-literary narratives of folk extraction re-worked by literate editors and redactors, and 3) folk-oral tales, which remained unrecorded. The contents of each of these repertoires constitute a cognitive sub-system; the narrator of each is typically cast in a specialized role which specifies a set of behavioral expectations with a corresponding status. The fairy tales belong to the women repertoire. However, a dynamic relationship of exchange exists among these repertoires; some folk legends have been “institutionalized” into formal religious literature; while a few literary stories may have been adopted by oral tale tellers. In this respect, each narrative category constitutes a repertoire of latent traditions for the others, awaiting adoption. Yet, each remains distinct, independent and autonomous in its own right. Muslim theologians specified that narrating must be confined to “truthful” accounts of events and that a qissah (story) must be used for didactic-religious or ethical purposes. Typically, adult male narrators prefer to tell the religious, philosophical, or otherwise serious qissah, and refrain from narrating the haddûtah (fantasy tales, novella, and formula tales). Muslim bibliographers call khurâfât predominantly entertaining narrative works such as the Persian hazâr ‘afsâneh (a thousand myths), and the Arabic Alf laylah wa Laylah (A Thousand Nights and a Night). These and similar anthologies contained narratives typi cally labeled khurâfât, a term which denotes the fantastic and unbelievable, and, in this respect, is akin to the Greek term mythos after Christianity had been embraced. Curiously enough, some tales which are highly recurrent in various parts of the Arab world are absent from the native editions of “The Thousand and One Night”. These include wonder tales as ATU 327B The Children and the Ogre ATU 403 The Black and the White Bride. Ugly bride substituted for beautiful bride ATU 408 The Three Oranges. The quest for the Orange Princess. The false bride ATU 432 The Prince as Bird ATU 450 Little Brother and Little Sister. They flee from home; brother transformed into deer, sister nearly murdered by jealous rivals ATU 480 The Spinning Women by the Spring. The Kind and Unkind Girls. Ogress rewards the kind stepsister and punishes the unkind 511A The Little Red Ox. Cow helps orphans (brother and sister). More similarities between “The Thousand and One Night” and folktales we see in the subcategory of realistic tales. According to the “Index of AT Tale-Types in Major European Translations of the Arabian Nights” by Ulrich Marzolph, the most coincidences of Arabian Nights with folktale-types are in the area of realistic tales (novella) and anecdotes. The visible example of a literary plot in oral traditions is a story about the noblest act, included in “The Thousand and One Night”. This story forms part of the narrative cycle en framed by “The Forty Viziers”. It is told by the ruler’s wife to urge him to take action. The sultan of Egypt, feels that his end is drawing near. The sultan tells his sons that he has deposited a box with jewels that they should divide among themselves. When he has died, the youngest son steals the box. His brothers soon find it, but it is empty. They consult the qadi, and he tells them a story. A young woman who is deeply in love with her cousin is married to someone else. On the wedding night, the young woman confesses her love to her husband and is generously allowed to visit her beloved. On the way she is spared by a thief who follows the example of her husband’s generosity; the lover is also impressed and sends her back to her husband. After finishing the story, the qadi asks them which of the three men was the most generous. While the two eldest sons choose the lover, the youngest son chooses the thief and thereby discloses his guilt.This tale with both its characteristic frame story and the en framed narrative corresponds to the international tale type ATU 976: Which was the noblest act? On their wedding night, a man allows his bride to visit her former lover, in order to keep a promise, she had made previously or, according to some oral variants, to cancel the engagement. On her way she meets a robber. When she tells him her story, he leaves her unmolested. When her lover hears about her bridegroom’s and robber’s magnanimity, he takes her back to her bridegroom without touching her. In some variants the tale occurs in conjunction with a frame tale that deals with the discovery of a thief. Three (four) sons inherit jewelry from their father. The money is stolen by one of the brothers. The robbed owners call a wise man (judge, king, Solomon), who is to discover the thief. The wise man (or his daughter) then starts to tell the story. The thief betrays himself unconsciously when he answers the question, “Who acted in the noblest way?” He argues that the robber in the story was the most noble one or he answers other questions in a revealing manner. According to the folklorists’ researches and “Arabian Nights Encyclopedia”, this tale-type originates from India. Its oldest version, dating from the third century C.E., is included in the Buddhist “Tripitaka”. Other early versions are contained in the Indian collection “Vetalapancavimsatika” (The Ocean of Streams of Stories), as well as in the various redaction of the “Tuti-name”. In European tradition, the tale was popularized by Boccaccio’s “Decameron”. Its version in Chauser’s Franklin’s Tale probably derives from French models. The tale about a contest in generosity is included in French editions of Oriental tales“Le cabinet des fées, ou collection choisie des contes des fées, et autres contes merveilleux” (1786). The tale is called as Histoire du Sultan Aqschid. The same story is included in the English book “Tales of the East, comprising the most popular romances of Oriental origin and the best imitations by European authors” by Henry Weber (1812). In this edition is prefixed an introductory dissertation, containing an account of each work and of its author or translator. “The History of Sultan Aqschid” is a part of cycle of “Turkish tales”.In further French editions, the tale about a contest in generosity is a part of the narrative cycle “Charming Tales of Careless Youth”. In the Joseph Charles Mardrus’s version of the late nineteenth century, there is a tale of Habib and Habiba, two cousins in Bagdad. The two grow up together and are in love, but then Habiba is married to another man. When she cries on her wedding night, her Husband allows her to take her cousin as her lover. Subsequently she is reunited with Habib. This Tale does not feature in the standard Arabic manuscripts of the Arabian Nights. According to Chauvin, Mardrus has appropriated the tale from an unknown source. The tale’s basic structure corresponds to the en framed narrative in the international tale-type ATU 976: Which Was the Noblest Act? In German versions of Oriental tales, this tale-type is included in the narrative cycle of “the Forty Viziers”, which denotes a frame story that corresponds to the story of “Craft and Malice of Woman”, although it contains different tales. The Story of the “Forty Viziers” is found only in the Stuttgart/Pforzheim edition of Gustav Weil’s German translation, included as part of the “Thousand and One Night”. In a footnote, the translator declares that in the Arabic text this story cannot be found in this place, but that he included it for the sake of “completeness” on the basis of other sources. Next to literary versions, the tale-type ATU 976 is spread in folklore of Europe, Asia and South America too. There exist Scottish, Irish, Slovenian, Russian, Turkish, Jewish, Armenian, Kazakh, Turkmen, Tadzhik, Iranian, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Chilean, Argentine versions. This folktale-type is spread in Georgian folklore too. The plot of the contest in generosity became very attractive theme in literary novels and cinematography of the twelfth century. A short story by Tawfq al-Hakim, Egyptian Writer, and a film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Indian film director, are based on the teletype ATU 976. Oral traditions and literary traditions belong to parallel categories of traditions.Each of the two types of narrative traditions belongs to a separate cognitive system. Oriental-Occidental plot parallels show an intensive internalization of folktale types. They also give information about the relationship between literary and oral traditions.
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The article analyzes the terms used to denote Udmurt aerophones in different local traditions. An etymological analysis of the names of musical instruments demonstrates that some of them are Permic in origin (as a rule, in the Northern Udmurt tradition) while the rest derive from Turkic languages (in the tradition of southern Udmurts, including the speakers of peripheral dialects, and of the Besermyans).
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Numerous researches of the art of music in a regional aspect have become one of the priority directions of the Ukrainian musical science. It is an important constituent of an objective representation of musical artistic achievements in the national and foreign musical world. Elucidation of the musical process in villages, towns and cities of Ukraine (socio-locuses – V.Kulyk) is quite necessary for a revival of our national musical gains, which in the period of the Soviet musical historiography were analysed insufficiently. The topicality of regional researches lies in a possibility of reproducing the history of Ukrainian music in all its versatility and integrity in counterbalance to the typical for the previous decades fragmentariness. Investigation of forms and peculiarities of the music life of cities and towns of Ukraine, cognition of their sense relatedness in the context of peculiarities of the national mentality predetermines a basis for the scientific conception of regional scientific investigations of the present day Ukrainian musical science. The direction of the vectors of the Ukrainian philosophical, culturological, socio-aesthetical thought, ethnomusicology, musical sociology at regional problems is predetermined by the present day socio-political conditions of democratization and humanization of social relations in Ukraine, the possibility of cities, towns and settlements of every region on the basis of an all-national program to revive many arts traditions of the past days. In such a way it becomes possible to learn concrete facts about the locality which has its own historical and cultural value but is not adjusted to the generally accepted scheme. It is worth while to mention works by such culturologists as V.Chernets, V.Leontiyeva, V.Lychkovakh as well as the historians P.Tronko, G.Samoilenko, M.Vodzinsky in the row of key papers on theoretical aspects of regional problems. Many scientific papers, specifically, by M.Zahaikevich, K.Shamayeva, O.Kononova,T. Martynyuk, V. Kuzyk, B. Filtz,V. Mitlytska, L.Kyianovska, O.Vasyuta, A.Lytvynenko and O.Shapovalova are dedicated to the problems of moulding regional arts environment as a systemic organization of musical culture. The goal of the article is elucidation of some ethno-regional aspects of the Ukrainian musicology in the context of systemic understanding of the national musical legacy. Musical regionalistics, as a comparatively young branch of Ukrainian musicology, dwells at the stage of forming scientific and practical context. Historically, being built up in the 1960-ies within historical musicology at the beginning of the XXI century it became a complex direction of researches not only of the musical culture of major cities, such as Kyiv, Kharkov, Lviv, Odessa, but also of small towns and villages of Ukraine, as "cultural socio-locuses" in which there exist artistic forms of creative activities of their inhabitants belonging to both professionals and amateurs: composers, singers, musical instrument players, choire, orchestra, dancing groups of educational and cultural establishments. The term belongs to the researcher V.Kuzyk, who for the first time adapts the theory of cultural localization on the national Ukrainian ground from the position of historical and political statehood. A considerable part of regional problems is the study of musical local lore, in the field of whose investigation lies finding and working out of local musical lore material (archives, mass media, publicism, private documents of cultural workers); interaction of the material-natural (architectural edifices, the landscape of the town) and spiritual and cultural (art traditions in a historical aspect, polyethnical structure of the population, renditorial and composer activities) factors in the musical surroundings of the town, as well as forms of participation of its citizens in local designs and arrangements (urban, regional, national, international competitions and festivals, fairs, concerts, calendar and folk ritual festivities). In such a way a revival of culture and arts connections of generations is exercised, whose natural evolution had been broken by the pre-programmed policy of the totalitarian epoch. In the categorial and conceptual sphere of music folklore the term "musical surroundings" is being widely spread. It is a totality of all the musical aspects of the culture of a town (village, region), which is formed due to the activities of professional and amateur musicians, representatives of the academic and folk musical culture. Understanding (comprehension) of its essence is conducive to the cognition of social experience of nations, historical and cultural memory of ethno-communities, gives an opportunity to find out local-regional peculiarities of musical life of certain socio-locuses. Symptoms of its formation and development are historical continuity in preservation of musical values; the dynamics of music movement in the dialectics of traditions and innovating; reproductive and creative activities of citizens directed on creating and dissemination of music aesthetic values ; existence of establishments of culture and education as places of materialization by subjects of musical creative activity (renditional and composer’s). An essential factor of the musical environment is the musical art as a philosophical category of culturewhich influences the inner spiritual life of people, as a psychological necessity of the nation, indicator of social maturity, synthethizer of artistic experience. Thus, the regional direction of investigations of Ukrainian musicology at the present day stage is characterized by cognition of forms of music life of a small town, attracts researchers’ attention by idiosyncratic manifestations of folk and professional creativeness in it, which organically and harmoniously fits in the all-national space of Ukraine, European and world musical culture.
More...Elisabeth Piirainen
Elisabeth Piirainen (12 January 1943 – 29 December 2017). Obituary by Anneli Baran.
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Winged words are combinations of lexical items which can be attributed to a given source. There are two main types of such word combinations: intercultural units, found in a number of languages, and intracultural ones, i.e. the units which are language-specific and are not present in other languages. The focal issue of the paper is the translation of intracultural winged words. Such items are bound to pose a number of problems in the process of translation. First of all, they belong to so-called phraseological lacunae; second, many of them are due to the cultural connotations which they evoke in the native users of a given source language. Therefore, there are no equivalents in the target language. Moreover, many units are not included in bilingual lexicographic works. As a consequence, the translator has to decide on a technique to deal with intracultural winged words. In order to do so, a multiaspectual analysis of a given occurrence of intracultural units has to be conducted to interpret the intratextual and extratextual factors. The analysis is necessary to determine the parametres important for choosing the most adequate technique. Selected case studies of Polish phraseological units are discussed to shed light on the complex phenomenon.
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The polyphony this journal produces in its second volume reveals that it is possible to implement an approach that presents the voices of various individuals, and representatives of different groups of Bulgarians whom, wherever they live, find a way to show their regard towards the motherland. Certain studies in the volume are focused on the topic of the preservation and presentation of the cultural heritage. In my opinion, it is hard to distin¬guish the Bulgarian cultural heritage among the particular migrant commu¬nities, more specifically in Europe, since most of these groups haven’t had time to create their shared past – communicated and valued in all the forms that could be recognized as a heritage. The commemoration of Bulgarian National Days, celebrations of important holidays or days of the calendar and even the erection of a monument (in most cases of Vassil Levski) main¬ly serve the community needs of social interactions and social integration within the group and the host society. But to a small extent, these events create forms of cultural heritage. The integration of the group – through festive events, through school education and church liturgies supports its visibility and creates connections. Also, the activeness in the organization of events is valued as important since it demonstrates identity. According to the researchers specifically, the events of the Bulgarian communities abroad assist the promotion of the “Bulgarian businesses” or the so-called ethnic entrepreneurship. The existence of ethnic entrepreneurship not only reveals the achievements of the Bulgarians abroad but it also aids the creation of job opportunities for next generations of migrants.
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The author analyzes the Chronicle as an exceptionally important source for the study of the germs of ethnological thought among Croats. Although created in the remote 13th century, the Chronicle reveals some of its author’s preoccupations which have parallels in contemporary ethnology. Among other things, Toma Archdeacon was interested in the elthnogenesis of Croats. He attempted to solve the riddle with the help of Various written sources, oral traditions and partly by own speculations. His methods reveal a serious and honest approach to solving problems. An interesting part of the Chronicle contains an exhaustive description of the Tatars, being the oldest account on a foreign people in Croatian historical literary sources.
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The Rroma population represents the largest minority population in Romania. Published research so far regarding healthcare needs and cultural particularities of this population are scarce and lack continuity. This increases the risk of cultural insensitivity when healthcare is provided to patients who belong to this ethnic minority. At the end of life, psychological and spiritual suffering of the Rroma is polymorphic, and identifying the factors that generate this suffering, linked to the beliefs, traditions and Romani culture, is essential in order to insure optimal support at the end of life to the Rroma patients.
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Das Ziel dieses Aufsatzes war nicht ein Aufzählen einzelner ethnographischer Tatsachen, sondern daš Aufzeigen einer der möglichen Interpretierung ethnologischer Karten. Solche Interpretationen gehören noch der Zukunft an. Die Richtigkeit solcher Arbeitsweise und derer Schlussfolgerungen wird erst dann bestätigt werden können, wann die Karten des ethnologischen Atlasses von Europa, bzw. die Karten der einzelnen Länder veröffentlicht werden. Die hier gezeigten Beispiele wurden mit einem gewissen Ziel ausgewählt. Ihre gemeinsame Charakteristik ist die übereinstimmende Verbreitung in Jugoslawien. Diese Beispiele sind: 1) ein besonderer Jochtypus, 2) die Verbindung des Joches mit der Deichsel mit Hilfe eines eisernen Ringes, 3) Dreschen m it: a) einem flachen Stab, b) einem Jochteil, 4) Jahresfeuer zu Neujahr, d.h. am 1.1. 5) Maskenumzüge zu Neujahr, d.h. am 1.1. Die charakteristiche Verbreitung dieser Beispiele zwingt zur Annahme, dass dieser gesamte Raum einst allem Anschein nach einem Kulturraum angehörte. Wer die Träger der Kulturen waren, die sich auf diesem Raum ablösten, zu welcher Zeit diese Kulturen existierten, was ihr Inhalt war, und aus welcher Zeit der einzelne dieser Elemente stammt, kann heute noch nicht gesagt werden. Die wenigen hier gezeigten kartographisch bearbeiteten Angaben lassen jedoch erahnen, dass hier einst eine Bevölkerung lebte, die Rinder zum Ziehen, und wohl auch zum Pflügen benutzte, die irgendein Getreide anbaute das man drosch, und in derer Glaubensvorstellung das Neujahr irgendeine Funktion hatte.
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Review of: Dioszegi Vilmos, "A honoglalo Magyarsag hitvilaganak torteneti retegei a vilagfa", Godišnjak grupe etnografskih istraživača Madjarske znanstvene akademije, Budimpešta, 1969, 322 pp.; by: Matilda Crnković
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Not long ago lime stone was the only building material used in the region of Ravni Kotari, which is understandable since the area is very rich in it. Apart from stone, wood was an indispensable building material, but it was used very sparingly, only in small quantities. It was made use of for roof constructions, floors, ceilings on houses with more than one story, and for partition walls. Partition walls were also made of wicker work (made by interweaving vine stems between vertical wood stakes). Stone was obtained from trimming (which wasn't always necessary) took place on the building site. It depended on which final dimensions were needed. Due to this practice we find buildings made of irregular pieces arranged one above the other, as well as houses made of almost artistically cut stone pieces. Techniques applied in building were: a) a "suhozid" technique (without the use of connecting material) b) a "živi zid" technique (with the use of connecting material, such as mortar). The oldest reliable evidence of human presence in the region of Ravni Kotari goes back to the Neolithic period. Traces of human accommodation have been discovered but we cannot find out what sort of buildings these were. There are many more finds of Illyric buildings constructed in "suhozid" technique. Croats, after their arrival in these parts, adopted elements of the oldest, pre-Roman construction. Although there are certain references to timber buildings in this region in the Roman times, there are no archaeological finds supporting them.
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Folk ballad of immurement or as it is known Ballad of walled-up wife, considered as one of the folklore pearls, despite its early presence in the spiritual culture of the populations, continues to preoccupy folklorists and scholars of literary science. Its presence in the folklore of the Balkan populations, because it was related with legends known about many buildings in the Balkan countries, have provoked always scholars of this region to treat it, aiming to prove its autochthonic version as vision of their own culture (according to theory of monogenesis). Such approach no doubt that was criticized from non-Balkanic scholars, who proved the origin of this ballad far from the Balkan region. In this paper I will focus in some interpretations, the known and unknown one, with the idea to see the complexity of the origin issue of a folk creation in its entirety.
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Proponents of application of so called audit culture criteria onto activities of Serbian academic community are guided by the principle that not only is everything subject to measuring, but that it is the only way to determine the "objective" results of a particular institution or individual. However, because of the absence of an exact method for such "measuring", they refer to standards and parameters which they either proclaim themselves, or adopt from foreign institutions, often tailoring them to suit their own political purposes in the process of alleged "imposing order" in scientific and professional activity of the academic community. Members of the academic community and their particular work are left unconsidered by those scientific and educational "reformists", or at least invisible in respective regulations. Bearing in mind that current legal regulations in the area of higher education state that external evaluation is preceded by process of self-evaluation of a particular institution, I propose methodology for identification of the real work-load of University professors, with regard to their obligations stemming from the employment contract, Law on University, and Statute of the Faculty. All this is based on personal records of duties and on the calculation of time that was needed to fulfill those duties in a professional and quality manner during one academic year.
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