МАШКАТА ВОКАЛНА ТРАДИЦИЈА ОД СЕЛО ИСТИБАЊА, ВИНИЧКО

Author(s): Alexander Dimitrijevski / Language(s): Macedonian Issue: 22/2023

The village of Istibanja, Vinica region is an example of a village with a very strong connection with tradition and there is an active performance of customs throughout the year. This paper will present a part of the vocal tradition from this village, which represents a particularly significant fragment of the complexity and richness of Macedonian musical folklore. The focus of the paper will be on the male vocal tradition in which two-part singing occupies a special place. Special attention will be given to the analysis of the musical characteristics of examples of male two-part songs.

ТРАГОВИ КУЛТА ЖЕНСКОГ АГРАРНОГ БОЖАНСТВА У БАЛКАНСКОЈ ТРАДИЦИОНАЛНОЈ КУЛТУРИ

Author(s): Dejan Krstić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 22/2023

This paper points out to traces of a former developed cult of a female agrarian deity in the area of the Balkan Peninsula, especially in its middle part. This is done by comparative analysis of folklore material (certain types of etiological stories and field labor and Christmas songs), traditional beliefs (about Saint Petka) and customs (elements of sowing, Christmas and slava customs, especially Christmas and slava ritual breads) as well as elements of some sacral architecture (cave churches). These traces are hidden behind following motifs: Petkana (a female mythological being whose name’s stem derives from Friday), Baba (mythological being), snake, underground (cave), Saint Petka, Mother of God, crops, harvest, a ritual bread – kolač. The last part of the paper indicates the similarities between this cult and cults of female agrarian deities in old Near East and European reli- 301 gions and traditional cultures, which brings us to a conclusion that it is about a cult that was a part of a wider Near East – European religious complex.

Wokół rzeczy ostatecznych. Obyczaje funeralne sowieckich elit partyjnych

Author(s): Krzysztof Jasiewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2023

Soviet funeral practices for members of the state elite are built on two factors. They use the achievements of antiquity and the Bible, and depend on the position of the deceased at the time of their death. On the one hand, ‘elite’ refers to the highest-ranked representatives of the Soviet authorities (primarily the fi rst secretaries of the party and marshals of the army and sometimes very meritorious activists). The custom of mummifi cation, which was taken from antiquity and the Bible, was used for Lenin and Stalin. However, what was done with the bodies of these two most important Soviets was actually thanatopraxis, which involves replacing blood in the bloodstream immediately after death by introducing in its place a fl uid with a strictly protected chemical composition that preserves the corpse from the inside. Piłsudski’s body was also subjected to thanatopraxis after death. This method is still used today by families of various magnates and of important mafi a people. The second factor is the evaluation of a given person by successors. When speaking of special burial sites, except for the two aforementioned fi gures, others were buried next to Lenin’s mausoleum (formerly, from 1953 to 1956, Lenin’s and Stalin’s, then only Lenin’s until modern times). All the fi rst/general secretaries of the Communist Party are buried there, except Nikita Khrushchev. He did not deserve a proper burial as he had thrown Stalin’s body out of the mausoleum into an earthen grave and revealed a veil of state secrets in a secret report on the cult of personality and its disastrous consequences on the party elite, which at that time had only been bestowed by Stalin. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. It is also a very prestigious burial place for many prominent Soviets. There are also several other Moscow necropolises, which served as the resting place of equally distinguished comrades as space at the Novodevichy Cemetery was reduced.

Wybrane ludowe wierzenia o zwierzętach domowych w polskiej frazeologii

Author(s): Olga Kielak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2022

Extending the boundaries of linguistic description by including the so-called “peri-linguistic” data, as practised in ethnolinguistic research, the paper analyses selected phraseological units with an animal component (expressions, nominal phrases and comparative expressions) and situates them in a broader cultural context. The examples selected for analysis demonstrate that phraseological expressions – constituting hard linguistic data which enable the “certification of features” – through the reconstructions of linguo-cultural representations provide access to “soft” (folkloristic and ethnographic) data. In addition, the conducted analyses confirm the prevalent opinion that phraseological units are an excellent source for research into traditional culture; they also encourage interdisciplinary research (at the border of linguistics and ethnography).

Poezja otwartych ran. Stygmateksty Teresy Ferenc

Author(s): Katarzyna Szopa / Language(s): Polish Issue: 46/2023

The article is an attempt at reading the poetry of Teresa Ferenc through the prism of feminist politics of mourning. Using Helene Cixous’s neologism “stigmatext,” I argue that the figure of an “open wound” constitutes Ferenc’s poetic imagination. This figure refers not only to the tragic event of pacification of Sochy – Ferenc’s family village – but also to the specifically understood relation with mother as is conceived in our culture. Motherhood functions here as a synecdoche of stigmatized otherness. From this point of view, poetry of open wounds emerges as an integral element of Ferenc’s ethical program,v which is opposed to the phallogocentric logic of war, death, and destruction.

Chwasty w polskiej kulturze ludowej

Author(s): Katarzyna Prorok / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2023

The aim of this article is to reconstruct the linguocultural worldview of weeds in the Polish folk tradition. The analysis of the rich source material collected in the file of the Dictionary of Folk Stereotypes and Symbols shows that the image of weeds is inhomogeneous. On the one hand, as wild plants that destroy crops, they functioned as symbols of uselessness and harmfulness, they were believed to come from the devil, and therefore numerous methods were used to eliminate them. On the other hand, they also had some practical, ritual, magical and healing uses, e.g. cornflower, poppy, cockle corn and bindweed were used as ornaments, and wreaths and bouquets were made of them; goosefoot, nettle and young thistle leaves were famine food; hepatitis was treated with couch grass tea, and prickly thistle and stinging nettles were put on the threshold as protection from witches. This multitude of functions is reflected in the categorisation of the plants – one plant could be considered by a farmer as a harmful weed and at the same time as a flower used for decoration or a herb when used in folk medicine or magic.

Historical Folk Sociolinguistics

Author(s): Dennis R. Preston / Language(s): English Issue: 6S/2023

This paper shows how the canonical definition of historical sociolinguistics as the study of language use fails to consider independent evidence for language attitudes, beliefs, and ideologies (i.e., language regard). One approach to avoiding this limited understanding of use might lie in a historical folk sociolinguistics, in which particular attention is paid to the nonasserted (i.e., indirect, presuppositional, implicational, perlocutionary) meanings, described in Preston (2004) as “metalanguage 3.” Interactions in drama are first justified as “good data,” and analyses of such nonasserted elements of utterances show that they approach both the social psychological goal of uncovering implicit language regard behaviors and the variationist goal of determining the subjective correlates of variation and change.

A kazár és a magyar törzsszervezet összevetése. A szakrális és a kettős uralmi rendszer kérdésének új megközelítése

Author(s): Attila KOVÁCS / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2022

Kanaryalar ve Son Dönem Osmanlı Kültür Hayatındaki Yerleri

Author(s): Ümüt Akagündüz / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 115/2023

This study evaluates the historical significance of canaries in human history as well as their position in late Ottoman culture and daily life. The relationship, that people have developed with nature since hunter-gatherer societies, has evolved to its present state by becoming integrated with the advancement of civilization. The genus Serinus, to which the canaries belong, and which is one of the original examples of this bond, has been in the field of interest of human relations and communications since early times. However, the original Serinus genre of the Canary Islands, was transformed into a capitalist consumption commodity as a result of new geographic discoveries in the XV and XVI centuries. Curiosity regarding canaries and their trade was met with interest in the Ottoman society too. The bonds that the nomadic Turks formed with animals and birds influenced Seljuk and Ottoman cultural elements, making the canary a part of Ottoman daily life. It is noteworthy that this creature was reflected in literary texts, folkloric elements, books, and archive documents with various narratives, particularly in the last years of the Ottoman Empire. This study is a qualitative inquiry into the history of the Canaries and how they influenced Ottoman cultural life. The data of the study were obtained from documents, books, and articles from the late XIX and early XX centuries, including today’s literature. This study reveals that throughout the course of human history, canaries have been subjected to cultural, economic, and aesthetic definitions and perceptions.

TÜRK TAKVİM MİTİ EKSENİNDE EVRENSELCİ DİKOTOMİNİN İZLERİ: ERGENEKON DESTANI ÖRNEĞİ

Author(s): Zeynep Seleme ALFEEL,Aynur Koçak / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 43/2023

The Ergenekon Epic is an important narrative in which the Turks melted the iron mountain and initiated rebirth. The significance of this epic arises from the fact that it is a narrative that determines both cosmogony and the calendar and time. This narrative, which reveals the beginning of spring with symbolic elements, is also accepted as the origin narrative of the Nevruz celebration, which holds an important place in Turkish culture. It is also possible to see traces of the Turks' understanding of universalist dichotomy in this narrative. The Turks became a society that developed their own dual collective philosophies and their own understanding of "wisdom" and their way of perceiving the world was also reflected in the narratives. According to the Turks' understanding, the universe was formed by the union of Earth and Sky. This merger is also the foundation of other beings. Although Earth and Sky are opposites, they originate from the same essence. One does not have superiority over the other; they complement each other, and the harmony they create together brings forth the birth of the universe. This understanding constitutes the “universalist dichotomy”. In this study, the concepts of time and calendar are briefly discussed, and the Turks' way of perceiving time and the calendars they create are mentioned. Then, the spring festivals, which have been considered sacred and celebrated throughout world history as a calendrical practice, are discussed. In the continuation of the article, the concept of the universalist dichotomy is emphasized. Afterwards, brief information about the Ergenekon Epic, which forms the main part of the article, is provided, and its summary is presented. In the last part, the symbols in the Ergenekon Epic belonging to the Göktürks are analyzed, and the analysis is completed by considering the epic in the context of the universalist dichotomy.

ŞAİR GÖZÜKARA’NIN KALEMİNDEN 6 ŞUBAT 2023’TE YAŞANAN KAHRAMANMARAŞ DEPREMİ

Author(s): Adnan BOYUNDURUK / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 43/2023

The tradition of minstrelsy is one of the most important living treasures of Turkish culture. During their life time, the representatives of this tradition expressed the pain, joy and longing, aesthetic and cultural values of the people through their works. Throughout history, many poets and minstrels such as Abdurrahim Karakoç, Ahmet Çıtak and Derdiçok have been raised in the town of Elbistan in Kahramanmaraş, which is a part of the Turkish cultural geography. Today, Mehmet Gözükara is one of the most important poets living in the district of Elbistan. In his works, the poet Gözükara expresses the failing aspects of society, his joys, longings and sorrows through his works. On February 6, 2023, there were two earthquakes, the epicenter of which was Kahramanmaraş. Hundreds of thousands of people migrated, tens of thousands of people died and various sufferings were experienced in this earthquake, which affected eleven provinces in Turkey. One of the centers affected by the earthquake disaster is the district of Elbistan. Poet Gözükara has written works in which he expresses his experiences in the district of Elbistan during the earthquake, what happened after the earthquake, the migrations due to the earthquake disaster, and the pain, desperation and feelings of hope of people as a result of migration. In the article, information about the life, works and poems of the poet Mehmet Gözükara, which he wrote after the earthquake disaster, was obtained during the interview with him. Poet Mehmet Gözükara improvisational poetry constitutes an example of the living artist type who expressed the problems of the people through his works.

In Memoriam. Barbu Ștefănescu (5 iulie 1953–16 februarie 2013): istoric al lumii rurale

Author(s): Toader Nicoară / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 43/2023

Ten years have passed since we parted with our colleague, the late teacher and researcher from Oradea, Barbu Ștefănescu. The idea of writing this essay, this evocation of a long and beautiful human and intellectual friendship came to me immediately after his sudden death. Barbu Ștefănescu was born in a village in Țara Hațegului, near Retezat Mountains, and he always identified with the world of his childhood: the village. Over time, he became one of the most prestigious historians of the Romanian rural world. As a museographer, he dealt with restorations, and as an ethnographer, with fieldwork and the collection of objects and traditions specific to the rural world of Crișana. Barbu Ștefănescu left behind a valuable historiographic work, which always deserves to be re-read and evaluated. What is also noteworthy is his interdisciplinary interest in the analysis of data obtained from history, ethnography, museology, archives and the remarkable use of a reading grid, proposed by the new history of the rural world.

KAZILIK KOCA OĞLU YEGENEK BOYU ÜZERİNE HERMENEUTİK BİR TAHLİL DENEMESİ

Author(s): Fatih Keskin / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 43/2023

The main theme of the Epic of Yegenek Son of Kazılık Koca, which is jointly included in the Dresden and Vatican copies of the Book of Dede Korkut, is the struggle of the hero to set his captive father from captivity. The behavior of Yegenek, who is the hero of the narrative, is different from that of his father, Kazılık Koca, his uncle Emen, and the twenty-four Oğuz Lords he took with him as fellow travelers. Reinforcing his physical and military power with positive values such as a strategic mind, unity consciousness, trust, and belief, Yegenek succeeded at what other Oghuz lords had failed to achieve and defeated Direk Tekür, son of Arşın. Thus, Yegenek stands out as the representative of a new hero type that brings together the previous generation of heroes within the framework of their own fighting methods. In addition, Yegenek's struggle contains intense references in terms of psychoanalysis and archetypal symbolism, as it bears the signs of the conflicts experienced by the individual in the process of existence. The aim of this study is to reveal the semantic world of The Epic of Yegenek, son of Kazılık Koca, based on the explicit and implicit references in the text. Therefore, in this study, Yegenek's adventure is subjected to an interdisciplinary hermeneutic reading process by making use of the data of the fields of study such as psychology, theology, and archetypal symbolism, as well as the literature, narrative, and folklore. Yegenek's struggle is considered as a part of Oğuz's collective existence struggle within the scope of the study; on the other hand, it is evaluated as the process of discovering the unconscious area of the individual and confronting the negative features that were previously attempted to be pushed into this area by the consciousness. In addition, the dream that Yegenek saw on his way to Düzmurd Castle, and which constitutes a secondary plane of reality in the narrative, is considered as one of the important stages of his initiation and reaching psychic integrity, and is examined within this framework.

MENÂKIBNÂMELERDE YASAK MOTİFİ ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME

Author(s): Harun Akçam / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 43/2023

Folk narratives establish a cultural relationship between texts thanks to the motifs they contain. Motifs are also present in different periods and different narratives as cultural carriers. Thus, the similarities and differences of folk narratives within the cultural geography can be determined. Based on these findings, academic studies are carried out. Menaqibnames are among the important works of storytelling, mostly as prose narratives in Sufi Folk Literature. Menaqibnames are not written only to describe the lives of the great religious leaders. At the same time, they have the aim of both spreading the cultures of the religious groups to larger areas and transferring them to the next generations. Thus, the awareness and permanence of these religious groups is ensured. In the study, the motif of taboo, which is one of the motifs seen in the menâkibnames, is emphasized and this motif, which is in the motif index of Stith Thompson, has been examined. Hacı Bektas-ı Veli, Kaygusuz Abdâl, Seyyid Ali Sultân and Abdâl Mûsâ menaqibnames were examined in the study. Based on this examination, it has been tried to determine how the functions of the menaqıbnames are established through motifs and how they are conveyed to the listeners or followers in this way.

ANADOLU SAHASI TÜRK HALK ŞİİRİNDE TURNA: DERDİÇOK ÖRNEĞİ

Author(s): Bedri Özçelik / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 43/2023

The Anatolian field of Turkish folk poetry, which was founded by the nomadicmarried Turks living in Central Asia by hunting and husbandry, and accepted as one of the cultural heritages of Turkish wisdom, is one of the literary assets that carry the material and spiritual values of the culture that survives in this geography from generation to generation and reflects the sense of beauty of the people. The nature which appears in the center of human life has influenced the formation and configuration of Turkish Folk Poetry tradition. The animals which are one of the main and natural elements of nature have been accepted as one of the most distinctive cultural dynamics of mankind since ancient times. The crane, which takes part in the animal world, is one of the bird species, and accepted as a connotation symbol in many fields of Turkish literature, has also been handled and processed as a common motif in Anatolian Turkish folk poetry. The use of crane motif as an image in Turkish folk poetry, which reflects the feelings, thoughts, and tastes of the Anatolian people and Derdiçok’s poems with crane motifs constitute the subject of this study. The aim of the study is determining the characteristics of the crane in the poems of Derdiçok, who is accepted as one of the well-known representatives of the Turkish folk poetry tradition of minstrel style and in Turkish folk poetry that emerged, developed and matured in this geography, and contributing to the field by interpreting these texts. In this study, it has been determined that the crane is discussed with its beauty, its resemblance to a lover, and the qualification of bringing news in various verse forms and types of Turkish folk poetry tradition. In addition to this, information about the life of Derdiçok, who lived in the AfşinElbistan Cultural Basin in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century, was given, and the content analysis of his poems with crane motif was made. After all, it has been seen that the crane takes place in Derdiçok's poems, with its features in Anatolian field Turkish folk poetry; at the same time the poet's didactic poems in which he gave advice to the cranes in order to be vigilant against their enemies, as well as his conversational poems in which he communicated with them were determined, and all his poems with crane motifs were analysed.

Trepetnicele și divinația fiziognomonică în cultura populară română la începuturile modernității (sec. XVIII–începutul sec. XIX): observații preliminare

Author(s): Alexandru-Florin Platon / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 43/2023

Les « trepetnic » (du mot slave trepet qui signifie « spasme ») sont des prédictions déduites des mouvements incontrôlables des membres du corps, interprétés comme étant des signes à caractère divin. Ce sont des textes rédigés en forme de liste, où chaque partie du corps est énumérée de haut en bas, depuis la tête jusqu’aux doits des pieds, le spasme de chaque membre étant mis en corrélation avec un présage particulier. Ce type de prédictions fait partie de la palmomantie—catégorie divinatoire très ancienne, d’origine assyro- babylonienne, qui est passée, au cours des siècles, par l’entremise de la culture hellénistique, dans le monde slave des Balkans et de la Russie. Dans les Pays Roumains, la littérature palmomantique provient du monde slave des Balkans, le document le plus ancien appartenant à cette catégorie, conservé jusqu’aujourd’hui, étant daté de 1639. Partout où ils ont été documentés, y compris en Roumanie, ces documents ont la même structure, à savoir en forme de liste. Les « trepetnic » roumains sont manuscrits et, à quelques exceptions près, ils sont totalement inédits. Découverts par le philologue Moses Gaster à la fin du XIXe siècle (le premier à en signaler l’importance en publiant deux pièces), les « trepetnic » ont aussi retenu l’attention (mais de façon marginale) du philologue N. Draganu. Dans la seule étude que celui-ci leur a consacré (en 1921–1922), il a publié la plus ancienne de ces pièces (datant de 1639) qui, à son avis, a servi comme modèle à tous les autres documents de la même catégorie. Après lui, aucun historien ou philologue ne s’est plus intéressé aux « trepetnic », à part Mme Olga Șerbănescu en 1995–1996 et Gabriel Mihăilescu en 2011.Les « trepetnic » publiés par nous dans la présente étude (une pièce imprimée de 1816 et trois pièces manuscrites, datant, de façon estimative, du milieu et de la fin du XVIIIe siècle) sont tous inédits. Comme les autres documents de la même catégorie (à part ceux—très nombreux—qui, à partir du XIXe siècle, ont commencé à être imprimés), ils font partie des livres manuscrits (intitulés par les archivistes miscellanées), où ils cohabitent avec d’autres écrits, anonymes aussi, comme, par exemple, des fragments religieux à caractère apotropaïque, liste de médicaments naturistes, tableaux des signes zodiacaux, talismans etc.—tous appartenant à ce que les spécialistes nomment « culture populaire ».Vu que les prédictions contenues dans ces documents sont intimement liées au corps, nous avons proposé de les considérer comme étant non seulement du ressort de la palmomantie, mais aussi de la physiognomonie. C’est pourquoi nous avons désignés ces présages comme des « divinations physiognomoniques ». Le motif tient au fait que, tant dans l’Antiquité qu’au Moyen Âge, la physiognomonie n’était pas utilisée seulement pur déchiffrer le caractère d’une personne sur la base des traits de son visage et de son corps, mais aussi pour prédire le type d’attitude et de comportement que cette personne pouvait adopter à l’avenir.Les « trepetnic » que nous avons choisi pour cette étude ont des traits semblables à tous les autres documents similaires : énumération du haut en bas des parties du corps, chaque partie étant accompagnée d’une prédiction particulière, inversion occasionnelle du type (bon ou mauvais) du présage, lié à la partie droite ou gauche du corps (parties considérées, par la tradition, comme positive, respectivement négative), caractère extrêmement varié des prédictions, en relation avec les aspects les plus courants de la vie quotidienne (naissance d’un enfant, maladie, mariage, richesse ou pauvreté, réussite dans les affaires….) etc. À part ça, les prédictions concernent exclusivement les hommes, les femmes n’y étant pas, que dans quelques cas, concernés.Une particularité des « trepetnic » roumains, qui ressort de la comparaison avec les « trepetnic » slaves des Balkans et russes c’est—nous semble-t-il—le caractère presqu’exclusivement positif des présages associés aux mains : si, dans les cas des autres membres du corps, ces présages sont mélangés (positifs et négatifs, n’importe la partie—droite ou gauche—à laquelle ils sont liés), les prédictions en relation avec les deux mains sont, de façon presqu’invariable, positives. Ceci est dû, croyons-nous, au rôle très important que les mains jouaient dans la vie quotidienne des milieux populaires (voir paysans) d’autrefois, comme outils indispensables au travail et à l’obtention de la nourriture de chaque jour.Ceci n’est qu’un des possibles traits distinctifs des « trepetnic » roumains, à qui pourraient s’ajouter d’autres au fur et à mesure du progrès dans l’étude de ce vaste corpus palmomantique ou de physiognomonie divinatoire, très peu connu et qui reste encore à explorer.

ГИПОТЕЗА С. Н. ДУРЫЛИНА О НАЗНАЧЕНИИ СЕВЕРНЫХ ЛАБИРИНТОВ: ОБРЯД ОЧИЩЕНИЯ И МОЛЕНИЯ ВЕТРА

Author(s): Lidia N. Dmitrievskaya / Language(s): Russian Issue: 8/2023

In the early 1910s, Sergey Durylin explored the labyrinths on the Bolshoy Zayatsky Island (the Solovetsky archipelago) and was the first to describe the Kandalaksha stone labyrinth. Having collected necessary information (location by the sea, proximity to a busy ancient sea route, good preservation, rituals of the peoples of the North in the XIX and the early XX centuries) Durylin put forward his hypothesis about the purpose of the labyrinths. In his opinion, the labyrinths were the place where prayers to the wind and purification rites were performed before going to sea. The article discusses various hypotheses of researchers of the XX–XXI centuries. All hypotheses are tested according to four criteria: they have to explain or take into account location by the sea, climate, good preservation, and the shape of labyrinths. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that when testing various hypotheses about the purpose of labyrinths, the archeological data were correlated with the materials collected by folklorists, which made it possible to fit labyrinths into the general system of beliefs of the peoples of the North. Durylin’s version meets all the selected criteria and is indirectly confirmed by folklore and literature about sea voyages on sailing ships. This hypothesis about the purpose of the northern labyrinths is well grounded and plausible, however, it has not been proved or rejected so far, and the question of the purpose of the northern labyrinths remains open and relevant. The assumption about the existence of some fishing cult ritual and the version about performing rituals before going to sea are likely to be complementary as parts of the same belief system, the remains of which were found by folklorists and local historians in the XX century.

İznik Müzesi’nden Ana Tanrıça (Kybele) ve Aphrodite Figürinleri

Author(s): Gülşen Kutbay / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 3/2023

The subject of this publication; It consists of two Mother Goddess (Kybele) figurines and one Aphrodite figurine in terracotta, which were purchased in the inventory of the Iznik Museum. The Mother Goddess (Kybele), whose emergence dates back to the Prehistoric Ages, and which is referred to as the Venus of the age, has continued its existence effectively in every period. The Mother Goddess (Kybele) is known as the symbol of fertility and fertility, the ruler of nature and the mother of all gods and goddesses who ensure the continuity of life. Existing Mother Goddess figurines are examples of the depictions of Agorakritos, one of the Classical Period sculptors, derived from the typology of the Cybele statue sitting on the throne. Descendant of the Mother Goddess; known with the epithets of love, beauty, desire and sexuality, the Aphrodite figurine belongs to the Anadyomene type associated with the birth myth of the goddess. The figurines, which are based on religious structures and concepts and considered among the important archaeological finds, provide information on many subjects, including the socio-cultural life, cult structure and belief of the geography they were produced. As in many art fields of Antiquity, all kinds of innovations and technical changes observed in figurine art were also affected by historical facts, lifestyle, belief and geography. The figurines that are the subject of the study, for which no find site and context data are available; it was evaluated technically, iconographically and stylistically, and a date proposal was made with the help of similar examples.

Медийният поглед към традициите в съвременното българско общество

Author(s): Georgi Ignatov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 1/2023

This article explores media influence over some changing holidays and festivals in modern Bulgaria. It traces the processes of changing, supplementing, and creating forms and elements in the Bulgarian holiday calendar. Undoubtedly, the media play a leading role as a catalyst of some reconstructed and invented traditions, without being the initiator of their creation.

The Connection Between Folk Christianity and Paganistic Beliefs in Traditional Bulgarian Fairytales and Legends

Author(s): Lidia Kolovou / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

The spread of Christianity in the Balkan Peninsula acted as one of the catalysts for the formation of the cultural structures of each nation. Alongside the beliefs and rituals of Christianity, it can be observed that the beliefs and rituals of paganism were not totally erased but coexisted under a new cover. That was the moment for the birth of folk Christianity. Under the prism of folk Christianity, paganistic rituals, old beliefs, and customs were reshaped to some degree so they could follow the principles and beliefs of Christianity. A part of the cultural structures reshaped by folk Christianity were the traditional fairytales and legends. This paper will give a brief example of the transformation by presenting a few narratives, giving their synaptic structure and underlining their original paganistic elements and how they were transformed into Christian elements.