"A vallási élet elemi formái"-tól "A média rítusai"-ig: durkheimi fogalmak a kommunikációelméletben

Author(s): Eszter Bartha / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 18/2012

The essay gives a critical review of The Rituals of the Media by Lajos Császi. It seeks to showhow the Durkheimian sociology of religion can be applied to the modern communicationtheory and what perspectives such a combination can store for sociology. The mediahas a significant impact on the formation of public opinion; therefore, its rituals deservea special attention. However, the opinion forming power of the media depends on thesocial structure and the movement of the masses. Today even ordinary people can broadcastInternet TV-programmes and we have not even mentioned the technical possibilitiesoffered by the various social network sites. It is not only the technical competence, whichdetermines whether a given opinion will remain embedded in a narrow subculture or itsucceeds to move the masses, which was a well-loved catchword of the 20th century

"Celownik nieszczęścia"

Reprezentacje doświadczenia utraty w kulturze współczesnej

Author(s): Malgorzata Okupnik / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2017

Death and mourning in the modern world are taboo subjects. However, in recent years a lot of works inspired by experience of loss have been released. In this essay two works are analyzed: the book "He died on me" ("Umarł mi") by Inga Iwasiów and the film "33 Scenes from Life" ("33 sceny z życia"). In both a secular version of experience of death and loss of a close person is presented. Mourning experienced in the urban atheistic area is detached from spirituality and sacrum. Therefore we can speak about a specific paradigm of loss of spirituality in the face of death of close people.

"Do You Have Any Empties?"

Bottle Collectors’ Interactions in Public Spaces in Zagreb

Author(s): Dino Vukušic,Stephanie Stelko / Language(s): English / Issue: 39/2016

This paper describes the practices of people who collect discarded bottles and cans during public events in Zagreb, Croatia, which they return to recycling centers in order to receive a bottle deposit needed to supplement their low incomes. In addition to an ethnographic section in which we briefly describe this underrepresented aspect of everyday life in Zagreb, we address the symbolics at play in bottle collectors’ interactions among themselves and with "bottle providers" – people who gather in public spaces and consume drinks from bottles and cans. In so doing, we describe how the presence of a marginalized social group becomes visible in public spaces.

"Dr House" - gra i semiologia

Author(s): Zbigniew Kloch / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 19/2012

The paper describes how the characters of House, M.D. interact and relate to each other; it also discusses the role played by specific, semantically charged means of constructing narration. On one hand, the show largely maintains the model of a conventional medical drama, on the other, it deconstructs many of the characteristics inherent in the genre. The paper also attempts to explain the show’s huge popularity (for a certain time in the United States alone it reached 27 million viewers) achieved in spite of going beyond what an average viewer would expect, primarily by the show’s construction and by evoking ideas outside a classic medical drama.

"I’m a poor lonesome cowboy and a long way from home…": српски документарни филмови о гастарбајтерима

Author(s): Marija Krstic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 2/2013

In this paper I will analyze Serbian documentary films about guest workers dating from the last decade of the 20th and the first decade of the 21st century, using the perspective of visual anthropology. I question the popular cultural notions about guest workers in films Весеље у Ждрелу (A Celebration in Zdrelo) by author Kamenko Katic, Звона позне јесени (The Bells of Late Autumn) by author Zoran Milenovic, Кад је Милорад удавао ћерку (When Milorad Gave His Daughter in Marriage) by author Vladimir Milisavljevic, Странац тамо, странац овде (A Foreigner There, a Foreigner Here) by author Sandra Mandic and 242 метра живота (242 Meters of Life) by author Novica Savic. The films deal with a number of issues: the economic aspects of guest workers’ lives, their liminal character, the issues of the second and third generations of guest workers, going away "temporarily" to work, and religious rituals. Even though the films were made recently, they all follow the lives of Vlach and Serbian, or rather Yugoslav guest workers who left to find temporary work abroad in Western Europe in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This serves the purpose of avoiding to deal with contemporary reasons for emigrating from Serbia and thus the possible critiques of current regimes or policies in power at the time the films were made.

"Jaunais reālisms" kā postmodernisma problēma

Author(s): Jelena Celma / Language(s): Latvian / Issue: 1/2006

This article is an attempt to understand a new tendency of postmodern art. It is called " New Realism", which differs entirely from classical realism.The artisctic experience of today shows that art puts a special emphasis on the things when things are presented only as they are. This open belief in the world has been born as the opposite of a simulation and a game. And it requires for a special intensity of reception.

"MJESTO SJEĆANJA" ILI IZBORNA KAMPANJA? ANALIZA SADRŽAJA HRVATSKIH MEDIJA PRIJE PARLAMENTARNIH IZBORA 2015.

Author(s): Marko Mustapic,Ivan Balabanic / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 3/2018

After a brief theoretical consideration of the cultural memory and political communication in electoral campaigns, this paper analyses statements of politicians during the 2015 Croatian parliamentary campaign. The main goal of the paper is to establish the manner in which events and happenings from modern Croatian history and the various ‘collective memories' surrounding them were present in the media excerpts analysed. Research of excerpts from the leading Croatian media outlets (daily newspapers, TV stations, web portals) was performed through content analysis. The results show that excerpts including political communication about modern historical themes were present to a significant extent, and that discussions of these topics were most often provoked by the largest political parties, Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On the level of general conclusion, it can be claimed that the electoral campaign largely became a "site of memory" where further political conflicts surrounding historical issues were generated, while discussions of solutions to numerous social problems were neglected.

"Nacionalni heroj" u domaćoj naučnofantastičnoj književnosti

Author(s): Ivan Ðordevic / Language(s): Serbian / Publication Year: 0

Appearance of heroes from national history/mythology in Serbian science fiction prose is characteristic for last two decades of the 20th century. Karađorđe Petrović, Prince Miloš Obrenović, Prince Marko (Marko Kraljević) and other national heroes entered the Serbian SF stage simultaneously with processes of returning to tradition which were characteristic for the wider social context of Serbia of that time. Primary goal of this paper is to determine ways in which those heroes are represented in Serbian genre literature, with premise that a "national hero" is in fact a social and cultural construction determined by historical and political context. Symbolical recollection and "fishing" of national heroes from a historical/mythological "pool" in this particular domain of popular culture is discussed from the aspect of their positioning, re-contextualization and revalorization with regard to the sociopolitical reality of culture in which such literature emerged.

"Namćori" iz komšiluka: predstavljanje starosti u domaćoj televizijskoj reklami

Author(s): Ljubica Milosavljevic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3/2010

This paper is the result of a three-month monitoring of Serbian television commercials which aimed to study the way elderly people are represented in the media. Elderly people appear in only six commercials, more often as a functional part of a series than as protagonists. Yet in spite of the small number of commercials in which they appear, it is easy to identify the stereotypes which are translated from a social paradigm into the sphere of the media. The stereotypes on which commercials are based belong for the most part to the corpus of negative stereotypes of elderly people as hopelessly behind the times, feeble, lonely, irritating, cantankerous, etc. Some positive stereotypes are also evident, but they are mostly limited to a perception of elderly people as kindly givers of useful advice. It is interesting to note that the "cantankerous people next door" are as a rule anonymous elderly people, as are those "lost in time and space", who are mostly elderly women. In contrast, those who let their careers and images be associated with a certain product, in order to pass on their great experience and knowledge, are as a rule famous persons. Just as it is possible to make a distinction between commercials depending on whether or not the products advertised are targeted at the elderly – which they rarely are – and whether elderly people appear in leading or supporting roles, in order to make viewers laugh or annoy them, so it is possible to distinguish between the "real-life principle", which involves the translation of the society’s dominant attitudes into commercials, and "commercial reality", which either makes old age invisible or "masks" it so that it is pleasant to the eye. The reason that old people are absent from television commercials or are mostly represented in a negative light is to be found in the low purchasing power of this age group, but also in the fact that advertising in Serbia developed practically overnight, and therefore has not always been able to follow foreign advertising trends, which treat the elderly as a worthy target audience for commercials.

"Night with the General" - a Democratic Documentary

Author(s): Michal Piepiórka / Language(s): English / Issue: 24/2014

The film is one of few examples of political documentaries produced in Poland after 1989. It is not limited to merely outlining the political argument over General Jaruzelski’s decision to impose martial law. Although it concerns events in Polish history, it is not a historical documentary, as it brings forth present-day political conflicts that have arisen around historical events. Trying to reconstruct this current political argument, Zmarz-Koczanowicz reaches for a method developed in the 1970s by the so-called “Kraków School” led by Krzysztof Kieślowski. ^e “talking heads” method was meant to help documentary filmmakers in the Polish People’s Republic reach what the person in the street actually thought and avoid the distortions of propaganda. For Kieślowski, however, the overriding aim was conciliation and an attempt to understand both sides of the political barricade - the authorities and the vox populi. His attitude, according to the terminology suggested by Chantal Mouffe, was a post-political one striving for an agreement through a rational dialogue. Zmarz-Koczanowicz’s aim, however, is different: she is intent on showing a clash of different hegemonies that do not strive for consensus. Their agonistic argument, played out in the political register, rather than a moral one, is a guarantee, according to this Belgian philosopher of politics, that democracy will continue to exist.

"Novi val" kao anticipacija krize

Author(s): Ines Prica / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 13/1990

In this essay the concept of »new wave« is related to the concept of »crisis«, on the basis of accordance of the main topics that have emerged out of these two different kinds of cultural discourse. The very term »new wave« indicates the period of the beginning of eighties characterized by the specific cultural expressions bounded with the phenomenon of the youth subculture in Yugoslavia. Although initiated by impulses from other cultures (first of all by the phenomenon of anglo-american punk), the »new wave« expression has elaborated the considerable segment of local reality. For example, the concept of »New primitivism« on one hand, and the »Neue Slowenische Kunst« on the other, have developed their symbolic activities playing with a stereotype of the two main cultural identities that »cross« the Yugoslav space: on is »Balkan«, »oriental«, the other is »European«, »western«. Modified in numerous ways, but loosing its stylistic, ironical quality that characterized its sub-cultural elaboration, this stereotype has become the leit motiv of the later explanation, even official, of the political crisis in Yugoslavia. In a similar way, the »new wave« activity, partially leaned on the western formula in creation of music, art, images and life styles, has anticipated the destruction of the myth of originality and uniqueness of our culture. What was then considered to be an »epigone«, a »dishonest imitation of the West«, hardly a decade later has merged into the common desire for »entering Europe«, which has characterized the discourse of crisis.

"Suszyć, skruszyć, zmielić, zważyć". Kino gatunków a filmy z Panem Kleksem

Author(s): Radoslaw Pisula / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 15 (22)/2016

Polish genre cinema in the time of Polish People’s Republic was in stagnation due to the sociopolitical situation. Limited access to the thriving foreign film industry suppressed a natural evolution within the genre cinema. However, the liberalization of stagnant and overly politicized rules in the communist film industry brought change in the 1980s.The government used to saw movies as a way to sell propaganda in the country. This cultural revolution was marked by the appearance of a new generation of directors, similar in some ways to American New Hollywood; rise of a VCR market and laxity of political restrictions.One of the best representatives of this progression is the Mr. Kleks movie trilogy. Adaptations of Jan Brzechwa’s cult book series: Academy of Mr. Kleks (1983), The Travels of Mr. Kleks (1985), Mr. Kleks in Space (1988). All of theme were directed by Krzysztof Gradowski. The series is a perfect example of a genre-melting pot. Something unprecedented in the Polish cinema.Although there are many radically different conventions in the story, the narrative is very coherent. The release of the first installment clearly marks the beginning of the transformation in the Polish film industry.In the article, I will present the ways in which the film genres are functioning in the Mr. Kleks movies and analyze how these highly original productions were part of a turbulent period of transformational change in communist Poland.

"The Message of Protest”: Artistic Expressions of Punk / Hardcore Subculture Ideas

Author(s): Reda Šatuniene / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2008

Nekomerciālā panku / hārdkora subkultūra izveidojās no britu pankiem un amerikāņu hārkora 20. gadsimta septiņdesmito un astoņdesmito gadu mijā. Galvenās panku / hārdkora subkultūras iezīmes iemieso pankroka brīvības, kritiskās domas un vienlīdzības principus. Lietuvā daudzas jauniešu subkultūru paražas ienāca pēc valsts neatkarības atjaunošanas 1990. gadā. Raksts pievērš uzmanību nekomerciālās panku / hārdkora subkultūras idejām un vērtībām, kādas ietvertas lietuviešu trafaretu mākslā. Raksta empīriskais materiāls ir savākts, pateicoties atbilstošai metodoloģijai un kvalitatīvam (etnogrāfiskam) lauka pētījumam, kas veikts 2005.-2007. gadā. Raksta autore secina, ka panku / hārdkora subkultūras idejas - protestēšana pret "Sistēmu", ekonomisko un politisko uzkundzēšanos, patērētājfilozofiju, konformismu un starptautiskajām aliansēm - izpaužas trafaretu mākslā. Tā atklāj globālās un vietējās sociālās, politiskās un ekonomiskās aktualitātes.

"Tjetri" në krijimtarinë e Agollit

Author(s): Anila Mullahi / Language(s): Albanian / Issue: 35/2017

In the period before the 1990s, in the context of a strong tradition of socialist realism literature, the positive heroes were placed in the center of the literary world; those that were created according to a standard model. They were developed in a linear way and often were incompatible with the internal logic. The tendency to create "social characters" caused the extinction of the particular and loss of curiosity. The characters of these works appear without any dilemmas, without great twists, without spiritual breaks, without vacillation for the life, the world or the human existence. Near the positive character are the others, who worship them or they want to resemble to the heroes; while on the other side, opposite them are the antagonists, the enemies.In Agolli's works, besides these two groups, are those characters that are seen as "weird", “irregulars” or "incorrect". They are not negative characters because they are not "enemies" but they are not even positive characters because do not resemble the standard example at all. This kind is considered as "the other", and actually this is what it is deep inside the unconscious of the author.“The other” is an individual who is perceived by the group as someone who does not belong, as different in an essential way. The group sees themselves as the norm and judges those who do not meet the norm elements. “The other” can have many forms, in the case of Agolli appears as one who is not indoctrinated. He is not interested about politics, but either he is interested in objecting it. His non-inclusion and non-ideology make him different. They reveal an essential feature that differs from others; speak openly and directly and do not have the veil of deceit in front of their eyes and they see the reality as it is, without idealizing it.In some cases at Agolli’s characters, "the other" is ultimately subjected to the group's norm, but also their existence as being different, makes Agolli's works distinct from the others. One form of "the other" can be considered Commander Rrapo in the novel "Commissar Memo" or Mato Gruda in "The Man with the Cannon".There are other cases where Agolli's "the other" it may be someone who shows great passion for life. A way to enjoy life with all the pleasures that it brings, through humor, eating, drinking, dancing, women, as it is Cute Babulja in the novel "The Ark of the Devil". Such a man with great love for life and the pleasures that life brings is not in line with the positive hero “whose character is shaped among the great difficulties". Agolli's literature work is filled with atypical characters, with special features, with individuals in conflict with the society norms, which consists in alienation from the principles of the official frame method.

"Tjetri" në modernitetin letrar

Pashku, Kadare dhe Rrahmani

Author(s): Albanë Mehmetaj / Language(s): Albanian / Issue: 35/2017

The paper titled "The ‚Other‘ in Literary Modernity (Pashku, Kadare, Rrahmani)" examines the problem of the „other“ presence in modern Albanian literature (of the second half of the twentieth century) and aims to give the frameworks of this problem to the authors used as a model and in this literary era.This paper is only an initial, since the problem of the „other" in literature is not only literary, it is also relates to the cultural and the social identity context. So, the basic method of research, is the comparative one, which also verifies the comparative origin of the "other“ in literature.The concept of the „other“, in historical terms, both in psychological and literary terms, takes on a particular character, often dramatic, and conveyed with contradictory views, so our goal is to follow this line of manifestation. Such a problem will undoubtedly be clarified with theoretical arguments.The authors chosen for this case are: Anton Pashku, Ismail Kadare and Zejnullah Rrahmanin, with the works "Tower", "Castles" and "Romani for Kosovo". Selected works are testify to the value of the authors and the ways of presenting the ctagiry of the "other " in modern literature. These authors are representatives of poetic patterns and selected styles of modern Albanian literature, while the problem of the „other“ in literature, in the works of these authors, represents some of the most important variations of his appearance in the Albanin modern literature.Realizing the theme of the „other“ in Albanian literature Pashku, Kadare and Rrahmani make it having primary concern for the Albanian identity and being guided by national motives and patriotism. In this context, the literary concept of the other of these authors, has the meaning of the conqueror, meaning the impersonator of the idea, and therefore, on this look remain foreign forever. The „other one“ in their work is shaped by the fictional world, literary characters, history as time-stamped and as probable evidence, and through literary figuration. But the perception of the other here is distinguished in the thematic plan: in the other side, it is similar to the literary works of Kadare, through historical events (but to one evil only root causes, while the other good can be bad), while to Rrahmani as a personal theme (continuation of the invader). All three of them, as modern authors, are similar to the universality of the subject, so that Albanian issues are treated as human issues and have a wery good histographic and ethnographic knowledge.

"Tjetri" në tekstet letrare të Fishtës

Author(s): Bajram Kosumi / Language(s): Albanian / Issue: 35/2017

Considering that Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940) is regarded as one of the most prominent writer in Albanian Literature, especially with his epic and satire, the review of the presence and social and literature status of “The Other” in his work is significant not only for his writing but for the whole Albanian literature. The concept of “The Other” in literature has derived from cultural and sociological studies, therefore the study of this concept in literature is also a result of text analysis, in relation with cultural and sociological studies, thus the concept of “The Other” is primarily related to cultural, philosophical, ethical, political and sociological principles. From the prism of the text analysis, several models of “The Other” in Fishta’s texts are identified, however, the source of these models has two common denominators: one, the mentality of a patriarchal and closed society; and two, the moral of a society that has been forced to suffer the status of captivity for a long time.In this article, the models of “The Other” will be defined and argued by the examples from the Fishta’s texts. Based on Fishta’s literary text, conclusions will be provided about the culture of “The Other” in Albanian society of the first half of the 20th century. In this article the experience of English Cultural Studies is used for the concept of “The Other”, especially the studies of Eduard Said, Bozidar Jezernik, Cvetan Todorov, Anthony Giddens, Georg Simmel, etc.

"Vdekja e tjetrit" në shkrimet letrare të Mitrush Kutelit

Author(s): Kastriot Gjika / Language(s): Albanian / Issue: 35/2017

Death is not only one of the most universal topics, in addition to love, travel, life, beauty, etc., but is also seen as one of the most difficult to deal with, both ethically and psychologically and religiously. The most natural tendency of the last century has been to avoid death as topic, to non-rebound directly, to project it euphemistically into other areas of the individual or collective world.But Kuteli's case is somewhat specific and quite contrary to this trend. Death is so present in Kuteli's narrative prose, that he seems to have explored it with all his techniques and literary means in all of its individual, social, ethical, religious manifestations. We can affirm that he has a special interest in this subject and he's familiar with it."The Death of the Other", however, as a concept explored in his writings, but also in other paraliteratur and nonfictional writings, gives us a complete insight into his ethical, religious, philosophical and literary concepts of death and of life itself."The death of the other," is seen in confrontation and in a comparative way with "my death", in the M. Kuteli's "rrëfenja"-s, but also in other its writings.

"Verujem u Boga i u Sudnji dan" – Hayrun Yahya i savremena kontekstualizacija apokaliptičnih hadisa

Author(s): Marko Pišev / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1/2013

The motif of the apocalypse has fascinated mankind from the very beginnings of oral history and is present in various myths and religious traditions, finding its expression in the art of all time periods. Even today it hasn't lost its grip on human imagination. In modern Islamic contexts, the phenomenon of the apocalypse incorporates anti-western ideologies, which reflect, to a large extent the socio-cultural heritage of former anti-colonialist struggles, as well as the anti-imperialist attitudes which are present in a large number of contemporary Muslim societies. When paired with apocalyptic narratives, these notions can lead to negative essentializations of so-called "western morals and ethics", which are subsequently interpreted as a clear sign of the End times. Aside from the wider consideration of the symbolism of Islamic apocalyptic narratives, the paper will deal with a critical analysis of the visualizations of the Signs of the Last Day books by religious author Hayrun Yahya, who considers the topic of the apocalypse, as presented in the Koran and hadiths, in an affirmative light. We will attempt to puzzle out why the textual version of Signs utilizes certain quotes from the hadiths, while other, equally relevant quotes are avoided. We will rely on the so-called "interdiscursive" aspect of the enclosed quasi– documentary film, or rather, the heterogeneous elements which make up its audio-visual "text". This analysis should uncover the ideological notions behind this specific instrumentalization of scripture for the aim of religious, cultural and moral critique of contemporary (both Muslim and non-Muslim) societies; however, we will also attempt to point out the multifunctional idea – suggested to the viewing/reading audience of apocalyptic narratives – that Judgment day is near, and can come around at any moment.

"Without One Tree, a Forest Will Stay a Forest" by Dagmara Drzazga As a Religious and Historical Documentary

Author(s): Katarzyna Citko / Language(s): English / Issue: 24/2014

Katarzyna Citkos article is an analysis of Dagmara Drzazga’s film Bez jednego drzewa las lasem zostanie (Without One Tree, a Forest Will Stay a Forest, 2012), an example of a religious and historical documentary. The article describes the film’s depiction of the tragic fate of Jan Macha, a priest who during the Nazi occupation of Poland organized help for victims of German oppression as a co-founder of the Scout organization Konwalia (Lilly). For his work, he was arrested and executed in a prison in Katowice by means of a guillotine that was installed there in 1941. The article also analyses film-making techniques characteristic to documentaries, as well as the specific forms of expression which situate Drzazga’s work in the realm of religious cinema. These documentary techniques include combining photos and archival documentaries, interviews with people who knew Macha, and the opinions of experts, such as historians, clergymen and journalists. Other interesting techniques employed by the director make it possible to describe the film as belonging to religious cinema of the transcendental style, as described by Paul Schrader, which abandons unnecessary suspense in favor of poetic images; focuses on the dynamics and drama of the events rather than an in-depth psychological analysis of characters’ motivations; interweaves first and third person narration, which is carried out by means of both voice over and by people speaking in the film; uses suggestive image editing combined with music which employs the theme of Agnus Dei. All of these features helped Drzazga’s interesting and thought-provoking film win a number of awards at international Catholic film festivals.

"Жизнь по доктору Комаровскому": конструирование родительства в советах по уходу за детьми

Author(s): Elena Strelnyk / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 2/2015

The article analyzes constructions of parenthood and childcare in childcare advice—disseminated through books, TV broadcasts, and websites—by popular Ukrainian pediatrician Evgenii Komarovskii. The article consists of three parts. The first part deals with the public, social, and pedagogical discourses of parental (ir)responsibility and (in)competence in Ukraine, as well as conceptions of parental competence in Doctor Komarovskii’s advice as the alternative to this discourse. The second part aims to evaluate the peculiarities of constructions of maternal and paternal roles and childcare in his advice. The author explores Evgenii Komarovskii’s role in the discursive actualization of parenting and childcare as important sociopolitical issues in the third part. The article draws on work in the sociology of parenting, exploring the role of expert knowledge in its construction.