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The objective of this paper is to present an interesting example from Bulgaria – the Rhodope Mountains, which abound in visible and invisible boundaries. The paper focuses on the cultural elements which are selected by the communities as identifiers to distinguish themselves from others. The three basic ethno-religious groups inhabiting the mountains (Turks, Muslim Bulgarians, and Christian Bulgarians) possess a complex of cultural characteristics including language, names, self-identification, marriage patterns, traditional and ritual systems, religious affiliation, clothing, and so on, which are instrumentalized with the objective of achieving closer relations or drawing dividing lines between different communities. The process of the eradication and establishment of new boundaries is especially dynamic with regard to Muslim Bulgarians. They perceive themselves as a boundary community, and in fact they are regarded as such by both Christian Bulgarians and Turks. In their attempts to overcome that border situation, the middle and younger generations of Muslim Bulgarians in the Middle and Eastern Rhodopes have started to express a Bulgarian identity more frequently. The elder Muslim Bulgarians in the regions of Gotse Delchev, Madan, and Rudozem, as well as the younger ones, place their Muslim belonging more frequently at the center of their personal and group identity, which finds expression in the drawing of cultural boundaries to distinguish themselves from members of the other groups.
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The focus of the article lies on the interpretations of folklore elements in the Bulgarian animated cinema as well as on the rationalization of main features of the Bulgarian national character in the period from the late 1940s to the present days. In the 1960s, the process which has begun with the ideological censorship of the Bulgarian folklore tradition quickly transformed into satirical film model directing its criticism on the national character of the Bulgarian. This model was also based on the nontraditional visual representation of the folklore through the modern black and white drawing and caricature, through the grotesque and the decorative drawing. The next stage of the transformation of fairy and mythological subjects was related to the radical neo-vanguard practices in our animated cinema which compared our tradition to foreign cultures and ideas on a global scale and in wide range – from the direct parallels in art to the psychoanalytical interpretations visualized in surrealistic stylistics. The last 25 years marked a peculiar identity crisis of the Bulgarian artists. The changes after the fall of the Berlin Wall created certain fear in the artists to turn to the rationalization of the national origin and character.
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This paper examines Corsican and Romanian traditions of mountainous shepherds in the context of the magic quest for milk. This quest is narrated in the tales and in the legends and it is embodied by the magic traditional characters as Corsican Salamone and Romanian Solomonar. Corsican Salamone would like to be the magic specialist of the brocciu’s creation and fabrication. But he can’t. Why? We will try to answer to this question. The brocciu is Corsican typical cheese. Solomonar is a Romanian weatherman who requests for the eggs and for the milk in his village. Why? We will try to answer to this second question. Finally, both characters Salamone and Solomonar are a re-appropriation of the famous mythical character in the Grimoires books, Solomon. This comparative research aims to understand his symbolical role in this ritual quest transformed in the popular narrative tradition.
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One of the biggest challenges in Poland (1918-1939) was the establishment of a new Polishschool. The main goal of the newly created Polish school was to educate a generation aspatriots and responsible citizens, and unite compatriots from three ex-partitions. The first school curriculum in the independent Poland focused on teaching social knowledge, Polish and European cultures, and, above all, providing pupils with moral and aesthetic experience. Music education played a key role in bringing various ideological objectives to fruition. Music compositions with national themes – both from concert and folk traditions – were worshipped and seen as the rebirth of the national culture. The goal of music instruction was to educate the young generation, bring it closer to the ideas embedded in the masterpieces of art, and deepen their love of music.
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The aim of this article is to explore the universality and playful character of the fairytale with respect to its diverse perception. Its structure is split into two parts, united by the interest in the specific ways of both children’s and primitive man’s thinking. The first part illustrates the fairytale as an intrinsic part of children literature, and attention is given to the development of the genre and the characteristics of the folklore mind. The cognitive aspect of these types of texts is being discussed as well as its communicative function and its educational effect on children. Regarding the content and semantics of the texts it is being underlined that they positively affect the reader / listener, which is a consequence of the characteristics of the folklore mind and the stereotypes it brings about. The wide use of parody as a method, which tones down the horror elements of the fairytale is being pointed out regarding the psychological interpretation of fairytales. The second part attempts to explain the model of fairytales viewed through the concept of play proving its playful nature. The focus of attention is on Johan Huizinga’s concept of homo ludens, according to which the understanding of play is a key element of every culture. Based on the intrinsic connection between the fairytale and the myths and rituals, the article makes an attempt to search for mechanisms of play in the folkore fairytale model – regarding the repetition, variability, dynamics, improvisation. The function of play is being explored in the very structure of the fairytale - plot, heroes, formulas.
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Shimei-ryo is a paid service offering a choice to pick a girl to sleep with (it is about sleeping side by side, not a sexual activity). In the current work the term is referred to a paradox in which (1) non-sexual behavior related to physical intimacy between two or more people is present and (2) means leading to this behavior (paying) exclude authentic intimacy. The present article is an attempt to interpret the phenomenon. In the first part shimei-ryo is analyzed in the context of ludus. Customer motivations and psychological aspects of snuggling are discussed. The second part includes a discussion on the possible application of the phenomenon in the Western culture and the use of mechanisms underlying it in games. It is proposed that - apart from traditional gaming elements – the human ability of multisensory integration and symbolic forms of care (non-verbal behavior or the „carefully” programmed chatterbots) are used.
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This article is a result of the research conducted amongst Polish journalists from April to June 2018. The intention of the author was to check how Polish journalists perceived the values, ethics and proficiency described in the Social Responsibility Theory of the press and codes of ethics. The result of the research, based on the answers of more than 200 journalists, reporters, editors gives us a big picture of Polish journalism. The picture is not perfect because the milieu is strongly divided over fundamental issues.
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The paper addresses the question of the origin of the nation, its genesis and development. There are two alternative perspectives on the origin of the nation: а) the nation is somebody’s construct or б) the nation appears naturally. Thus, in general, the ethnologists are divided into a) „construc¬tivists“, who believe that the nations were created, constructed by some¬one, for example by the elites, and b) „primordialists“, who believe that the nations appeared by themselves if there are beneficial circumstances, such as the developed technological and public structures. According to the author of this paper, the nation is one of the stages of the life of the ethnos and the nation may be outlived by the ethnos, while the ethnos will continue its existence in a „postnational constellation“. The analysis 39 of the statistical data from the census of Bulgarian citizens from 1992, 2001 and 2011 show numerous groups that identify themselves as other from the main „ethnic groups“, but they were denied the provision of eth¬nic self-identification. According to data of the Director of the National Statistical Institute, 9% of the Bulgarian citizens did not answer volun¬tarily the question of self-determination on ethnicity. According to the census of 2011, these people were 102 695 or 1.46% and were therefore denied „ethnic self-identification“. Thus, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the dominance of the constructivist theory leads to the destruction of the notion of „ethnos“ and its arbitrary and chaotic replacement with „nation“ takes place. This situation leads to terminological confusion and theoretical frustration. And accordingly, the complete bankruptcy of the doctrine of „ethnic self-identification“ is predetermined: it appears to be useless both for academic analysis and for the needs of the state government. In appendices I, II and III are presented three “primordialists’” concepts ofthe nation: by Joseph Stalin, Lev Gu-milev, and Todor I. Zhivkov.The paper addresses the question of the origin of the nation, its genesis and development. There are two alternative perspectives on the origin of the nation: а) the nation is somebody’s construct or б) the nation appears naturally. Thus, in general, the ethnologists are divided into a) „construc¬tivists“, who believe that the nations were created, constructed by some¬one, for example by the elites, and b) „primordialists“, who believe that the nations appeared by themselves if there are beneficial circumstances, such as the developed technological and public structures. According to the author of this paper, the nation is one of the stages of the life of the ethnos and the nation may be outlived by the ethnos, while the ethnos will continue its existence in a „postnational constellation“. The analysis of the statistical data from the census of Bulgarian citizens from 1992, 2001 and 2011 show numerous groups that identify themselves as other from the main „ethnic groups“, but they were denied the provision of ethnic self-identification. According to data of the Director of the National Statistical Institute, 9% of the Bulgarian citizens did not answer voluntarily the question of self-determination on ethnicity. According to the census of 2011, these people were 102 695 or 1.46% and were therefore denied „ethnic self-identification“. Thus, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the dominance of the constructivist theory leads to the destruction of the notion of „ethnos“ and its arbitrary and chaotic replacement with „nation“ takes place. This situation leads to terminological confusion and theoretical frustration. And accordingly, the complete bankruptcy of the doctrine of „ethnic self-identification“ is predetermined: it appears to be useless both for academic analysis and for the needs of the state government. In appendices I, II and III are presented three “primordialists’” concepts ofthe nation: by Joseph Stalin, Lev Gumilev, and Todor I. Zhivkov.
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The text raises the important question about the authenticity of the folklore legends about Tsar Ivan Shishman in the Samokov region.
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The poem “Cyril and Methodius”, more commonly known as “Varvi, Narode Vazrodeni…” was written in 1892 by Stoyan Mihaylovsky in Ruse. Before starting work as an Associate Professor of Literature at Sofia University “St. Clement of Ohrid”, he used to teach at the high school in Ruse, which is exactly where, on 15 April he wrote the fourteen verses and sent them to Dr. Krastev. The latter then published them in book no. 9–10 of the “Misal” magazine. The text of the hymn may seem pretty familiar to us, and maybe exactly because of this, we do not pay enough attention to the cultural connotation of the images of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in it. And the connotation is rich and intentional. The current research aims at trying to decode it and find out why exactly the images of the two first teachers are always a support in Bulgarian mentality.
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In a critical situation the hero is in an arid mountain and wants to cut the head of his horse and drink its blood. The historical roots of the song represent fragments of the New Year‘s mythological complex associated with the rituals of killing a holy horse and initiation and marriage of the shaman-like priest. The calendric-astronomical basis of the motif is associated with two New Year‘s transitions – in the beginning of March (by the course of the Moon) and at the end of April and the beginning of May (by the course of the Pleiades).
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A variant of interpretation of the folklore biography of the place Zhelyovi kamani near the village of Orizari in the region of Tvarditsa is submitted with a view to the opinion about the folklore biography of the place as a main topos with centre-organizing functions in the settlement space and an active participant in the construction of the settlement biography. The affair in question is the attitude to this biography, motivated through myths, legends, traditional ritualism in the local knowledge. It is expressed in the active appreciation towards the inherited knowledge and its own interpretation of its aspects even “faking” of the contents through the view of a local resident.
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The instrumental Macedonian ethnopop music is particularly interesting phenomenon because of its development and prolonged existence in conditions with persistent internal influences of the social and economic environment, but also external influences from the neighboring and distant music cultures. These influences have determined the way of the creation of this music and its final musical products. Regarding the fact that the instrumental Macedonian ethnopop music had its peak especially in the 1980ties, the subject of interest in this paper will be the musical pieces from the mentioned period. Also, a special at¬tention will be dedicated to the creativity, in other words to the process of creation of the instrumental Macedonian ethnopop music and the reproductive process of this music. The conclusions will be based on the analysis of the music characteristics of the recorded material which forms the database of the sample of 100 music pieces.
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The folklore narratives for the water bull from Kyustendil region occupy an important place in the Bulgarian folklore faith. They represent a connection between historical Bulgarian communities on both sides of the Bulgarian-Serbian and Bulgarian-Macedonian state borders.
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In this paper you can examine and compare the lives of the two saints and the images of holiness in the texts; the historical context of the creation of the works, the influence that both lives have into their national cultures, and also how the two hagiographies correspond to each other.
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The topic of discussion of the following research is the "Jerusalemes" brought to Bulgaria by pilgrims during the Bulgarian Renaissance. These picturesque paintings (defined as such because of their difference from typical icons) pre sent the Bible and give an insight into the objects along the pilgrim road. The central image of each painting is always Christ's grave in the Church of Resurrection built by St. Constantine and St. Helena in Jerusalem.
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Reviews of: 1. LADISLAV LENOVSKÝ: Naši vo svete – Slováci južne od hranice Slovenska I.–III. [Our People in the World – Slovaks South of Slovakia’s Border I–III] Vydavateľstvo – Editura Ivan Krasko, Nadlak (Rumunsko), 2016, 166 s.; 2017, 147 s. 2018, 201 s. Review by: MICHAL BABIAK; 2. JÁN BOTÍK: Slováci vo Vojvodine: premeny svojbytnosti enklávneho spoločenstva [Slovaks in Vojvodina: The Transformations of the Enclave Community’s Autonomy] Nový Sad: Ústav pre kultúru vojvodinských Slovákov, 2016, 272 s. Review by: NATÁLIA BLAHOVÁ; 3. ADÉLA SOURALOVÁ a kolektiv: Péče na prodej: Jak se práce z lásky stává placenou službou [Care for Sale: How Work out of Love Turns into Paid Service] Brno: Munipress, 2017, 249 s. Review by: ZUZANA SEKERÁKOVÁ BÚRIKOVÁ; 4. Nielen obete, aj páchatelia majú potomkov... (Úvaha inšpirovaná knihou Bolestivé mlčanie) Not Only Victims, Criminals Also Have Offspring... (An Essay Inspired by the Book Painful Silence) ALEXANDRA SENFFT: Bolestivé mlčanie [Painful Silence] Premedia, 2019, 272 s. Review by: PETER SALNER
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