Etnokultúrny výskum Slovákov v Srbsku, Chorvátsku a Rumunsku – špecifiká, perspektívy, význam

Author(s): Ladislav Lenovský / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2015

The Slovaks living in Serbia, Croatia and Romania are not just a result of historical development from the perspective of assimilation, but they create ethnic communities which are active, purposeful and coordinated. This situation is not a matter of course, automatic or inertia. It is the result of sophisticated and conscious continuous stimulation of ethnicity. Specifics of environments of these Slovaks are an important determinant of general and particular development trends and perspectives of their existence. Ethno-cultural research must therefore take into account the current local, regional and areal context of their identity, language and cultural traditions. It is more effective to perceive the minority culture from the perspectives of its preservation of the cultural wealth and values and to interpret it as the cultural potential that can be converted into the cultural capital.

Street art a graffiti v kontextu města

Author(s): Adam Wiesner / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2019

The paper presents data from interviews conducted in 2006–2007 with four repre- sentatives of the Prague street art and graffiti scene who worked in the Czech capital city at the beginning of the 2000s. Part of the article deals with creative activities in the Prague subway where most of the interviewed authors created their works. The author thus offers the perspective of the authors of the Prague street art and graffiti scenes and presents their view of the (il)legal works of art from around ten years ago in the context of the current discourse in social sciences. Over the last twenty years, this discourse has evolved to such an extent that it now enables to see the phenome- non of urban public works of art as a phenomenon full of paradoxes. Graffiti and street art therefore cannot be interpreted only from the point of view of legality or the art of resistance. Their definition must remain sufficiently open, since certain ambivalence, contradiction and ghostliness are characteristic of it equally as of life in a modern global city that is inherently tied to it.

Židovský plavecký a športový klub Bar Kochba Bratislava – najúspešnejší športový klub Slovenska v medzivojnovom období

Author(s): Peter Bučka / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 1/2019

In this article, the author deals with the foundation, development, results and reasons of disappearance of the most successful sports club in the interwar era; the Jewish swimming and sports club Bar Kochba Bratislava. After the birth of Czechoslovakia, sports in Slovakia could develop on a national basis. Large national minorities had the same possibilities. To eliminate the risk of misusing sports for political purposes, sport representatives decided to organise it on the ethnic principle instead of the re- gional one. Thanks to this a wide variety of national sports organisations were esta- blished, including some Jewish ones. Even though Jews constituted only 2.01% of the population in the interwar period in today’s territory of Slovakia (Bergerová, 1992: 108), they succeeded not only in sports but in other areas of social life as well.

Armenian Community in Bulgaria in The Time of COVID-19: Coping With The Challenge

Author(s): Tanya Matanova / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced and changed the personal and social life of thousands of people. Armenians in Bulgaria as all Bulgarian citizens had to go through the lockdown and restriction time. On a personal level, Armenians stopped visiting relatives and gathering. On an institutional level, Armenians looked for strategies to cope with the challenges of the pandemic situations – cultural organisations had to find ways to arrange events and celebrations, schools – to teach their lessons, restaurant entrepreneurs started to offer food delivery, representatives of Armenian churches searched for new mechanisms of preaching and supporting spiritually the Armenians. Based on fieldwork material gathered during the pandemic period, the paper presents some examples of how Armenians in different Bulgarian towns succeeded (or not) in expressing their ethnic and cultural Armenian identity and living as part of the Armenian diaspora in Bulgaria.

Żydowskie ślady na Środkowym Nadodrzu

Author(s): Andrzej Kirmiel / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2011

Artykuł dotyczy pozostałości po obecności ludności żydowskiej na Środkowym Nadodrzu. Autorka krótko opisuje polsko-niemiecką współpracę w akcie ratowania dziedzictwa kulturowego na badanym terenie oraz działalność organizacji społecznych i szkół uczestniczących w tym przedsięwzięciu.

MORAL CHALLENGES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Author(s): Anca Delia Dabija / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 39/2024

When the idea of the utility of philosophy is uttered, most of the times the collective imaginary remains trapped in the nets of the ironic, of the naive, even that of the aggressive. The purely scientific knowledge receives unconditional credit, while the points of morality, of the philosophical and practical ethics, being left in the background. Today, the accent is placed especially on the practical utility followed by the immediate application of epistemological concepts against the philosophical meditation and the fundamental interogations about the being, the existance, the becoming. The evolution of current society has been propelled by the unrestricted circulation of information, which led to social, economic and political transformations, boosted by the emergence of new technologies. The virtual space that we make use of, facilitates the act of comunication, leaving behind temporal, spatial, cultural-lingvistic frontiers. This informational vortex created at the same time possibilities to remove the human from moral authentic values, leading, often, to imbalance and chaos. The moral deficiencies mirrored in human’s choices and deeds bring back to the fore the obvious need for ethical benchmarks. The current interpersonale relations are really deficient; although we leave in the digital era, we not a precariousness of the act of communication, a poverty at the level of natural dialogue at a significant distance of ethical values. Through the proposed research, we are triyng to emphasise and argument the importance of knowing and applying the axiological and normative contents of moral philosophy in a technopolis paradigm.

Международен форум за кирилицата „Азбука. Език. Идентичност“

Author(s): Tsenka Ivanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Научна конференция „Разказващият човек и светът на фолклора“

Author(s): Aneliya Manova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

In memoriam Албена Хранова

Author(s): Nikolay Aretov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Bevezető a Fordulat 33. számához

Author(s): Laura Bozsik,Virág Buka,Adél Csűrök,Lilla Eredics,Ágnes Gagyi,Tamás Gerőcs,Eszter Horváth,Sára Lafferton,Klára Nagy,Kristóf Nagy,András Papp,Linda Szabó,Eszter Váradi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 33/2024

The 33rd issue of Fordulat deals with the recent era of China's growing international role, which has directly affected the post-regime Hungarian accumulation regimes, from a global and historical perspective. The organic antecedents of the present processes are China's socialist industrialisation attempts, its political and economic reforms in response to the internal contradictions of the system, and their linkage to the transformation of global capitalist production at the end of the 20th century, which was analysed by the Chuang collective in the previous issue of Fordulat, No. 32. This transformation sought to counteract the symptoms of the crisis of the post-World War II global economic boom that emerged in the 1970s by shifting Western production capacity to East Asian and later specifically Chinese industrial zones.

Recenzii și notițe bibliografice

Author(s): Mariana Lazăr,Marian Coman,Mihai Mîrza,Andrei Pippidi,Dorel Țuinea,Mircea-Cristian Ghenghea,Snezhana Rakova,Dragoș Lucian Țigău,Alexandru-Florin Platon / Language(s): Romanian,French Issue: XLII/2024

Book reviews. This article contains reviews of several books. The reviewed books focus on history and religion.

Osvrti, prikazi, izvješća

Author(s): Tomislav Augustinčić,Krinka Baković,Melanija Belaj,Emina Bužinkić,Lumnije Kadriu,Suzana Marjanić,Duga Mavrinac,Ana Mlinar,Olga Orlić,Nataša Polgar,Ines Prica,Reana Senjković,Dušan Strgar,Noel Šuran / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 47/2024

1. Balkanska ruta. Pojmovnik europskog režima iregulariziranih migracija na periferiji EU, Marijana Hameršak, Iva Pleše, Tea Škokić, ur., Sandorf, Zagreb, 2023., 350 str. 2. Carolin Leutloff-Grandits, Translocal Care across Kosovo’s Borders. Reconfiguring Kinship along Gender and Generational Lines, Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford, 2023., 262 pp. 3. Andrea Matošević, Kolos Jadrana. Industrijski film i brodogradilište Uljanik u drugoj polovici XX. stoljeća, Srednja Europa, Zagreb, 2023., 218 str. 4. Nataša Polgar, Vještica na kauču. Psihoanalitički ogledi o suđenjima vješticama u Hrvatskoj. Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, Zagreb, 2021., 271 str. 5. Luka Šešo, Krsnik između mita i zbilje. Kulturno-antropološke strukture jednog tradicijskog vjerovanja, Hrvatsko etnološko društvo i Hrvatsko katoličko sveučilište, Zagreb, 2022., 145 str. 6. Dragana Antonijević, Antropologija folklora (Biblioteka Etnoantropološki problemi. Monografije; knj. 23), Filozofski fakultet, Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Dosije studio, Beograd, 2023., 197 str. 7. Ana Banić Grubišić, Internet mimovi između folklora i popularne kulture, Univerzitet u Beogradu – Filozofski fakultet, Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju i Dosije studio, Beograd, 2023., 187 str. 8. Ča delamo kad “niš” ne delamo / Cosa si fa quando “nulla” si fa (2023. – 2024.), izložba. Mirjana Margetić i Nikolina Rusac. Etnografski muzej Istre. 9. Maja Ergović, Sanja Lončar i Hrvoje Tomić, Planjke, vugli, cifre. Dokumentiranje drvene arhitekture Turopolja – starija i nova građa u dijalogu, izložba i katalog. Velika Gorica: Muzej Turopolja, 2023., 32 str. 10. Kuća halubajskega zvončara. Viškovo. 2024. Prikaz stalne izložbe 11. Godišnji skup Hrvatskog etnološkog društva, Etnolozi i kulturni antropolozi u kontaktu: dosezi javnog djelovanja etnologije i kulturne antropologije, Sinj, 18.–20. listopada 2023. 12. Godišnji skup Hrvatskog etnološkog društva, Naše zajedničke budućnosti: pogled iz perspektive etnologije i kulturne antropologije, Pazin, 22. – 24. svibnja 2024. 13. Izvješće i zaključci 10. SEK-a – Simpozija etnologa konzervatora Republike Sjeverne Makedonije, Republike Srbije, Republike Bosne i Hercegovine, Republike Hrvatske i Republike Slovenije, Teorijski i društveni kontekst konzervatorskog rada, 4. – 6. listopada 2023, Šibenik i Trogir. 14. Skup 17. Hrvatsko-slovenske etnološke paralele “Tragovi prekograničnih mobilnosti”, Posavski muzej Brežice, 3. – 4. listopada 2024. godine, Slovensko etnološko društvo i Hrvatsko etnološko društvo

The Metaphysics of E̩Sè̩ and the Question of Inalterability of Destiny in YorùBá Culture

Author(s): Sunday Layi Oladipupo / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

Inalterability of destiny is one of the major issues of philosophical contention in, and among Yorùbá scholars. It has garnered quite a number of arguments in its favour and otherwise. While, some scholars contend that the traditional understanding of destiny suggested inalterability of destiny, to others the reverse is the case. Thus, the polemics that shrouds the essence and nature of destiny in Yorùbá culture raises the question of e̩sè̩ (struggle) in Yorùbá ontological and mythological analysis of the concept of destiny. The paper, anchored its argument on the Yorùbá saying ibi orí ń gbé ni lo, k’é̩sè̩ máà sini l’ónà – where the head is taking one to, may the leg not mislead one, to repudiate the inalterability of destiny in Yorùbá culture. Hence, the paper, using philosophical methods of investigation, projects the notion of e̩sè̩ (struggle) as fourth element that constitute the entirety of human person in Yorùbá culture.

Magic and Ritual in the Roman Amphitheatre of Beit Guvrin, Israel

Author(s): Noy Shemesh / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The amphitheatre of Beit Guvrin, Israel, was built in the 2nd century AD and held gladiatorial games and wild beast hunts for c. 150 years. The excavations of this spectacle building unearthed a cultic room (sacellum) and hundreds of cultic artefacts, including two votive altars, hundreds of ritualistic oil lamps and four curse tablets that attest to the use of magic and rituals in the context of gladiatorial games. These artefacts were likely used prior to the spectacles in order to gain divine assistance and enhance the winning chances of the gladiators and venatores who participated in the bloody spectacles that took place at the arena. The sacellum and the cultic artefacts found in the amphitheatre were only briefly mentioned in the published preliminary report on the amphitheatre, but no attempt has been made until now to investigate the cultic and magical rituals that took place in this spectacle building. This article, which is based on the original excavation diaries, thus provides a unique perspective on the importance of magic and ritual within the gladiatorial games at the amphitheatre of Beit Guvrin, offering an insight into the cultic beliefs and practices of the gladiators and functionaries who occupied this spectacle building. The amphitheatre of Beit Guvrin, Israel, was built in the 2nd century AD and held gladiatorial games and wild beast hunts for c. 150 years. The excavations of this spectacle building unearthed a cultic room (sacellum) and hundreds of cultic artefacts, including two votive altars, hundreds of ritualistic oil lamps and four curse tablets that attest to the use of magic and ritu als in the context of gladiatorial games. These artefacts were likely used prior to the spectacles in order to gain divine assistance and enhance the winning chances of the gladiators and venatores who participated in the bloody spectacles that took place at the arena. The sacellum and the cultic artefacts found in the amphitheatre were only briefly mentioned in the published preliminary report on the amphitheatre, but no attempt has been made until now to investigate the cultic and magical ritu als that took place in this spectacle building. This article, which is based on the original excavation diaries, thus provides a unique perspective on the importance of magic and ritual within the gladiatorial games at the amphitheatre of Beit Guvrin, offering an insight into the cultic beliefs and practices of the gladiators and functionaries who occupied this spectacle building.

School Experiences of Children of Roma Migrant Returnees and Refugees from the Middle East

Author(s): Magdalena Slavkova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2021

Based upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted amongst families of Bulgarian Roma returnees and refugees from the Middle East in Bulgaria, this paper discusses the problems of adaptation, which children face in elementary and secondary schools. Using a dialogical approach as the main strategy of fieldwork, I interviewed Roma returnee parents and children from different settlements, on the one hand, directors, homeroom teachers, and school staff, on the other, as well as experts in education. I conducted research amongst refugee families from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran in the southern town of Harmanli, where a refugee camp was set up in 2013. I am specifically interested in the children’s enrollment for the school years 2017 – 2018 and 2018 – 2019 when, for the first time, refugee pupils are enrolled in larger numbers in public schools, as a result of the introduction of Ordinance No. 3 of 2017. On the basis of the fieldwork material and reviewed documents, I state that the approaches to returnee and refugee students can be called ‘mainstream’ and ‘specific’ approaches. Under the mainstream approach, the pupils are categorised as ‘children of Bulgarian citizens living abroad’ and none of them are specifically labeled as ‘Roma’. The attitude towards them is similar to that of children of other Bulgarian return migrants. A special (targeting) approach is adopted for refugee children, who are included in the same group of ‘vulnerable’ students along with Roma pupils, assuming that both do not have a good command of the Bulgarian language and are at risk for unsuccessful adaptation at school.

IOAN CARAGIANI’S TRANSLATIONS OF MODERN GREEK FOLKLORE: A LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL STUDY

Author(s): Mirela Averikios / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

The manuscript of Ioan Caragiani’s translations from Modern-Greek folklore, The Aromanians and Greek Folk Songs, is preserved at the Museum of Romanian Literature in Iași. It consists of 218 pages, including 115 folk songs translated from Arnoldus Passow’s 1860 collection, Τραγούδια Ρωμαίικα, and Caragiani’s notes on the historical figures mentioned in the poems. The manuscript reflects linguistic inconsistencies due to Caragiani’s Greek education, Aromanian dialectal influences, and evolving Romanian orthographic norms. His translations feature archaic verb forms, redundant superlatives, and unusual syntax. The lexicon integrates numerous borrowings from Turkish (aga, arnăut, harem), Greek (cleft, palicar, egumen), and Slavic (duhovnic, praznic), alongside French and Italian influences. Caragiani’s poetic style includes inversions, metaphorical imagery, and personifications, mirroring the oral tradition of folk poetry. Although unpublished, his work aimed to highlight Aromanian folklore within the broader Balkan cultural landscape, making a significant contribution to Romanian literary studies.

THE LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE IN BUCHAREST DURING COMMUNIST REGIME

Author(s): Ovidiu-Ionuț Avram / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

This study aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the history of Romanian librarianship, with a particular focus on the evolution of libraries in higher theological education. By analyzing archival documents identified within the Faculty of Theology of the University of Bucharest, the research highlights relevant aspects concerning a library whose historical development reflects the transformations of the academic institution to which it belongs. The study focuses on the period 1948-1984, within the context of the communist regime, and emphasizes significant historical and functional aspects. In particular, the processes of reorganization and inventorying of the library between 1980 and 1984 are analyzed, along with the conclusions derived from these efforts. The library’s ability to sustain its activity under the communist regime, its status as a specialized library that applied principles of librarianship in its organization and functioning, as well as the size and quality of its documentary collection, attest to the fact that it became one of the most prestigious specialized libraries in the field of theology.

RECLAIMING BLACK AUTHORITY: FROM THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE TO THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT

Author(s): Ștefania Elena Degeratu / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The Harlem Renaissance, an artistic and intellectual movement highlighting the achievements and creativity of African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s, experienced a gradual decline influenced by multiple factors. While no singular event triggered its demise, scholars have identified two primary factors contributing to its rapid decline. The initial factor was a financial crisis, as the Great Depression of the 1930s significantly impacted Harlem’s arts and cultural environment. The second issue involved the migration of numerous African Americans from the region, driven by their desire for improved opportunities and recognition beyond their immediate community. As these factors converged, the influence of the Harlem Renaissance waned and eventually dissipated, leaving a lasting legacy of artistic and cultural achievements that continue to inspire and shape subsequent generations of artists and intellectuals. Therefore, this paper will explore the evolution of Black cultural expression, activism, and resistance to systemic racism in the United States, tracing a remarkable journey from the Harlem Renaissance to the contemporary Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. While these two transformative periods arise from different historical contexts and employ varied advocacy methods, they are intricately connected by a shared purpose: the powerful assertion of Black identity and dignity. Both movements illuminate the ongoing struggle for equality, showcasing the resilience of the Black community in confronting and challenging the profoundly entrenched inequalities that persist throughout American society.

A MYTHICAL AND FOLKLORIC REPRESENTATION OF FEMININITY IN ION AGÂRBICEANU’S PROSE

Author(s): Laura-Camelia Kovacs / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

Ion Agârbiceanu's prose is, for the most part, based on mythic-folkloric representations of some events rendered on the edge of the collision between the real and the fabulous plane, the one in which predominate myths such as that of the bathhouse, of the undead, of the witch, of the flying or falling into hell, of the demon or of various spirits and mythological beings found in Romanian folklore.The present paper captures the main poses of mythical femininity in Agârbiceanu’s prose, poses such as that of the undead woman, a being considered to be evil due to her power of seduction and persuasion, the pose of the volve woman, symbol of the turbulent aquatic feminine, that of the woman-oracle, harbinger of inexplicable events; there are also exponents of the demonic and of degrading adultery, opposed to angelic figures/devoted wives, the pose of the haunted woman, the reproduction of Mary Magdalene, the biblical motif of repentance, the pose of the devil child/wild devil, incarnated evil/"the sole of hell", the Phoenix-woman, and the list goes on.The hermeneutic approach in this paper consists of an ethno-folkloric and, at the same time, a psychological and anthropological interpretation of several female characters consecrated in Ion Agârbiceanu’s prose, from the perspective of analyzing the most relevant myths, signs, symbols and rituals specific to the Transylvanian collectivity at the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, all these ancestral beliefs will be counterbalanced by the interference of modern elements, thus tracing the impact of the fusion of the two major influences, the old and the new, in shaping the female characters, a phenomenon that will inevitably lead to their desacralization.

MISOGYNY AND HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE DECADENT STRAIN OF HARLEM RENAISSANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF WALLACE THURMAN’S INFANTS OF THE SPRING

Author(s): Mohammad Roomazi / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

This paper examines the intersections of misogyny and homosexuality within the Harlem Renaissance, specifically through Wallace Thurman’s novel Infants of the Spring. The analysis illustrates how Thurman, along with contemporaries like Alain Locke and Langston Hughes, engaged with the intricate socio-cultural landscape of Harlem during the 1920s. By critiquing the patriarchal and heteronormative constructs prevalent during this period, the study explores how these figures perpetuated certain misogynistic attitudes despite their progressive stances on racial and sexual identities. Utilizing Marilyn Frye's theories on male supremacy and homosexual identity, alongside Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s ideas on the epistemology of the closet which reveals the dualities and contradictions within gender and sexual identities, the paper argues that the Harlem Renaissance, while a site of significant cultural production and resistance, also mirrored broader societal contradictions concerning gender and sexuality. Through a close reading of Thurman’s work and the interactions of historical figures at events like the 1924 Civic Club dinner, this study reveals the disparate and contradictory ways in which African American writers and intellectuals both challenged and conformed to oppressive norms.