“Dezidijati”: Identitetski konstrukt između antičkih i suvremenih percepcija

Author(s): Danijel Džino / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 38/2009

This paper discusses the ancient identity known from the sources as the Daesitiates. The crucial question that this paper raises is: what is hidden behind the term Daesitiates? Is this term a construct of the ancient sources and modern interpretations, or did it exist once as a historical “reality”, and whose reality did that term represent? Currently the prevailing scholarly opinion is that the Daesitiates represented an ethnic or proto-ethnic community, which developed through different stages of social organisation from the late Bronze Age throughout the Iron Age to the arrival of the Romans in the first century BC, ultimately becoming a “people” or a “people-making community”.

“Dragulji doneti iz ropstva”: crna muzika i politika autentičnosti

Author(s): Paul Gilroy / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 62.8/2001

U savremenim debatama o modernosti i njenom mogućem pomračenju, kojima smo se bavili u prethodnom poglavlju, muzika uglavnom biva ostavljena po strani. To je neobično budući da je moderna diferencijacija istinitog, dobrog i lepog direktno izvedena u transformaciji javne upotrebe kulture uopšte i sve većem javnom značaju svih vrsta muzike. Izneo sam stav da su kritike modernosti koje je artikulisao sled generacija crnih intelektualaca zasnivale svoje rizomorfne sisteme propagacije u stalnoj blizini neizrecivih užasa iskustva ropstva. Izneo sam i mišljenje da je ova kritika animirana dubokim osećanjem postojanja saučesničkog odnosa između rasnog terora i razuma. [...]

“Društvo inžinira i arhitekata” i izdavanje atlasa Hrvatski građevni oblici

Author(s): Vesna Dubovečak / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1/2017

Since the late 19th century was marked by active efforts to register various Croatian professional terminology and terminology from everyday life in ru-ral Croatia, in mid-1884 members of the Croatian professional association of engineers and architects, following a proposal by Nikola Kolar, began collec-ting Croatian construction forms i.e. examples of traditional Croatian rural architecture on the territory of the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. The most active collectors were Josip Doljak, Martin Pilar, and Jan-ko Holjac, whose drawings of traditional architecture became the framework for an atlas that the association published only some 20 years later. The atlas Croatian Construction Forms (1904 – 1909) was published in five volumes of ten folios each and contained examples of traditional architecture from the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, while the final volume of the atlas also described a traditional house in Istria. Even though there was pressure from Vienna to publish descriptions of rural houses in Dalmatia among those of the Austrian lands, and those of houses in Slavonia under a special Slavonian coat of arms and under the patronage of the Austrian Society of Engineers and Architects, Janko Holjac and the other members of the Society of Engineers and Archi-tects in Slavonia and Croatia refused to allow this even if it meant the atlas would never be published. Mostly due to a lack of funds and a lack of examples of traditional architecture from all the counties, the atlas was published over a longer period of time. In order to acquaint as many people as possible with the architectural traditions of rural Croatia, the Society decided to simultaneously publish a German edition of the atlas under the title Das Bauernhaus in Kroati-en (Kroatische Bauformen) – Atlas. The architect Martin Pilar wrote an accom-panying book in German, entitled Das Bauernhaus in Kroatien (1911), but the Croatian translation of this book was never published due to a lack of funds.

“Gagaouzes et Grecs”: Ethnic images, struggles and bridging contradicting cultural realities

Author(s): Iulian Mitran / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2018

Instances in which trans-culturalism and hybridity are forwarded as legitimate topics for debate and analysis within our national academia are quite rare. We should not take a superficial approach to this situation, but rather find the natural bond between it and strengthening of the nationalist rhetoric across Europe. From time to time, anthropologists and amateur ethnologists find a common interest in analyzing anomalous groups, those that seem to transgress the boundaries between various diverging cultural realms. Depictions of the Gagauzians can be found scattered through numerous texts, ranging travel literature, to data that is extracted from population surveys. Even though we are talking about a multitude of sources, a well-defined outline concerning the exact limits of this nation’s cultural identity is still deeply marked by ambiguity and confusion. Our vernacular ethnic literature was, mostly, reluctant in engaging in discussions regarding ambiguous identities, those identities that emerged at the boundaries between contrasting cultural realms, thus encompassing traits vernacular to those that they came in contact with, while gradually “indigenouzing” specific sets of values. This paper is concerned with giving some insight in regard to the various instances in which Gagauzians are depicted in various works from our vernacular ethnic identity, as well as alternative ethnographic resources, mainly video footage. The main emphasis will be on those claims that seem to highlight those traits that can be, most exclusively, associate with this obscure nation. It will be interesting to note if, depending on the origin on the cited source, the time the data was written or recorded, will generate highly contradictory images regarding this nation.

“He flew on wings of Slavonic feeling to Serbia to help the Serbs in 1915”. The symbolic instrumentalization of M.R. Štefánik and Slavonic community against the background of the inter-state relations of the time

Author(s): Peter Macho / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2016

The study analyses the symbolic instrumentalization of the national hero M.R. Štefánik in the context of the modified form of Slavonic community in the 20th century. In the inter-war period, the symbol of Štefánik was used to strengthen the Czechoslovak – Yugoslav alliance on the basis of Slavonic brotherhood. The political representatives of independent Slovakia and Croatia during the Second World War refused to build their inter-state relations on the basis of Slavonic community. From the point of view of Zagreb, Štefánik appeared pro-Serb and pro-Yugoslav, so he was an undesirable symbol for the Croats. Emphasis on the strong Slavonic and Serbophil identity of Štefánik became an instrument for Slovak opposition oriented circles to articulate their resistance to the Ľudák regime and the Slovak state.

“Kovač” Jurina

Author(s): Ante Milošević / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 34/2005

The text will discuss the group of monumental monolithic tomb stones (stećak) characteristic of the area of Dalmatinska zagora (surroundings of Trilj and Imotski) and southwest Bosnia. By decorative elements, simplicity and clarity of composition, the overall stonework orderliness and the monumentality of shape, this g roup of tomb stones represents one of the most beautiful art creations on the tomb stones from the second half of the fifteenth century. However, as many monuments of this kind, this group is nearly devoid of inscriptions and most of the stones will always remain the tomb ornaments of unknown heroes made by a hammer and a chisel of unknown stonemasons. Fortunately, the few of the most beautiful tomb stones from this group has at least some remaining inscriptions. For example, two of the tomb stones (from Cista near Imotski) belong to the couple Vladina and Herko (Jerko) Kustrazić, another one (from Bisko near Trilj) importantly bears the year 1440, while a third (from Lovreč near Imotski) belongs to Vlkoje (Vukoje) Bogdanić. The latter was chiselled by “blacksmith” Jurina (blacksmith is the most common term for stonemasons mentioned on the tomb stones inscriptions). All previously mentioned examples and some others without inscriptions from the graveyards in the surrounding area have very similar style and choice of ornament motifs and stonework orderliness.

“Look, You Machame You Dog”: The Story of an Anti-Islamic Inscription on St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna

Author(s): Ernst Fürlinger / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

After the 1683 Siege of Vienna, an anti-Islamic inscription and sculpture – possibly representing the head of Muhammad – were affixed onto the tower of St. Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna. In the 21st century, this story highlights the difficulties that arise when the collective memory of the former Catholic empire or nation collides with human rights norms of the modern constitutional republic as well with the norms of religious dialogue in the Catholic Church

“Moğollarin Gizli Tarihi”Nde Geçen Ant İçmekle İlgili Bazi Gelenekler

Author(s): Ganbat Lkhundev / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 73/2013

Throughout history, “the oath swearing” has been a matter of great importance for honesty and reliability between citizens or states. The oath swearing tradition of Central Asian peoples has descended to us, with some modifications, as a cultural element of the Huns. These oath taking ceremonies were being held in the presence of representatives from both sides between individuals and between states in a spectacular way. There are several articles on this practice among Turkish peoples. Though here we attempted to show the amount of interaction considering oath swearing between Turks and Mongols, not much has been done on this topic regarding Mongol peoples. The oath swearing tradition of nomadic states like Hun, Kök Türk, Uygur and Kitan developed into a special ceremony in 13th century. During this time, it was of prime importance in defining the relations between friends or states. This practice which is attested in all Central Asian peoples has had a profound effect on Mongol culture. The word “ant içme” which has been used in Turkish literature since long time ago, is also seen in some Mongolian texts. Comparing these instances with those from Turkish language, one might say that although they are dated to much later times, still they show how effective this practice was in political life of Mongols. There exists information about oath making in “The Secret History of the Mongols” as a basic resource of thirteenth century Mongolian language. Focusing especially on this resource, this article intends to call attentions to the similarities between Turks and Mongols in practicing an oath.

“Prijelomna” i “sudbonosna” 1918: obilježavanje stogodišnjice stvaranja ugoslavije

Author(s): Branimir Janković / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1/2019

U tekstu se obrađuje obilježavanje stogodišnjice stvaranja Jugoslavije 1918 — 2018. godine. Iako je naglasak na hrvatskim medijima i javnosti, društvu i historiografiji, u tekstu se govori i o načinu na koji se o Jugoslaviji govorilo u Sloveniji, Bosni i Hercegovini, Srbiji, Crnoj Gori i Makedoniji. Pritom je u svim državnim politikama bivših jugoslavenskih republika moguće primijetiti zajednička obilježja, ali i određene specifičnosti u njihovom sadašnjem odnosu prema Jugoslaviji. Stvaranje Jugoslavije i jugoslavensko iskustvo naime u cjelini uvelike doživljavaju “prijelomnim” i “sudbonosnim”, uz dominiranje negativnog bilanciranja i nerijetko postavljanja pitanja je li se ono uopće moralo dogoditi. No i tijekom stogodišnjice bila su o tome vidljiva vrlo različita i suprotstavljena mišljenja, kako među povjesničarima tako i u medijima i javnosti, čineći temu Jugoslavije i dalje polemičnom i interpretativno otvorenom.

“The Gullet” of the War. The Molokans from the District of Yerevan and the Rusk Preparation for the Caucasus Front in 1877

Author(s): Mariyana Piskova,Kristina Popova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2015

The use of rusks for military needs became more and more important in the logistics of wars in the 19th century. The organization of preparation, preservation and transportation of rusks in 1877 was an “operation” according to the military documents left in the governmental archive. The Russian military command decided that the big part of the rusks needed for the Caucasus front had to be prepared by peasants – Russian settlers in the South Caucasus – especially by the so-called Molokans – as they did it for the first time in the Crimean War 1853 – 1856. The Molokans were one of the many Christian sects who lived in Russia during the 19th century, just like the Dukhobors, Mennonites and others. They rejected the participation in war because of confessional reasons. However, the war activities mobilized much more people than were actually involved in the direct armed clashes between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1877 – 1878. Religious minority populations in the Caucasus were mobilized to work night and day in harsh conditions – to dry, bake and transport flour and rusks, to load boots, camels and carts. Their resources were used for war purposes. Although the Molokans were among the sectarians who were against war and violence, their villages took part in the important work for military use.

“Up” and “Down”. “Zomia” and the Bru of the Central Vietnamese Highlands - Part II: Fleeing the State or Desire for Modernity? Reflections on Scott and Salemink

Author(s): Gábor Vargyas / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

In the first part of my study, based on micro-historical data related to Scott’s hypothesis, I examined whether the Bru were native to their current territory. I came to the conclusion that the Bru are, if not “native”, at least the oldest known inhabitants of this area, and although their history is inseparable from the histories of the surrounding states, they are not a people fleeing from – and only partially because of – the latter. In part two, I examine the other side of the coin: the issue of state evasion, proving that notwithstanding my criticism, Scott still provides a deep insight into the Bourdieu-esque habitus of mountain-dwellers, including the Bru, and that his thesis is much more than just a “populist post-modern history of nowhere”. In the final part of my paper, I refute Salemink’s recent propositions contending Scott’s theory, rejecting his ideas about an alleged wish for inscription into “modernity” through communism and Christianity – a wish that he attributes to hill peoples.

“Up” and “Down”.”Zomia” and the Bru of the Central Vietnamese Highlands - Part I: Are the Bru Natives in „Zomia“?

Author(s): Gábor Vargyas / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

The 2009 publication of J. Scott’s epoch-making book, The Art of Not Being Governed. An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia initiated a long-standing debate about the ethnohistory of the Southeast-Asian Highlands (“Zomia”) and, more generally, about lowland-highland relationships, “nativeness”, state evasion, self-government, and “secondary primitivism”. This article joins the discourse based on one cocnrete ethnographic example, the Bru, a Mon-Khmer speaking dry-rice cultivator hill tribe in the Central Vietnamese Highlands. Using detailed ethnographic and ethno-historic data, it argues that the Bru are, if not “native”, at least the oldest known inhabitants of the area inhabited by them – a fact that does not contradict Scott’s deep insight concerning their state evasion.

“Znaš, bilo je to…”. Povijest, vrijeme i krajolik u predajama iz Slavonije

Author(s): Ljiljana Marks / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2015

I take historical legends to be a dynamic genre of oral literature, oral history and culture in general. They represent a dialogue with the past from the temporal (and educational) perspective of the narrator who, while speaking of the past, also provides a commentary on the present time.

“ГОРКИТЕ ПОМАЦИ”

Author(s): Ayshe Kayapanar / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019

The present work represents a translation of a brochure named “Poor Pomaks” from Ottoman Turkish to Bulgarian. This brochure gives very interesting information about the forced conversion in Christianity of the Pomaks in 1913. Printed in the publishing house "Hayriye and its associates", the only surviving copy of the brochure is preserved in the archive of the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul. There are a number of brochures printed by this publishing house. Between the years 1912-1915, 4 brochures with the similar topics were published. The brochure “Poor Pomaks” is the fourth one. The author of the “Poor Pomaks” brochure is not known. The brochure consists of 29 pages. The first 8 pages of the text contains the author's opinion about Bulgarians and Turkish-Bulgarian relations. In the other twenty-two pages, the author gives a place for stories about the torture and cruelty experienced by 150,000 Pomaks who were subjected to forced conversion in 1913. The important thing in this account, which is a valuable source of conversion, is that it testifies to real-world events, villages, and sacrifices. The territorial coverage of the conversion in the regions with numerous Pomaks populations and mainly the villages of today's Plovdiv, Smolyan, Pazardzhik, Kardzhali and Blagoevgrad regions in Bulgaria and the northern parts of Western Thrace in Greece are clearly outlined. The last two pages of the brochure include a letter and an epilogue. In the epilogue, the author makes a critical assessment of the behavior of the big states and of the Balkan allies during the Balkan War. Two photos are also featured in the brochure, one of which has a great historical value because it is one of the few preserved to our day authentic photographs of the victims and the baptists.

“Патриотический примордиализм”: воображение этничности и нации в постсоветском Азербайджане. Социологическое эссе

Author(s): Sergey Rumyantsev / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2015

The last years of existence of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, as well as the two Post-Soviet decades, became the time of invariable interest and steadfast attention to the phenomena of ethnic and national identity. The growth of this interest, of course, cannot be a great surprise. The collapse of the Soviet Union, for the majority of Azerbaijanis, including (but not only) politicians, experts and social researchers, was directly connected with the nationalistic movements in the former Soviet republics. More than two decades of the nation-state construction process have already passed at present. And now we may observe how the idea of construction of the civil nation comes into a great contradiction with the inculcation of the Soviet tradition, which aimed to represent the Azerbaijani nation in ethno-cultural terms (“titular nation”, etc.) and institutionalized ethno-national personal identities. The “Soviet type” of essentialist national discourse is still produced by the Azerbaijani scholarly communities, mass media, politicians, etc., and still remains very popular on the level of ordinary people’s everyday life as well.

„...kde Maďarka, tam hnev; kde Nemkyňa, tam faleš; kde Cigánka, tam krádež“1 Utváranie stereotypov o „iných“ v slovenskej cestopisnej a národopisnej literatúre 19. storočia

Author(s): Rastislav Molda / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2012

The aim of the study is the analysis of the stereotypes of Hungarians, Jews, Germans and Romanies that are portrayed in the Slovak literature of the 19th century. The primary sources of the text analysis are travel and ethnographic works published as separate titles as well as the articles issued in the periodical press. Some of the mentioned literary pieces were due to limited publishing and financial possibilities published only in student's manuscript magazines and humorous magazines. Making stereotypes springs from an ambivalent relationship when there is the differentiation between "we" and "the others". Slovak authors used ironic, negative and even pejorative words when describing "the other" nationalities, whereas, they offered a positive self-portrayal when representing Slovaks. The goal of this study is to provide the record of the creation and usage of ethnic stereotypes in its complexity and in its context of the genesis of Slovak auto- and hetero-stereotypes about Hungarian nationalities in Slovak intellectual discussion. In this analysis of the stereotypes their functionality, frequency in various social environments as well as the media in which they occurred are stressed. Attention is paid to Slovak authors' expressions used in the depiction of "the others". The study is devoted to the stereotypes with the emphasis on particular situations in which they were formed. Moreover, this work points out reciprocal influence of the stereotypes and their importance. The extent of the study does not allow analyzing all the Slovak hetero-stereotypes mentioned in these literary genres. Therefore only the selection from the hetero-stereotype catalogue will be presented. According to this election Hungarians are presented as "a lazy and indolent nation", Germans as a "greedy and self-conceited" nation, Jews are stereotypically perceived as innkeepers and the stereotypes about Romanies are simply negative.

„A nemzetiségi kérdés, voltaképpen nyelvkérdés.”

A Temesvári Magyar Nyelvet Terjesztő Egyesület kulturális stratégiái egy soknemzetiségű városban

Author(s): Loránd Balla / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 68/2017

The study uses the example of the Temesvar Association for the Promotion of the Hungarian Language (Temesvari Magyar Nyelvet Terjesztő Egyesulet, TMNTE) to explore how the local and national assimilation efforts were present in the operation of a civil organisation. Further, the author also examines the ethnic composition of the membership as well as the role of the various ethnic minorities of the city in the operation of the association. Namely, who supported the association? Why did they choose to explicitly express their loyalty toward the idea of the Hungarian state in this way?One of the most unique features of the TMNTE, founded in 1882, is its founders’ German heritage. In addition, immediately after its foundation one of the main aims of this educational association was to counter the Austrian Schulverein which was established to promote the use of the German language in the schools of Temesvar (now Timișoara, Romania).The linguistic-cultural Magyarisation of Temesvar was implemented with varying intensity between the 1880s and the First World War. The aim of the local authorities in then Southern Hungary was not only the assimilation of the region’s smaller ethnic minorities, but also achieving Hungarian dominance all over the others within the whole ethnic composition. Besides the traditional means of cultural assimilation, the TMNTE also organised Hungarian language courses, established creches, and attempted to influence the theatre scene – with modest success.

„Bessarabien“ 2.0. Kognitive Kartierung einer walachisch-moldauischosmanisch- russisch-rumänisch-sowjetisch-autonomen Provinz in deutschen, englischsprachigen und rumänischen Lexika vom 18. Jahrhundert bis heute

Author(s): Armin Heinen / Language(s): German Issue: 71/2012

Few cultural-geographic terms relating to south-eastern Europe are as biased as the term “Bessarabia”. This article shows how to overcome restricted perceptions and how to develop much more refined multi-perspective views by using the Internet. The author investigates the development of the concept “Bessarabia” in those German, English and Romanian dictionaries (to some extent also in French and Russian encyclopaedias) since the 18th century that are freely accessible on the Internet. As shown in the articles, the transformation of the concept “Bessarabia” corresponds to general culturaland historical changes and thus gives insight into the construction of the “civilized west” and the “savage southeast”, each with its different meanings. At the same time the essays reflect a specific political perception due to different “national” experiences (cultural variety, imperial confrontation, national affiliation). At the end of his paper, the author discusses the consequences of Internet-based source analysis for today’s history teaching and research. It is argued, that by modern technology the spatial limitations of the library system regarding south-eastern Europe might be overcome. As a result the Internet might work as a global library and will enable us to write better argued historical narratives which bear the chance of consent between contemporaries and a realistic orientation in time (Jorn Rusen).

„Búr és Brit-is(h)”. A Maritz lázadás (1914‒1915). Egy majdnem polgárháború a Nagy Háborúban

Author(s): Gábor Szabó-Zsoldos / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

South Africa ten years after the Boer War was still a divided country. The end of the war and the establishment of the Union in 1910 emerged barriers between the political and military elite of the Afrikaners. Mainly this polarisation (ruling party – Afrikaner nationalists) and the social tension culminated in northern part of the former Orange Free State and west Transvaal led to the Maritz Rebellion. Although the governmental troops led by Prime Minister Louis Botha defeated easily the rebels, the political consequences of the Rebellion meant more difficulties for the ruling party than the fight. Present study deals with different aspects of the Maritz Rebellion as well as the way how the contemporary Hungarian public opinion interpreted that conflict.

„Das Volkstum ist der Völker Jungbrunnen“ – Friedrich Salomo Krauss und die ethnographische Erforschung Bosnien-Herzegowinas

Author(s): Lejla Sirbubalo / Language(s): German Issue: 39/2010

Nach der Okkupation Bosnien-Herzegowinas im Jahre 1878 und den ersten „zivilisatorischen Aufgaben und Reformen“, die von der habsburgischen „Kulturmonarchie“ eingeleitet wurden, widmete sich die österreichisch-ungarische Regierung allmählich der wissenschaftlichen Erforschung Bosnien-Herzegowinas und ging auf die Bevölkerung und ihre Sitten gezielt ein. Die vornehmlich militärischen und wirtschaftlichen Studien zu Bosnien, die in den liberalen 1860-er Jahren entstanden waren, sollten bald von tiefer greifenden Untersuchungen der bosnischen „Volksseele“, des Brauchtums und in erster Linie der „völkischen Schaffenskunst“, der Volksliteratur, abgelöst werden. Arbeiten über die Geschichte Bosniens und die Bräuche der Südslawen hielten Einzug in die europäische Öffentlichkeit; die Studien wurden nunmehr fast ausschließlich von „gelernten Wissenschaftern“, Ethnologen, Slawisten, Historikern etc. betrieben.