ЕТНОГРАФИЈА НАМЕЊИВАЊА ПЛЕСА ПОКОЈНИКУ У СЕЛУ СВИНИЦИ
ETHNOGRAPHY OF DEDICATING A DANCE TO THE DEAD IN THE VILLAGE OF SVINIŢA

Summary/Abstract: The village of Svinica or Svinjica (Romanian: Sviniţa) is situated in the southern area of the Romanian Banat, which is known as Dunavska klisura (Romanian: Clisura Dunarii). According to historical sources the village of Svinica was founded and was inherited by the Serbs. My ongoing field research of dance and musical practice of this village started in 2011. In early May 2013, I organized a joint field research trip of seven international researchers to Svinica. Beside Eastern customs generally, we jointly observed one of the archaic mortuary rituals which is still alive in this village. This is a ritual which is called by the locals Igra za Bog da prost’ or namenjuvanje. During this ritual, family members devote a dance to the dead person that takes place within a dance event lasting for several hours. Based on the immediate fieldwork participant observation, this article focuses on making ethnographic narrative about the ritual namenjuvanje recorded in the village of Svinica in 2013 in the context of the contemporary dance practice of the wider area of Serbia and Romania where ritual of commemorating dance to the dead still exists.

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