Južnoslavenska mačka u folklorističkim i etnološkim interpretacijama: od Nodila preko Đorđevića do Radenkovića, ali i transmedijalne umjetnosti Željka Kipkea
The South Slavic Cat in Folkloristic and Ethnological Interpretations: From Nodilo through Đorđević to Radenković, but also through Transmedia Art of Željko Kipke

Summary/Abstract: An interpretive timeline presents the imaginary of cats in South Slavic customs and beliefs from Natko Nodilo through Tihomir R. Đorđević and Ljubinko Radenković all the way to contemporary cultural animal studies research, as contextually related to other Slavs and Indo-European comparative mythology. While Nodilo relies on Angelo de Gubernatis’s interpretation of the mythology of nature, Tihomir R. Đorđević follows the ethnographic material of the South Slavs (as for Croatia, he thoroughly researched, among other things, material related to cats in the Collection of Folk Life and Customs of the South Slavs), and Ljubinko Radenković conducts a semiotic analysis to identify the role of the cat in the symbolism of the conceptualization of world of the South Slavs, where he notes that, as far as domestic animals are concerned, the closest animals to man are the horse, sheep, cow and ox, followed by the bull, goat, donkey, hen, pig, dog and cat. Finally, the symbolism of the cat in contemporary Croatian visual culture is considered, given that the cat is a powerful zoosymbol of post-conceptual and transmedial practice, that is, the “anthropological structure of the imaginary”, to use Gilbert Durand’s phrase. Overall, these diverse interpretations, ranging from folklore and ethnology to transmedia art, provide a comprehensive exploration of the South Slavic cat and his/ her (not its) significance within the cultural and artistic context of the region.

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