Nova Nova godina - od "mladog ljeta" k političkom ritualu
The New New Year - from Christmas to Political Ritual

Summary/Abstract: Taking as a starting point the model of the winter ceremonial cycle, as described in Gävazzi’s Godina dana hrvatskih narodnih običaja (1939), the article examines its transformation in the context of revolutionary changes in Croatia’s society and culture (1945 — .1950). The research deals with the following problems/questions: 1—by means of an analysis of historiographic sources it reconstructs what proceeded and caused the invention of the »new« New Year as a »socialist holiday«; 2 —what political and symbolical strategies were used in this case by the new government to propagate the revolutionary changes of culture; 3 — what were the socio-cultural functions of the newly invented political ritual. The final juxtaposition of the »traditional« and »revolutionary« model of this holiday exposes the basic structure, and the latent semantic potential of the New Year’s ritual practice.

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