Keywords: village; religion; orthodox; ethnic interference; Hungary; church;
Моје родно место Сантово је село које је постало позиато по прелазу људи из римокатоличке у православпу вeру. To је било крајем девeтпаестога века. Раније је то било чисто шокачко село. А знаш ли ко су Шокци? To су исто Срби који су примили римокатоличку веру. Срби који су се касиије доселили у Сантово нису имали коме да се приклоне у верском погледу, јер тамо није било православне цркве. Тако су се и они полагано некако прилагодили Шокцима и римокатоличкој цркви. А већ моји родитељи припадају генерацији која се вратила на православиу веру. Моји дедови и баке су још били крштени у римокатоличкој цркви, али су касније и они прешли иа православље. У то време су почели градити садашњу православну цркву. Прво је била саграђена једна дашчара, црква од дасака, и она је служила док није завршена градња ове садашње. Та данашља је велика, лепа црква, грађена је за отприлике две хиљаде душа. А шта је био разлог тог враћања у православље? У оно време су сe почели насељавати Мађари у Сантово. Опи су тражили да се миса, то јест литургија, служи иа мађарском језику.
More...Keywords: Serbs; Chicago; ethnic identity; migrants; 20th century; Serbian communal spirit; verbal and nonverbal symbolic system;
Since in our opinion ethnic identity is an important problem in the study of the complex issues of assimilation and ethnicity, we have tried to determine to what extent and why the Serbian emigrants in Chicago have preserved their ethnic identity and what have been the forms and factors of its manifestation in the multinational environment of Chicago. As little attention has been paid to this problem so far, we collected the most important data during the field research by combining participatory observation, interviewing and casual conversation, although we also used all the available literature, statistical sources (census, etc.) and the emigrants’ publications (newspapers, commemorative volumes, calendars, bulletins, etc.). The Serbian emigrations to Chicago have had all the characteristics of the emigrations of other Yugoslav nations to America. They began at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and they have been taking place with changing intensity ever since. Therefore this paper covers three generations of Serbian emigrants. There have been three waves of emigration, differing in the region, time and cause of emigration and the socioeconomic characteristics of the emigrants. The first-wave emigrants had come to Chicago until World War Two for economic reasons, and they were mostly from Lika, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro; only at the end of this and in the subsequent waves was there a large number of emigrants from Serbia. Most of them under-educated or even illiterate and without knowledge of the English language, they usually found employment as factory workers or poorly paid laborers. The second wave consisted of emigrants who came after World War Two, mostly until 1960, as political emigres or displaced persons. The third wave, consisting of economic emigrants, began in 1960 and is not yet over. The socioeconomic status of the emigrants of the last two waves has been much more favorable because of a greater share of skilled workers. (The third wave has also been characterized by a much higher proportion of highly Skilled workers.) Since now they are coming to Chicago with professional experience, as soon as they learn the language, they begin to advance. On coming to Chicago, the first emigrants were faced with a new environment whose language, customs and habits were something altogether new to them. Besides, their adaptation to the new conditions of life was often accompanied by intolerance on the part of the members of groups which had emigrated earlier and by the unhospitability of American society. Therefore the old emigrants founded their colonies and institutions (parishes, relief societies, Serbian schools, choirs, e ts ...) in poor districts of the city. The emigrants of the subsequent waves, especially the third, usually settled in colonies whose breakup began at the time of their coming to Chicago, but they remained active in the old emigrant organizations or founded new ones, more suited to their needs. The emigrants’ families and organizations have formed an emigrant community, to an extent isolated from the rest of American society, in which our emigrants are still largely leading their private and public lives. Different times of emigration and differences in the socioeconomic status of the emigrants and generations have reflected on the status of their descendants in American society, and still more on the preservation of their ethnic identity, so that the members of the second generation can be divided into two types: the first type includes the descendants of the first-wave emigrants; and the second type, the post-World War Two emigrants. As a satisfactory definition of ethnic identity must include both its subjective and objective aspects and also have a symbolic character, in this paper we shall take ethnic identity to denote group identity which the members of a group form on the basis of a series of symbolic notions about their common characteristics, and/or which is formed by others who identify them as members of a group on the basis of these notions. Ethnic identity is formed and manifested through a series of ethnic symbols. Their basic function is to express the Serbian communal spirit. In addition to this marking role, they also have a differentiating role.. They separate our emigrants from the majority of the American population, which includes not only the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants but also all other ethnic groups in the city. We have grouped the ethnic symbols into two large symbolic systems: the verbal (language and personal and family names) and the nonverbal (religion, music, food and decorative objects). We have analyzed each of these symbols separately, with an intention of showing how it is used and how it changes and functions in the lives of the emigrants of different generations, waves and types. The first generation has, as expected, preserved its ethnic characteristics and is manifesting them more or less visibly both in the emigrant community and in American society at large. The second generation has lost some of the ethnic symbols, such as language, which has led some researchers to conclude that the second and, especially, the third generations have been largely assimilated. Ethnic identity, however, is based on a number of ethnic symbols, and loss of one of them does not entail loss of ethnic identify because its function can be taken over by other symbols. The later generations of Serbs in Chicago are cherishing symbols of their ethnic identity best suited to their needs and the conditions of their life (mostly nonverbal symbols). Apart from generational affiliation, the preservation of ethnic identity is affected by a series of other factors. On the one hand, there are emigrant-community factors (type of migration, type of colony, participation in ethnic organizations), which along with the contact with the homeland are contributing to the preservation of ethnic identity. On the other hand, American-society factors (naturalization, immigration policy, school system, social mobility) are contributing to the disappearance of ethnic identity. The opposite effects of the emigrant community and American society are giving rise, especially among the members of the second generation, to dual identity, which is symbolically manifested in the cherishing of both Serbian and American symbols, even simultaneously. The third generation, however, is characterized by an increased interest in the elements of the traditional culture of their ancestors. This is a generation most affected by the cultural pluralism and ethnic revival movement of the 1970s. Today the activities of various ethnic organizations in Chicago already cover the fourth and fifth generations of our emigrants, so that it is very likely that, although now being school-age children, they will preserve other ethnic characteristics besides the awareness of their ethnic origin. The emigration of Serbs to Chicago still continues, contributing to the constant revival of Serbian ethnic elements. Therefore we can assume that the Serbian ethnic group in Chicago will not completely disappear in the foreseeable future and that lit will preserve ethnic characteristics best suited to the needs of the emigrants and the conditions of the life in the multi-ethnic environment of Chicago.
More...Keywords: Serbian fairy tales; semantic; ethnology; culture; cognitive and axiological semantic models;
Although world literature has thoroughly studded fairy tales, this cannot be said for the ones that are a part of Serbian folk creativeness. Partly dealt with in our folkloristic, they have remained, in general, out of the domain of scientific interest of Serbian ethnology. Hance my wish to treat, from an ethno-folkloric aspect within our bounds, this insufficiently explored matter. Regarding the fairy tales as a particular meta-language, used to carry on definite messages, my theoretical and methodological starting point was to investigate the fairy tale as a symbolic system through a structural-semantic analysis. The research was directed to what the fairy tales are talking about, what notional and value content imbues their structure, and finally, to what level of reality they pertain. Although a fairy tale transmits universal ideas indeed, and the matter it deals with concerns essential and existential problems in the human life, such as life and death, love and hate, sexuality and sin, happiness and destiny etc. I have decided to make choice of particular segment of reality and limited myself to social, to be more precise, and family relations. This election has been motivated by the fact that the basic interest of the fairy tale is directed to the destiny of the individual, has process of maturing and the affirmation he realizes within the sphere of personal, marital and family relationships. The basic aim of the research was therefore the establishing structure of the messages that fit in the context of the above mentioned social relationships in the Serbian tales and their deeper „reading" by means of two global semantic model — cognitive and axiological. Thus the paradigmatic organization of the social code that dominants structure of the fairy tale has been extracted, not discarding, the other ones with which the social one is deeply integrated and knitted manifold, for instance, the cosmological and mythological, religious, geographical, biological, moral and others, that altogether take part in building the general filed of meaning in a fairy tale. The analysis has operated with the results that structural anthropology and folkloric have come up to. In most cases I have used A. J. Greimas’ method of the semiotic square or the elementary structures of meaning because this logical model gives clear picture of the notional structure of the fairy tales when the bigger and smaller meaning units combine on the principles of the opposites, contradictions and implications. Distributed on the bases and sides of the semiotic square, these terms build multilateral and multi-leveled mutual meaning relationships. Furthermore, certain analytic modes of other structuralists and semioticians, such as Levi-Strauss, Vladimir Propp, Meletinsky, Joseph Courtes, Claude Bremond and others have been applied. In a great number of cases direct application of these methods was impossible and thus I have operationalized them, that is, adapted to the matter I was dealing with. Material that form my research I have limited to the Serbo-Croat language domain, fairy tales collected throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century in those regions of south Slavic countries inhabited by Serbian population. A body of forty fairy tales, which the plot and the unknowing on the narrative plane encompass at the same time the conflict on. the plane of marital and family relationships, has been chosen. It has been taken from the two best known, and in my opinion, best collections of Serbian folk tales, Vuk St. Karadzic’s and Veselin Cajkano. Undoubtedly, the motif and thematical scope of the Serbian fairy tales represent variations of the known international stories. However, the particular type of cultural and social reality in which the tale generates and is further carried on, will determine the choice of motifs and themes understandable and acceptable to that culture. In that sense it should be expected that the fairy tales Serbian folk has narrated contain a selection and adaption of international motifs applied to its specific culture. Hence the ethnographic context is determined which represent a referential frame for stipulating the messages codes and interpretation. This context is partly extracted ideotypologically as a reconstruction of the patriarchal, traditional system of the Serbian rural society whose main axsis lay on the relationships within the family, the co-operative, the kin and the village. It is familiar to us from abundant ethnographic material indirectly dealt with and used in the semantic analysis. Their reconstruction. is based upon generally accepted premises about the global construction of the patriarchal societies believed to be the social-historical foundation for the genesis and transmition of fairy tales. It should be pointed out that the protracted domination of the patriarchal regime among the Serbian folk has contributed to the maintaining of certain archaic elements that have for a long time disappeared from the other European fairy tales in societies with more developed urban culture than has been the case with Serbians. Aside from The Introduction, the book contains three great thematical wholes: Out of the Circle, Circular Travelling and In the Circle. These headlines metaphorically denote the course the author has taken in solving this problem. In the first part through the chapters „Toward interpreting fairy tales" and „Serbian fairy tales: culture „digested" inwardly and outwardly" theoretical and methodological frames of research have treated and the introduction into the goal of work has been presented. In the second part, the analysis of the chosen body of fairy tales has been carried through. They are divided into three problem groups that contained typologically internal semantic homogeneousness, and thematically took for granted the elementary ideas out of which sprang the constant of the stories. The first cycles called „Initiation Secret" is divided into two sub-chapters: „Faraway Princesses" and „Insignificant Marriages" gave the basis for a classificational system which brings out what are the conditions to contract a proper marriage, where and how to look for a partner as well as all the obstacles could be encountered on the way. The second thematic round „Model Girls" through the confrontation of two sub-chapters, headed „Life in Ashes" and „The Slope", adjoins the problem from the previous group and talks of family conflicts sprung from the need to contract a marriage but accentuates the incompatibility of certain choices: too close or too distant partners and, of course, the solution of the problem. Finally, the third cycles „In the World of Spells or of Love" with the chapters „The Forbidden Chamber" and „The Beauty and the Beast", treats the mutual relationships of the partners, focusing on the semantic paradigms of sexuality, love, eroticism, sin and death. The third part of the work „In the Circle" in the chapter „Diagonals and Parallels", contains final treatises come up with in the previous analysis. It has turned out that the third cycles of the fairy tales has closed the circle attaching to the first cycles about dragons and dragon killers or, one could also say, it has opened a new thematic round always to be fulfilled on the semantic filed of fairy tales. At the end there are two annexes. The first contains the tabular presentation of the analyzed fairy tales according to the formally structural classificational criteria. In the second, named „The Structure of the Plot or Reason at Work", detailedly the theoretical and methodological procedure applied in the work has been inspected.
More...Keywords: Belgrade; Serbia; youth; subculture; stylish look; fashion; punk; hippie; music; social life;
Овај рад је писан у сенци три велике сумње: а) многи су сматрали да поткултуре код нас уопште не постоје, б) други би и уочавали њихово постојање (додуше као маргиналиих друштвених и културних појава), али не и мотив да се оне научно третирају, ц) трећи су те недоумице решавали тако што су једноставно cматрали да то није посао за етнолога. Од недавно, пажња јавности кoја се cве више поклања поткултурама, као да те сумње претвара у заблуде. Поткултура је у медијима, поткултура је у публицистици, проналази cвоје место и у науци, има је чак и у званичним расправама. Оснивају се специјализовани часопиcи који вапе за текстовима (помало затечених) аутора. Захтева се темељит приступ: поткултура са cоциолошкoг, психолошкoг, филозофског, уметничко-теoриjcког становишта... придружују се демагошки, сензационалистички, произвотно-журналиcтички приступи. Ускоро се cваки човек од лера, „коме је иоле било стало до cебе", труди да папише нешто и о „поткултури”. Млади, супкултура, алтернатива... постају цењене, а убрзо и „друштвено кориcне” таме. Открива се да је и новокомпонована музика „поткултурна (!), и ова „промоција" претвара „испреcање жучи" на ту музичку врсту у нови, благи, аналитички приступ. Цветају гeнералне поделе наше културе на ове или оне моделе, од којих је бар један обавезно — подкултурни.
More...Keywords: Serbia; Prokuplje; population; demography; migration; archaeology;
Geographical position of Prokuplje varied, depending on the importance of the region in a particular historic period. At the time of the Roman Empire Prokuplje was situated on the road connecting Lješ and Niš. A fortress (castellum) manned with soldiers securing peace and order, and protecting transportation of commodities and armies in the area was arected on the nearby hill Hisar. During the Turkish reign Prokuplje was again located on the important communication way between Dubrovnik and Istanbul, and this is the reason why between Dubrovnik and Istanbul, and this is the reason why some of the most significant Dubrovnik colonies were concentrated in Prokuplje and in Novi Pazar. Once the railways Doljevac-Prokuplje in 1925 and Prokuplje-Kuršumlija-Priština in 1948 were constructed its position continued to gain in importance. It should be added that a motor road connecting Niš and Pristina passes through Prokuplje and that Prokuplje and the adjacent towns are all connected ba a network of modem roads. Its favorable geographical position has had a definite impact on its demographic development. Archeological investigations in the region confirm that it was populated already in the prehistoric times. Its first inhabitants were members of the Illyrian tribe Dardanians followed by the Celtic tribe Scordisci. At the time of the Roman conquest severe battles were fought with the Celtic inhabitants and those who remained were resettled in Pannonia. Slavic settling in the area was completed by the seventh century. Serbs remained to live there in peace and in war with Byzantium all the way up to the Ottoman conquest in 1454. The region played an active and important part at the time of Stefan Nemanja as well, which may be deduced from the fact that his palace was located in Kuršumlija. The oppressed Serbian population, taking advantage of each and every opportunity, frequently rose up against Turkish slavery. Massive Serbian uprisings against the Turkish rulers took place at the time of Austrian-Turkish wars in 1690 and 1737. After these wars, fearing Turkish revenge, the Serbs, emigrated to the lands north of the Sava and the Danube, leaving behind their centuries-lond homeland. A powerful and successful uprising took place in 1876-1878 when the Toplica region was finally liberated and joined to the state of Serbia. After the liberation from the Turkish reign Prokuplje, finally free, became a strong immigrant point of attraction once again. Prokuplje and its environs were this time populated by immigrants from Montenegro, Herzegovina, Kossovo, Metohia, Kopaonik, environs of Užice, the Vojvodina, Crna Trava and other regions. The result of these migrations was the extremely heterogeneous population structure of Prokuplje, namely its members originated from many different regions. Demographic and socioeconomic development of Prokuplje was disrupted by the 1912-1918, and 1941-1945 wars. These wars had extremely negative effects on population and household growths in Prokuplje. After the Second World War an accelerated development of urban settlements continued in general and this was also true for Prokuplje. These processes invoked the rural-urban migrations because peasants could rather easily find employment in towns. This process was so pronounced in Prokuplje that 60% of its population are the rural immigrants. Prokuplje became the center of daily commuters: workers and pupils. The existence of so many commuters is conditioned by various factors: traffic development in Toplica, underdeveloped economy so that workers have to engage themselves in agricultural production as well, housing shortages in the town and so on. After the Second World War immigration of Serbian inhabitants from Kossovo and Metohia became more intensive. These migrations were provoked by the actions of Albanian separatists and nationalists, further by the bad policy of the Yugoslav League of Communists leadership, and by the failures of the state agencies and institutions. Population and household increase in Prokuplje after the liberation from the Turkish reign was the result of the influx of Serbian population from various directions, while after 1960 rural-urban migrations were the chief factor in population growth. Population increase due to birth rates is extremely modest, the average rate being 9% for the period of the last ten years. Population structure (gender, age, education, nationality, confession, economy) of Prokuplje is influenced by the complex socioeconomic factors effective in the past. Gender structure was disturbed by the intensive immigration of male migrants up to the Second World War and their emigration later on, by the economic structure of the town, by wars and other factors. Age structure is on the other hand effected by decrease of birth rates which is seen from the following aging index: in 1948 0.19.1953 0.18.1961 0.21. 1971 0.22, and in 1981 0.28. Literacy is on the low level (in 1948 15.22%, 1961 12.48%. 1971 11.07%, and in 1981 7.02%) for an urban settlement with more than 25000 inhabitants. Percentage of inhabitants with collage and university degrees is increasing (1948 1.41%. 1953 2.71%. 1971 4.91% and in 1981 7.35%). This increase is in accord with the economic, cultural, medical-care and communication development of Prokuplje, the center of Toplica. National structure in the periods after the liberation from the Turks was quite homogeneous. From 1948 (89.5%) until 1981 (86.47%) the percentage of Serbs decreased. The second largest group are the Gypsies amounting to 5.34% in 1981. More than 99% of the total population in Prokuplje are of the Serbian Orthodox creed. The economic structure of the population in Prokuplje changed in correlation with the development of economic life in the town and its environs. The general activity rate in the after-war period is quite stable: in 1953 31.1%, 196132.29%, 197134.95%, and in 1981 36.44%. Increase of the general rate of activity is the consequence of the aging of the population, decrease of natality rate and the number of pupils and students as supported persons. The number and percentage of self-supporting people is increasing because of the increasing number of retired persons who return to their home town after retirement. The absolute and relative number of people employed in primary sector is in decrease, while those in the secondary and tertiary ones is in increase. The rate and type of change that has occurred in the population economic structure in Prokuplje may be seen from the following data: the number of employees in economic activities increased in the period 1953-1961 for 84.74%, from 1961 to 1971 for 72%. and from 1971 to 1981 for 30.5%, and in other activities: from 1953 to 1961 for 19.5%, from 1961 to 1971 for 25.95%, and from 1971 to 1981 for 56.08%. In the following period both the population growth and the changes in population structure will be moderate for it is not expected that the town would experience abrupt changes in its development.
More...Keywords: Serbs; culture; tradition and modernism; ethnic identity; national identity; gender; Orthodox; migration; Orthodox Church; ethnology; cultural anthropology; politics; social and culture structure; history;
The subject o f this scholarly meeting is summarized in its title which gives the best possible formula of all topics dealt with in the said projects. Our goal is to see that, after the first year of work on the projects, these two research and education institutions organize a transparent conference which would provide access to the entire experience related to the project activities and to the results achieved by the research workers after a year-long effort. In the course o f such presentations, a need will arise for a critical overview and discourse o f all the issues and dilemmas encountered hitherto by the scholars. From the very start o f the sign-up period, in July 2001, the problems have, unfortunately, emerged in the formulation of entries in pursuance of the instructions in the project registration form. These were not the only nor the biggest problems. A prolonged waiting for the foreign reviews and for the allocation of research time, which w as considerably reduced as concerns our Institute, resulted in a 30% reduction of funding, and in a year-long struggle to get reimbursement for direct material expenses. Everyone is aware that such projects in the humanities, which have then special national significance, cannot be even conceived o f without fieldwork. As a matter o f principle, it should be pointed out here that the attitude to the humanities has, in the case o f our projects, proved inadequate. After this first year o f research work, in which a number o shortcomings has crystallized as being inappropriate to the nature and spirit o f the humanities, we do hope that in the ensuing stages such shortcomings will be eliminated. W e expect understanding and support from our financier. I am sure that today ’s presentations, a long with the afore said, and in combination with individual experiences acquired by the scholars during their research work in 2002, w ill yield a fruitful discussion which, as a rule, is the best achievement of such symposia.
More...Keywords: Raška; population; settlements; geography; demography; migration; economic development;
Economic development is certainly the main driving force of demographic and urban geographical changes that arc its function in a certain area and in certain period of socially historical development Characteristics of MECHANICAL MOVING OF POPULATION MIGRATION in the period between Austrian-Turkish wars and The Second World War arc these: This area was on the way of migration currents from Kosovo, Metohija, Montenegro, Hercegovina, Ibarski Kolašin, the area around Novi Pazar and The Sjenica Peštar plateau. It was a phased migration area and each larger immigration was preceded by emigration. The migration from the higher to the lower height above the sea level was conditioned by strengthening of agriculture in comparison with cattle raising, and the migration from villages to towns was conditioned by development of non agricultural activities in the town of Kaška. Periodic and permanent migrations of population were the cause and effect of economic development Seasonal migration of cattle raisers was in connection with semi- nomadic way of raising cattle. Migrations that arc connected with activities of hired coachmen and workmen were conditioned with the development of trade and traffic of hired coachmen and workmen. Seasonal migrations appeared because of the people from the mountains who bought land on the lower height above the sea. Moving of peasants to the town of Raška on market days and during the spring and autumn fair was enlarged with the development of trade in the town. Characteristics of migration after the Second World War are these: Directions of migrations across this area are the same as previous directions of migration currents, and this confirms even more all the necessities that had been the cause of migrations in this area for centuries. The function of phased migration stop did not belong to rural settlements any more, but to the urban areas and suburbs. The influence of migration currents from Montenegro and Pešlar plateau weakened in this period, and the influence of migration current from Kosovo and Metohija strengthened and the important current from the area around Novi Pazar was left. There were less marriage migrations, visiting because of the dowry, and the migrations of girls because of getting married were not only of local character, but they had the character of emigration of population from this area, and in this way the migration from villages to towns became more intensive. Migrations from villages to towns arc the main inner way of moving of the population. They are conditioned by rapid development of non agricultural- activities in urban areas and other working centers. Migrations of population from higher to lower height above the sea level appeared in post war period with strengthening non agricultural activities and with employment of a number of workmen from villages in non-agricultural jobs. Households of peasants' workmen move to places near the road in order to get to their jobs on time. Return migrations appear in this period as well as in the previous periods and they follow some emigrations. Post war economic development in this area and some changes in economic structure conditioned some changes in periodical migrations .Some aspects of periodical migrations of population disappeared the work of hired coachmen and workmen, some just started to disappear seasonal moving of cattle raisers, only 186 inhabitants took part in 1984, some of them arc smaller in size seasonal moving of people from mountains to lower height above the sea level because of tilling the soil, some of them became bigger in size and more intensive migrations connected with fairs in Raška in which between 15.000 and 23.000 take part., and some new aspects of periodical migrations also appeared, such as going to seasonal work and going to temporary work abroad. Daily migrations arc the important aspect of migrations of the population. A small number of daily migrants' workers come from adjoining communities Leposavić, Novi Pazar and Kraljevo. Characteristics of natural moving of population are these: Until 1954 this area was mainly agrarian and there was a rather high birth rate. After 1954 in the area of Raška’s community with the rapid development of non agricultural activities with more people employed outside their households, the need for high birth rate did not exist anymore. In the period between 1961 and 1981 birth rate was lowered from 17,3%» to 13,6%« and mortality rate was higher, from 7,5%o to 8,1%«. and conditioned lowering birth rate in the total migration of the population is characterized by slow population to 29475 (1489% ). Number of habitants was enlarged from 25.837 the origin and population of the community of Raška were influenced by migration currents, l hc origins of most households are from: Montenegro 47,7% (the most people are from families Kuči and Vasojevići) osovo and Metohija 14,59% (most of the families arc from the adjoining community of Leposavid and from Metohija. Novi Pazar (from the area around the town) 7,62%. From the area of Bosnia and Hercegovina, 5,17% (most of the people are from Hercegovina). Population structure after the Second World War has been changing permanently Sex structure was disturbed during the Second World War The process of aging of population became rather indicative According to the aging index from 1981. the young population lived in the towns' communities whereas the old population lived in other communities including the community of Raška In the period between 1953. and 1981, the number of active persons in the area of Raška s community was lowered from 53,42% to 44,51%. and the number of supported persons was enlarged from 45,73% to 47,79% and the number of people who are employed was changed from 0,85% to 7,70% Some measures were taken in order to eliminate illiteracy and to improve education of the population , and the result was satisfactory Between 1961 and 1981, the percentage of illiterate inhabitants was lowered from 34,38% to 18%. The number of inhabitants who finished primary school was enlarged from 3,49 to 15,57, with secondary school from 2.73% to 20,47%. The number of those who had higher education was changed from 0,29% to 1,93%, and the number of faculty educated people was changed from 0,27% to 1,60%. It can be said that the population of this area is nationally homogeneous. Most of the inhabitants arc Serbs, 97,65%. Some significant urban geographical changes in a number of settlements in this area have occurred under the influence of rapid development of non agricultural activities. New settlements of Kopaonik and Brvenik Naselje were formed Two villages, Baljevac and Jošanicka Banja, were transformed into town settlements, and fourteen villages into settlements of a mixed type Urban parts of the settlement were built in the suburban settlements of Raška, Supnje and Varevo ’A weekend settlement Sastavci was built in Lisinc on the mountain Kopaonik. Buildings for miners were built in two villages. "Bela Siena” mine had its building colony in the village Pobrdja, and the 'Korlace mine had its building colony in Korlacc near the mine itself This colony was displaced between 1967 and 1973 because of the pollution Beside roads and railroads, some new parts were built in a number of villages Some parts of Bela Stena and Pobrdje were linked with Baljevac and some parts of Varevo were linked with Raška because the villages were moved near the road. Further development of the population and settlements in the area of Raška s community will be the cause and effect of further economic development of the community and the republic of Serbia. This community, as the area struck by earthquake, had priority until 1990 in the policy of encouraging faster development of economically insufficiently developed communities of the republic of Serbia. According to the long-term social plan between 1980 and 2000. it is expected that the community of Raška will leave the circle of insufficiently developed communities and be able to use its own powers until 2000.
More...Keywords: Serbian rural society; customs; cultural anthropology; folk marriage; church marriage; Orthodox;
From historical fact of overlapping life of Serbian folk and its orthodox church result imperative of studding and observing institution of marriage among Serbs in the light of Christian orthodox church dogma and ideology. Short review of history of Serbian Orthodox Church points at substantial part that it had taken in different aspects of Serbian folk life what is shown through study exhibited in this work. As a basic (ideological) frame of studding the categories related to the marriage it is taken church law respectively system of norms from customary law which show high rate of mutual similarity (which origin as a result of mutual influence of those two systems), but also certain differences which are notify as a fruit of specific social, historical and cultural conditions. Methodological problems that are notify in wor, point out necessity of more thoroughly studding of so called "traditional society" model that would consider first of all, serious critic of ethnological sources and redefinition of certain ideas and concepts. As temporal frame of researched models it is taken the period of relative stability of traditional family and system of ethical norms that it represents and which ends when the process of "stormy transformation" started in the beginning of 20th century. Still, in work there are shortly presented also the elements of new age model of marriage which only purpose was to point out the direction of changes in mentioned spheres and necessity for their thoroughly research.
More...Keywords: Serbian language; dialect; migration; ethnicity; population; history; casus generalis; nominative; genitive; dativ; akuzativ; vocative; instrumental; lokativ;
The region of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje belongs to the Kosovo-Resava dialect of the Serbian language, but the speech of this part of Veliko Pomoravlje occupies the bordering zone between two dialectal masses of Serbian — the Kosovo-Resava and the Timok-Prizren dialects. The speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje has proven to be a very rich source of information about metanastatic movements as well as about the origin of population. This speech is, to a very high degree, the result of migrations of the representatives of southern and south-eastern sub dialects, which have been taking place ever since the century and into this day. To a somewhat lesser degree the structure of this speech has been affected by its geolinguistic status i.e. its position in the bordering zone. The portion that belongs to the oldest — and the strongest — the Kosovo-Resava migrational stream, is about the largest one. Then it is followed — and in some villages even preceded — by the Vardar-Južna Morava stream, while the Dinaric population is scarcely represented and mostly overwhelmed by the settlers of the Timok-Braničevo and Šop streams. In the course of time, the immigrants of the Vardar — Južna Morava provenience, originality probably the most dominant in the places of the Paraćin region alongside the river of Velika Morava, have imposed the features of their original vernaculars on the population outside the Morava valley proprer. The abovementioned facts have directly caused the super stratification of certain Balkanistic features onto the unquestionable Kosovo-Resava dialectal basis of the studied speech. These include, in the first place, the proportion of penetration of casus generalis and a conspicuous tendency toward analytism. The situation regarding the use of case forms, generally speaking, is closer to that in the Prizren — Južna Morava vernaculars than to the one in Kosovo-Resava dialects. After describing the syntactic features in the realm of use of case forms in this transitional speech I tried to establish, by tracing the change of distribution of case forms brought about by a substantial influence of analytic structures, the extent to which — within the range of each case and each case construction — flective forms have been preserved (in otherwords, the Kosovo-Resava situation), as well as the lines on which they have been penetrated by casus generalis. The rivalry between genitive case and analytic constructions with casus generalis in the genitive function has been resolved in the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje in a way not described in hitherto studies about individual Kosovo-Resava dialects. Judging from the results of our analysis, it can be concluded that non-prepositional genitive — regardless of whether it is used adnominally or adverbially — is not very frequent, so that a tendency is observed toward securing a prepositional status of this case form. Departing from the materials analyzed it can be asserted that the forms of genitive case realized in relation with preposition vastly outnumber the instances of casus generalis in a genitive function. Therefore, it was solely the sphere of the genitive case with preposition that has remained fairly stable in the face of “tide” of analytic constructions with casus generalis. A pivotal position in the process of disintegration of synthetic declination in the history of the languages of the Balkans has been taken by the neutralization of case opposition between genitive and dative, which has consequently made the syncretism of their forms possible. In the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje this “primary” Balkanism is not effectuated to a full extent. Syncretized are forms of genitive and dative cases in the semantic category of possessivity, in such a manner that dative takes over the possessive functions o f genitive. It appears almost regularly as an inhibited case form (the compulsory determinator + a nominal word in dative case). Free dative in the studied speech also takes the adverbial position which is primary to it. The semantic differentiation within adverbial dative is considerably greater than within adnominal dative. The analyzed material shows that forms of non-prepositional dative are quite a marginal means of expressing a goal, i.e. the final point of a motion. Instead of dativus finalis with verba movendi the studied dialectal region features a Balkanistic innovation — a locational construction of the type kod + G/CG. Two features typical of the Kosovo-Resava dialect in general are also present in the studied speech: (1) the use of casus generalis in the function of instrumental case; (2) the use of sociative construction instead of a non-prepositional instrumentalis instrumenti. The studied speech, however, has witnessed an intensification of these two phaenomena, so that the suppression of synthetic instrumental forms as well as expressing various categories of non-prepositional instrumental by a sociative construction seem to have reached proportions unknown to other Kosovo-Resava dialects. One of the peculiarities of this speech is also an exclusive use of casus generalis instead of instrumental with prepositions pod [“under”], nad [“above”], pred [“before”] and među [“between”], as well as its incomparably more frequent occurence in the place of instrumental with the preposition s(a) [“with”]. As regards the use of locative syntagmata in the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje, there are two basic categories of features that make them different from the standard Serbian language and from other Kosovo-Resava subdialects: (1) a very low frequency of locative forms and a much more intensive use of casus generalis in the locative function, especially with prepositions u [“in”] and na [“on”]; (2) the absence or rather suppression of prepositions o [“about”] and pri [“by”]. However, when locative meanings are marked by the preposition po, the instances of locative are almost equally numerous as those with casus generalis with that preposition. An insight into this particular dialectal situation makes it possible to recognize yet another series of processes typical of the use of case forms in Paraćinsko Pomoravlje that fall in the category of consequences of Balkanistic linguistic developments on this terrain. We have in mind, in the first place, an expansion of the use of nominative case in the place of certain genitive functions (in existential and in partitive constructions). Since respective nouns are in the position (subjective) which makes the use of accusative as a casus generalis impossible, the nominative case, being a basic form of a noun, is extremely suitable for such a substitution for genitive proper. Furthermore, there are many instances of nominative as the central, as well as the second independent case, taking over the role of the vocative case. In the studied speech the possibility o f simultaneous use o f genitive and accusative in the same function and with the same meaning has not been exploited in the following basic categories of the free accusative case: (1) accusative as the case of the object with the verb imati [“to have”] and in some other adverbial, partitive syntagmata; (2) accusative as a case of the object of negative verbs; (3) temporal accusative. In this speech the process of loss of genitive forms has gone very far, and simultaneously with it there is the process of amplification of the use of accusative forms which have become a very productive category. Conspicuous is also a strenghtening of the role of prepositions — simultaneous with a weakening of case flection — in expressing case meanings, and consequently, a removal of non-prepositional forms of oblique cases from the frame of the still existent synthetic system. Namely, the semantic field of non-prepositional instrumental is very restricted — except for a considerable number of examples in the category of “tools”, the instances of instrumentalis loci and instrumentalis verbi medialis have been noted practically only by exception. Free case forms of the predicative and temporal instrumentals have disappeared from the studied speech. The grammatical category of number has also had its part in the vanishing of flection from the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje. Namely, the plural forms of all the nominal declension types have proved to be extremely prone to reduction of genitive, instrumental and locative case forms, thus giving way to the expansion of casus generalis. In that respect, genitive is the best example because the function of genitive plural of all three genders is expressed almost exclusively by forms of casus generalis. In the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje the syncretic forms of nominative and accusative occur in plural of all the four declension types, thus apparently opening the way to a broader use of casus generalis forms. The growing of analytic processes in the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje is represented by certain morpho-syntactic entities. Here we shall list just some of them that have undergone analytic re-organisation: od + G/CG m. of the possessive genitive, od + G/CG m. of the non-prepositional genitive with verbs of the type bojati se, kod + G/CG m. of dative of verba dicendi, kod + G/CG and uz + A m. of the non-prepositional dative with verbs of the type prići, s + I/CG m. of the non-prepositional instrumentalis instrumenti and instrumentalis verbi medialis.po + L / niz + AJ kroz A m. of instrumentalis prosecutivus, za + A m. o f the predicative instrumental with verbs o f the type smalrali, za+ A m . of the genitive of indirect object with verbs nadati se, seliti se, radovali se, etc. It is obvious that accusative syntagmata with prepositions are expanding on the account of certain prepositional syntagmata with genitive, instrumental and locative, as well as on the account of non-prepositional genitive, dative, accusative and instrumental cases in certain syntactic- -semantic categories. With regard to everything previously concluded about the use of case forms in the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje, and after observing the rivalry between flective forms and syntagmata with casus generalis, it can be concluded that the studied speech, in that respect, quite intensively takes part in the Balkan linguistic league. In the speech of Paraćinsko Pomoravlje the most prominent Balkanizing innovation is the presence of casus generalis as a morpho-syntactic construction which co-exists with the flective case forms. Thus accusative as casus generalis takes over the functions of genitive, instrumental and locative, occasionally even dative cases. However, regardless of the fact that casus generalis assumes a number of functions of various cases, in this transitional speech of the Kosovo-Resava zone all the seven cases still do preserve their flective forms. Instances of analytism are restricted, so that the synthetic structure of the morpho-syntactic linguistic level is not destroyed.
More...Keywords: Serbian community; Kosovo; post-war period; ethnic and religious identification; inter-ethnic relations;
This study is based on long-term in-depth research in the south-east of Kosovo (part of a broader area known as the Kosovsko Pomoravlje or Morava river basin), in the areas of the Gornja (Upper) and Donja (Lower) Morava (in the town of Gnjilane – the regional centre, and in the surrounding villages of Šilovo, Gornji Livoč, Gornje Kusce, Parteš and Pasjane; in the township of Vitina and the surrounding villages of Vrbovac, Grnčar, Binač, Mogila and Klokot; and also in the villages of Letnica and Draganac because of their religious significance). I also conducted research among displaced people from this region in few towns in Serbia: Smederevo, Vranje and Vranjska Banja. The research was carried out between 2003 and 2006, but I remained in contact with some of the interlocutors and continued to keep track of community dynamics within the region for a number of years subsequently. The fieldwork was conceived as multi-sited (Marcus 1995), because it was about a migratory situation. The terrain was defined as a network of localities (Hannerz 2003a; Hannerz 2003b). The aim of the research was to study the relationship between ethnicity and other forms of identification (religious, regional, local, gender) of the Serbian community of south-east Kosovo in a profoundly changed post-war situation following the establishment of the international administration in Kosovo, in 1999. My intention was to make an empirical and analytical contribution to our understanding of the complexity of social interaction from different perspectives “from below”, in a specific frontier and post-conflict region such as Kosovo. In the last decades of the 20th century, the identities of Kosovo became homogenized and acquired fixed boundaries, ethnic identification becoming more relevant than other forms of belong ing. Ethnic identity, as shown in numerous studies, gains in importance in unclear situations, in periods of change and crisis, when conditions are in place for the experience of threatened boundaries (Eriksen 2002: 68, 99). Kosovo is a prime example of how political and other interest groups construct and mobilise, direct and exploit ethnic identities. Since 1999, Kosovo has been inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians. The Serbs are a minority, ghettoized into small enclaves and rural environments. Many other ethnic, religious and/or linguistic groups have been displaced or assimilated. War provokes great social disruption and change; a constituent element of this is migration. The experience of war and forced migration of one part of the community changes the ways of both self-identification and the identification of the other, thus re-defining intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic relations and boundaries. As much research indicates, armed conflict is preceded by processes of homogenization within communities, the strengthening of boundaries and the assimilation of various types of identification into the ethnic. In a post-war context, with radical changes in the ethnic and social landscape, processes of articulation and re-articulation of identity have opened up in the Serbian community, rendering problematic its differing aspects. This research aims to extend our understanding of such processes. The study is divided into seven chapters. The first two establish the theoretical, methodological and analytical framework of the research. The third chapter, “Kosovo – a frontier region” aims to place the researched community in context. Processes of identification in frontier areas are specific in several respects. The results of many studies show that in the frontier and peripheral areas, group boundaries are less well-defined and more fluid, and identities – not only ethnic, but religious and others – are undetermined, situational, ambivalent and multiple (in contrast to those in central areas) (Duijzings 2000: 13, 24; Wilson, Donnan 1998: 13). In these areas, changing identity and/or recourse to various forms of mimicry may be the only way to survive in certain political and social circumstances. Kosovo is a paradigm of these processes and solutions. This chapter also deals with the history of Kosovo, paying particular attention to the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the escalation of the conflict and the introduction of an international administration. Special attention is paid to the connection of the Serbian Orthodox Church with Kosovo. Next, the basic characteristics of the community are outlined: dense social network, the meaning and importance of internal boundaries, linguistic practice, etc. The fourth chapter, “Living in a post-war region” examines everyday life, family and gender relations, identity discourse on traditional female costume and wedding. This chapter deepens the analysis of the connection between ethnic and religious identification of the researched community (hybrid cultural practice, particularly in the sphere of religion, the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the post-conflict period, pronounced traditionalism, etc.). The Serbian Orthodox Church has great influence as the only Serbian institution that remained in Kosovo after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav and Serbian military and police in June 1999. For the Serbian community in Kosovo, the Church has much greater significance than simply as a religious institution; it is seen as the only institution that did not abandon the community in hard times. The members of the Serbian community of south-east Kosovo primarily thematize ethnicity with religious rituals and markings. Religious and ethnic identification become blended in such a way that the religious is in function of the ethnic. Finally, this chapter gives a detailed analysis of the paroxysm in the ethnisization of reality. The next chapter is devoted to intra-ethnic relations and boundaries. Even though “externally” and/or from the “top down”, the Serbian community of Kosovo is defined as homogenous, its members within their own community, identify sub-group distinctions which cause tension. In the post-war context of evident ethnic homogenization, solidification and boundary closure, intra-ethnic categorization and the accompanying tensions it remain current and, in relation between Kosovo Serbs and Serbs from Serbia, gain new dimensions. For this reason, it is necessary to take a flexible approach to ethnicity which neither assumes a priori intra-ethnic homogeneity nor inter-ethnic heterogeneity (Talai 1986: 252, 266). Inter-group perceptions between the old inhabitants and the colonists are also addressed in this chapter as well as their implications. Then the analysis of the external definition – categorization of the so-called ‘Serbian Gypsies’ ensures (the term ‘Serbian Gypsies’ [Srpski Cigani] is used tentatively, since it is an exonym) and the long road this group have traveled from inter-ethnic towards intraethnic other (Zlatanović 2017). In the light of the post-war migrations, attention is paid to discourse and practice in relations between the displaced people of Kosovo and the population in Serbia. The sixth chapter explores inter-ethnic relations and boundaries. First, attention is given to the discursive construction of the Kosovo Croats are defined in discourse, and the over-coming of religious boundaries. Next, the focus is on the most important, most complex and most ambivalent other – the Albanians (analysis of the basic characteristics of the discourse on the Albanians, the problem of naming, overcoming of boundaries – through cooperation, friendship, religion, and insight into the consistency of boundaries – mixed marriages were almost unheard of). The relations between members of the Serbian and Albanian communities are also considered beyond ethnicity, since there are many shared elements of identification that connect them. The final chapter offers some concluding remarks on the relation between ethnicity and other forms of collective identification of researched community.
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