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Using a few hints from Lacanian psychoanalysis, the paper attempts to distinguish between two possible attitudes towards repetition in culture. One is the happy recycling of culture propagated by most of postmodernist discourses as the very practice of freedom and whose ultimate incarnation is Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, which is, however, the therapeutic freedom of the possible. The other would be an attempt at cultural repetition in Kierkegaardian sense, that is, changing the coordinates of the possible by means of bringing out the uncanny surplus in the familiar and thus introducing a breach in the discursive space which would make room for the impossible to appear within it, as exemplified by the work of Kafka.
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Considering the merits of the flexible exchange rate and its ability to absorb asymmetric macroeconomic shocks, results on the basis of a two-variable SVAR model suggest that this ability was lacking in both Hungary and Romania, as regardless of the data used more than 80% of variability in the nominal (real) exchange rate over a four-quarter horizon can be explained by neutral structural shock. Variability in output is determined mainly by non-neutral (permanent) structural shocks. As for Poland and, to a lesser extent, the Czech Republic, the evidence supporting the stabilising properties are somewhat stronger, with up to 30% to 40% of changes in the nominal (real) exchange rate being explained by the permanent (output) shock. However, the results are sensitive to the data used.
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The activity of participants on the housing market is related to the economic situation of the households, which itself is related to the overall business climate. The tendency for activity on the housing market to weaken during economic recession is not the same on different local markets. The aim of the paper is to analyse the intensity of the purchase-sale transactions during different business cycles in the West Pomeranian voivodship. The research includes analysis of the number of transactions in time, split into different business cycles or different seasons. The dependency of the number of purchase-sale transactions on the housing market and economic variables such as household income, sales revenue, retail sales and the unemployment rate is also analysed. The econometric models with lagged variables and time series models with seasonality are also applied. The data concerning transactions come from the real estate price and value registers from the District Governor’s Office, the National Bank of Poland and the Central Statistical Office.
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The aim of this article is to present the structured products market in Poland in the context of gains and losses from completed investments in structured products. It shows when an investment in structured products brought investors profits and when losses. In order to do the analysis, the return rate of gross and net annual rate of return over the period 2000–2013 were assigned to structured products. The rate of return on structured products was compared with inflation and the average annual interest rate of deposits for a period of 12 months. The paper offers a detailed description of the best and the worst in terms of the gross rate of return for structured products on the Polish capital market during the years 2000–2013. The analysis looked at 1800 products available during from early 2000 to the end of 2013.
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The aim of the paper is to determine whether a standard gravity model of trade can work effectively or if a need exists to supplement it with additional measures of “distance”. The region of the Western Balkans from 1995 to 2012 was studied. The estimation results of the standard model are compared to the results of the model augmented by variables: border effect, war and post-war effects, minorities, difference in development, religious and language distance, FTA and FDI stock. In order to check for robustness of the results, apart from “pooled” type estimation, models with random effects, one-way and two-way fixed effects were estimated. A model with alternative explanatory variables was also considered. The findings show that there are a number of trade determinants specific to this region, which need to be included in the model. The most important are: similarities in language and religious structures, wars and free trade agreements.
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This article is an attempt to systemize written accounts of the St. Petka Church, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1913. It also at tempts to records the church‘s material remnants: wall paintings collected by the National Museum and parts of the iconostasis and icon, stored in the parish church, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Most likely the church already existed in the 15th century when for the first time its walls were painted. Its patron saint was the Venerable Paraskeva of Epivat (of Turnovo). Towards the end of the 17th century, the church was re stored with new paintings, a new iconostasis (with holy gates unique in terms of their composition and form) and icons - it is possible that all the work was completed by a single team. For the icon of the patron saint, they used the Greek saint’s life; thus it turned out to be the hagiographical icon of St Paraskeva of Rome, who is venerated among the Greeks. During the 19th century, the walls were white washed. One wall was decorated with an enlarged imitati on of the old patron saint icon, while a new icon of the real patron saint, St Paraskeva of Epivat, was ordered. Both were painted in 1854 and 1855 by the Gabrovo icon painter Ivan Hadzhivasilev.
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The Creed belongs to a series of texts with a symbolic, moral-didactic, eschatological character or hymnographic works which are only very rarely interpreted in Church painting or which only later form their visual equivalent or cycle. At the present moment, we know of nine monuments of 19th century church painting that illustrate the 12 parts of the Creed: three wall paintings and five icons created between 1840 and 1869 or 1871. Most of them can be attributed to the Sainokov icon painters Dimi tar Hristov Zograph, Nikola Dospevski, Vasil pop Radojkov, and the Bansko icon painters Simeon Molerov and Mihalko Ynvanov, and Hristo Enchev from Koprivshtitsa. The thematic cycle including illustrations of the 12 parts of the Creed only appeared in the 16th century in old Russian painting. They are huge multipart icons with anywhere from three to six horizontal rows and multi-figure compositions that often unite a number of scenes or events, as well as other symbolic images. The Creed cycle can also be found in Romanian painting from the 16th century on. Two late Greek artefacts from the 18th century are also published here. The Bulgarian monuments, with the exception of the icon by Simeon Molerov, are nearly identical in terms of the composition and iconography of each of the 12 parts. The unity of some of the minute, scarcely visible details points to the use of one and the same model, which can be found in a graphic collection of the National Museum of Bulgarian Visual Art. It is a Russian engraving printed in 1827.
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Reviews / The Corpus of Wall Paintings from the 18th Century in Bulgaria
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In 1846 the Samokov icon painter Dimitur Hristov painted a cycle of seven scenes illustrating the miracles of the Virgin around an image of the Mother of God Axion Estin ("It is truly meet") in the blind dome of the open narthex of the catholicon at Rila Monastery. The scenes are taken from an exception ally popular book Amartolon sotiria, or The Redemption of Sinners, by the Mount Athos monk Agapios Landos. The Slavic translation of the book was well-known at Rila Monastery, as well as in the icon painter’s hometown of Samokov. Episodes were selected that offered a model for monks and worshipers’s behavior, as well as those connected to the famous sanctuary’ Zoodochos Pege (Mother of God the Life-giving Fountain). All the scenes have a logical connection to the wall paintings situated around the blind dome. This is the earliest cycle of its type in Bulgarian art, in which the icon painter illustrates texts that did contain visual models.
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In 2005 the Klianti House was included in the international UNESCO project "Restoration of Cultural Monuments in Ancient Plovdiv Re serve", financed by the UNESCO Japan Trust Fund. The project leader on the Bulgarian side is architect Vera Kolarova. In the Ancient Plovdiv Architectural Reserve, the Klianti House is the most interesting in terms of its architecture and decoration. This text presents its decorative trimming in the context of its differences from other remaining Revival Era houses in Plovdiv. In order to clarify its characteristics, ties are sought with monument s from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century in the territory of the Ottomai1 Empire on the basis of comparative historical and artistic material. The house is unique in its drawn wood ceilings and built-in cupboards, in its engraved images on glass, in its polychromatic and gold-leaf sculptural decoration. It is the only one of its type preserved in Bulgaria and dates from the end of the 1820s and the beginning of the 1830s.
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This article examines and systematizes facts from the period when Revival-era artist Nikolay Pavlovich studied at the art academies in Vienna and Munich. To this end, authentic archival materials preserved in the archives of both academies, as well as the artist’s document archive at the National Library in Plovdiv, have been used. Thanks to them, we can clarify the artist’s educational stages, academic subjects and teachers. Against this documented background, the artist’s academic studies are examined in chronological order, as well as similar works by other students that have been preserved in the same collections. The juxtaposed documents and artistic works reveal a discrepancy in terms of educational stages and work completed. It is very clear that in the early stages of his studies, he completed tasks typical for more advanced students. This inconsistency between the facts found in the documents and the academic exercises raises doubts about their authorship. The artist was driven by his desire to keep the majority of his academic studies in order to be able to use them in his future work. A comparison of the documents with the teachers’ names and the students works offered the opportunity to define the types of compositions and exercises that were assigned during the course of study, as well as the works of art copied as part of the educational program. A clearer picture is developed of the studies completed during his Vienna period, with their multifarious styles and differing artistic levels. His Munich period remains more sketchy, when to a certain extent the artist repeated individual elements learned during his academic training, creating studies in oil as well as freehand drawings.
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The zograph monk Anthoniy. lovanov was active in the ecclesiastic art, generally on the territory of the Debar-Kićevo Eparchy, around about 1810 to 1841. His earliest preserved signature dates to 1816 in the church of The Presentation of the Holy Virgin in the v. Doino Melnićani near Debar. On the Despotic icon of the patron saint of the church of St. Athanasios in the v. Oktisi near Struga, in the signature from 1817 he informs that he originates from Bitola. On the iconostasis of the church of The Dormition of the Holy Virgin in the v. Sobina in vicinity of Vranje (Serbia) in 1822 he introduces himself as a monk from "the monastery of Kićevo" (The Holy Virgin lmmaculate of Kićevo). However his affiliation with the monastery brotherhood has not been confirmed with other data. In the church of St. Nicholas - Gerakomia in Ohrid his preserved signature dates from 1830. The principal artistic and style features of the works of monk Anthoniy are: composition traced according to graphic prints, delicate drawing, rich and boisterous coloring, and use of Baroque and Rococo motives. In his earlier works the flesh tones are warmer. The forms softer, the colors are translucent d skillfully painted. Later on, dominating features are stiffness, firm and cold modeling which is accentuated by strong shades and gives contrast to the images. Distinct features are the Baroque panels in which the inscriptions are written and the Rococo motives used to delineate the painted portions, which are also used in adorning the thrones and frames. Sometimes the painted icon frame is adorned with a geometric ornament, thus linking Anthoniy’s work even closer to the graphic arts. He elaborately uses gold in the backdrop and the folds of the garments. Very often he paints accentuated clouds against a clear blue setting. The wood-carvings accompanying Anthoniy’s works (Royal Doors, Kemerias, Iconostasis Crosses and Arthophorias) are accomplished with skill and in a deep relief. These works are embellished with plants, birds and imaginary animals. We suppose these were made by the early known Mijak carvers or by Anthoniy himself. It is possible that at first he worked in the workshop of the monastery of St. John the Baptist at Bigor, where we can attribute to him the icons dating from 1810 and 1814. In the west bay of the catholicon of the this monastery, around about 1814 monk Anthoniy painted the fresco-icons of The Holy Virgin with Child and Jesus Christ Archpriest. In the 1820’s he most probably stayed in the Rila monastery, where he painted the Royal Doors of the parekklesion dedicated to St. Symeon and Sabbas of Serbia. The three-decade painting opus of monk Anthoniy shows a relative consistency in sense of style and artistic performance. His work is fully compatible to the artistic and ecclesiastic setting in Macedonia common for the beginning of the l9th century. He is the outcome of the developing process of fusion of Byzantine and West European ideas and forms,...
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Unpaid Work in Slovak Households – Research, Results and Correlations. The presented article focuses on the work, namely on the unpaid work in the household. The unpaid work in this form represents relatively new topic. Work as a fundamental inseparable and for many people also the self-evident part of their lives stands for multidimensional phenomenon and therefore it has been a subject of interest of several scientific disciplines. Under influence of globalization especially of modernisation the work changes all the time and it is necessary to catch and interpret its newest processes of change, its new shapes, prosuppositions and sequelae. The interdisciplinary approach is applied where there also the sociology has its place. The contribution offers a cross-sectional view on the research of the unpaid work in Slovak republic. It presents the most important results concerning the volume and structure of unpaid work and its predetermined share on GNP and at the same time it offers suggestive international comparison of this phenomenon. Except of the economic dimensions the autors identify also the crucial non-economic determinants of the unpaid work occurence in the Slovak households in the form of motives and attitudes of family members. The force and social value of this motives and attitudes influence another factors of the occurence and duration of the unpaid work. Sociológia 2015, Vol. 47 (No. 5: 474-503)
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Women in Local Politics in the EU: Discussion on Implementation of Gender Quotas in Different Local Government Systems. Gender issue became a hot political issue just few decades ago. Although several interesting measures aimed at increase of the women's political representativeness have been introduced in the European countries, their outcomes vary a lot. A main objective of this article is to analyze as well as discuss both introductions of gender quotas in different local government systems and impacts of these quotas. For the analytical purposes, I deal with the relevant legal provisions. In addition, selected electoral results are taken into consideration too. Sociológia 2015, Vol. 47 (No. 5: 504-526)
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Identification of the Situation of Disadvantaged Groups in the Labour Market through the Concept of Employability. In this paper we assert the concept of employability can be successfully used for identification of strengths and weaknesses of people disadvantaged in contemporary labour markets (such as graduates, disabled, older people, etc.). Firstly we briefly present and operationalize the concept of employability in four dimensions we have already discussed earlier: human and social capital, adaptability and flexibility, career identity, and institutional conditions on labour market. (Horáková – Horák 2013) In the remaining text we apply the concept of employability in the case study of a local project aimed at increasing the employability and finding a job for its unemployed participants. Sociológia 2015 Vol 47 (No. 5: 451-473)
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Youth Party Preferences in the Czech Republic. The influence of early attitudes formed in childhood on adult political behaviour has led many scholars to examine political socialisation effects. To date there has been limited research on political socialization processes in post-communist countries. This paper presents party preferences of Czech youth and consequently focuses on the influence of two key channels of political socialization, i.e. the family and school, on the party preferences of young (pre- or first time) voters in the Czech Republic. Use is made of data from a unique large survey of 17 to 19 year old high school students (N=1735) fielded in 2012. A series of models estimated using multinomial regression with random intercept shows that in spite of significant differences in party support across the three main types of high schools examined, the impact of family background is stronger than that of school environment. This study argues that school environment has only a small independent effect. Parents influence their offspring directly as well as indirectly by selecting the school that their children attend; and consequently school effects partly reflect political orientations originating in households. Sociológia 2015, Vol. 47 (No. 5: 527-550)
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