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The main object of the article is to expose an attempt to make a functional and semantic analysis of the images of vines and grapes in Bulgarian folk applied arts and to point out some stylistic peculiarities in their interpretation. Therefore, the author studies the images of vines and grapes in ritual plastic arts (ritual bread and Saint Trifon’s attributes: wreaths, crowns, bunches, tufts) and in weaved, embroided and knitted folk ornaments. The conclusion is drawn that in Bulgarian folk applied arts the images of vines and grapes, as well as the immediate participation of vines in ritual plastic art (Saint Trifon’s attributes), are rich in meaning. The author emphasises on the fact that apart the highly evident decorative function, these images have various and archaic symbolic meanings recalling the essential archetype imagery which have known different historical interpretations existing as religious versions of the motifs. The creation and the development of these images as symbols of the perpetual renaissance of life favoured their integration in the semantic plan of the mythologeme “tree of life” (= „world image tree”). The author underlines the fact that the images of vines and grapes are studied only in the frames of folk applied arts in spite of their presence in handicrafts artistic creations or in specialized and especially in religious art, where they have some particular features requiring a separate analysis of the images.
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The image of the dragon-antagonist is very popular in the epics of many peoples, and therefore it is an extremely propitious object for comparative and historical studies at a typological level. The exiting comparative studies on South-Slavic and Scandinavian epic texts don’t treat the problem separately nor thoroughly. The author uses examples from Bulgarian epic songs and the Scandinavian epic cycle of the hero Sigurd to illustrate the role of the dragon-antagonist in the creation of numerous folk plots and themes (goods given and restored, heroic matchmaking etc.). The comparative analysis of the image and its close context proves that the type of epic character is more ancient in Bulgarian heroic songs than in Scandinavian epos, in spite of the fact that as a whole the legends of Sigurd are more archaic than Bulgarian heroic songs. That is due to the vitality of the Bulgarian folk tradition and especially to the vitality of epic songs and rites where the image of the dragon-antagonist is still actively functioning, as well as to the influence of the Balkan folk community. The conclusions suggested as a result of the comparison support the thesis suggesting the folk origin of epic poetry.
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The art of glyptic has an ancient tradition on Bulgarian territory. It reveals an exceptionally important development in XVIII and XIX centuries when it appears closely linked to the National Revival process, to the new dignity and self-confidence of people, to their participation in social life, in historical events and in the National Liberation Movement. The intaglios (gems with reversed relief), popularized as graphical blots and wax imprints, are used as public or personal seals. They are, produced in Samokov, Tarnovo, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, etc., but in spite of the fact that they are marked by the particular style of a handicrafts workshop and by the talent and the technical skills or la certain master, the specifical value of the seals is determined by the texts and the images printed on them. These images represent text formules expressing patriotic ideas, allegories of free Bulgaria, symbols and allegoric images related to the fight for spiritual and political freedom. Thus, the seals become a precious document testifying the activity of Bulgarians in some regions, towns and villages, their participation in different events, their social commitment and civic courage.
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The paper is a comparison of the two most popular methods of self-esteem in Poland the quality management system used by local government units (“Common Assessment Framework CAF 2006” – CAF model, “Institutional Development Planning” – a method PRI). The introduction to the article is devoted to the origins of the phenomenon of improving the quality of administration and management in the history of both these methods. Later in this article was made comparative analysis of both these methods against criteria such as: self-construction process, the structure of the criteria for self-assessment, the costs of implementing this method in the time required to carry out self-assessment, the impact on the organization, factors affecting the possibility of implementing the chosen method of JST. Article Summary of conclusion about the possibility of using the methods by local government units. This section contains information to facilitate informed choices representatives of local government units to implement the method. This information is presented in a synthetic manner. Both methods were compared in this section in terms of social, economic, organizational and technical two different methods.
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In her article, Elinor Ostrom offers a critical account of a number of empirical studies, game-theoretic analyses and her own experiments in institutional design as applicable to the issue of overexploitation of common-pool resources. She argues that, given people’s ability to communicate, experiment and modify institutional rules, they can develop various – not necessarily market-based – solutions with a view to achieving sustainable management of such resources to which the concept of the tragedy of the commons supposedly applies.
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The paper addresses management principles of the ‘State Forest Enterprise’ in Poland. The problem is a complex one, since the firm performs two important social functions. Firstly – as any enterprise – it provides employment and should balance its expenditures with financial revenues. Secondly – and this is why the ‘State Forest Enterprise’ is a unique firm – it stewards an important part of the national heritage which calls for an approach that departs from the logic characteristic for typical business projects. The duality of the ‘State Forest Enterprise’ casts serious doubts about its privatization attempts. On the one hand, privatization can enhance the efficiency of its operations. On the other hand, however, this would require a deep and direct involvement of the state budget in order to supply the public good that private foresters may choose not to provide.
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The article raises the questions whether the Berlin University, created in 1809 after the projects of Wilhelm von Humboldt, Schelling, Schleiermacher and Stefens, can serve as a norm and an ideal of contemporary university building, and how far the principles of its constitution can be followed nowadays. These questions stand in relation to the need of a university reform that has often been declared in Bulgaria and abroad. Since there is no clearly outlined idea of the university today, one that Humboldt and his fellows did have when setting off to create the Berlin University, the supposition is expressed that the careful examination of the history and achievements of their university reform could be of use in the search for orientation points for a future reform of the university. Further, the main principles are successively considered of the constitution of the Humboldt University: 1 ) the idea of science as a means of moral betterment of man; 2) the principle of unity of teaching and research; 3) the idea of 'pure science'; 4) the principle of 'freedom and solitude'. The philosophical, cognitive and institutional aspects of these principles are analyzed. The principles of Humboldt are discussed in relation to important historical circumstances of the creation of the Berlin University. It is stated that the central place among these principles belongs to the idea of 'pure science' since it guarantees their interrelation. In the second part of the article, a general evaluation is made of the model of the Humboldt University. Its basis here no longer are the principles of its constitution, taken in abstract, but the real developments in the nearly two hundred years of its history. From the point of view of the actual history of the university, the author seeks at evaluating the importance of Humboldt's university reform and to define the historical limits of Humboldt's university model. It is revealed that, in a number of important aspects, Humboldt's principles come into conflict with some mainstream contemporary tendencies in the development of the university. Finally, the conclusion is made that, in view of the contemporary state of universities, Humboldt's principles can no longer be maintained as norms, interrelated in one university idea, of the constitution and activity of the university. Since Humboldt's university belongs to the past, it cannot be accepted as an ideal for the future. A contemporary university reform should, rather than the return to the model of the university of the past, take as its goal the search for the place of the university in a coming quickly changing world. That is possible because in the past the university has proved many times its capacity of self-renovation.
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This article deals with the present legitimization crisis of the University institution and the position of the Bulgarian University in it. In the first part of it are investigated the related debates in France, the USA and Germany. It demonstrates, on the basis of texts by Lyotard, Derrida, Richard Rorty, Ronald Dworkin, Bill Reedings, Karl Jaspers, Juergen Habermas etc., the doubt in the profound values of the University: the justification of its foundations as a "selfless search of the truth"; the Humboldtian ideology for an organic relation of education and research, the philosophical synthesis of particular sciences, the binding between education and social enlightenment, etc. The second part outlines the cultural and social reasons for the lack of a similar debate in Eastern Europe and especially in Bulgaria (on the background of dominating practical, "experts" and "managerial" debates). Their origins are searched back in the history of the Bulgarian University which was established at unsecured conditions and in a lack of public consensus, without any critical philosophic reflection on its reasons. My thesis is that it was constituted in a centralized administrative way as a patriotic institution intended not to implement the Humboldtian ideals (although the German Humboldt's University was one of its modv •!,-;) but to satisfy socio-practical and patriotic needs (to prepare personnel for the school system and the bureaucracy but also for the "self-respect of the Bulgarian people" who wanted to see the building of its education completed). Through analysis of documents, regulations, appeals, University declarations etc., the Bulgarian University is considered as a typical institution of the "self-colonizing cultures", transferring and adapting prestigious institutional models, without any concern about the problematic values on which they are based. A difference is made between the public legitimacy of the University and its "epistemological" legitimacy.
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