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The paper examines the impact and influence of the Peter Vergo’s book The New Museology and the ways it colonized the knowledge already existing outside United Kingdom. It discusses the concepts that existed before the 1989 book following the development of La Nouvelle Museologie and ecomuseums, ideas spread at conferences, symposiums and round tables, diverse declarations and resolutions. Also, beyond the New there is the narrative of museology itself and its past in the centers outside the “traditional” centers of colonial powers. The paper follows the early development of ideas in East Europe and Poland and the practical solutions recently developed in the country in a relation to British publication.
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The article addresses legal pluralism, namely the interaction of norms resulting from either custom or law, which takes place in the face of emancipation processes in Polish Silesia. It concerns legal conceptualizations of regional autonomy and the negotiations of the legal status of the regional group that aims at a higher level of sovereignty. Namely, investigating the relationship between cultural and legal norms, I analyse the judicial procedure regarding the way of adjudicating and defining Silesianness. Considering the existence of multiple parallel ethnic identities in Poland, I strive to illuminate the question of the legal definition of Polishness and the normative dimension of legal definition. I bring to light the making of the adjudication in the Polish justice system, and thus highlight the mechanisms present in the legislative process and rationalisations operating wherein. I am interested in the consequences of these processes for establishing the legal and the factual status of different groups. The conception of identity used by modern jurisdiction derives from the definition of the dominant group (of Poles) and works towards strengthening its status against the status of other, parallelly existing groups whose self-identities do not fall squarely within the hegemonic construction. My hypothesis is that the process of interpreting the law in force in Poland follows subjective ideas and is often drafted in programmatic terms.
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The article presents the results of research, the axis of which were help initiatives taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. A characteristic feature, and previously unheard of on such a scale, is the initiation, and often full implementation of these activities in the virtual world. The time of the pandemic has blurred the clarity of the categories of those most affected or most in need of help in the events that took place. Another feature of the observed events is their phased. Its elements are spontaneously emerging groups that undertake aid actions. Restoring the “state of normality” and taking over the aid activities by institutions established for this slowed down and weakened the participation of ordinary people in organizing spontaneous activities. The time lived has the features of Turner’s liminality, and assistance groups can be described by the term Communitas.
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The subject of the article is the occupational humor of museum employees and the laughter community connected to it. The author shows which aspects of work in a museum trigger off comical effect according to the employees themselves. The research material comes from the author’s personal experiences as well as the interviews with other staff members and Facebook fanpage Muzealnicy. The author tries to answer the question concerning the cultural and social functions of the laughter community of museum employees. The theoretical framework of this analysis is provided by K. Żygulski’s concept of the “laughter community”.
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This article discusses the premises and outcomes of the ethnographic project “Foreigners in Poznań: Cultural Heterogeneity in Big Cities on the Example of Poznań”, by asking about the place of ethnicity (fundamental for anthropological studies) in the research of cultural heterogeneity. The independent qualitative analysis of empirical material demonstrates that even if generally ethnic identities do not determine directly the identifications of foreigners in Poznań, then the pan- or interethnic identities are a key to understanding how immigrants organise themselves or are organised in groups or categories. An account of cultural heterogeneity through the prism of cultural identities offers a purely anthropological alternative or at least an addendum to socio-economic classification of foreigners implemented within this project.
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By the use of critical anthropological perspective, in this paper I unsettle specific theoretical and methodological premises of studies on Opole Silesia, which have in many ways determined resultant images of the region in scholarly literature. In this context, I find particularly problematic essentialised approaches toward “(Silesian) women,” and the more recent discourses of “disintegration,” which dwell on depopulation, migration, and collapsing social and family relations, or Silesian culture. To this end, I discuss social activities of women in the Dobrzeń Wielki commune, exemplified by an educational group focused on family issues, an association acting for a local community, a vocal ensemble, and a sporting team. Variously embedded in the late industrial condition, these activities are conceived as problematisations. Seen through this prism, they become significant contexts for emerging “norms and forms” of gender, Silesianity, and/or locality. At the same time, they encourage critical insights into such “norms and forms,” and their contribution to various idioms of Opole Silesia. Such problematisations allow therefore for revealing “discursive gaps” and “risks” (re)produced in the aforementioned literature on the region. By unsettling subjects and discursive forms with which it deals, the proposed ethnographic analysis turns into a tool for “generating surprises.”
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The article is based on empirical research, one of the elements of which was to verify the knowledge, beliefs and ideas of young Wrocław residents about the Jewish cemeteries located in the city. The subject of the analysis was, first of all, knowledge of their history, importance for local culture and community; ideas about the role of cemeteries in Jewish culture and customs related to death and funeral. An important aspect was also finding out what the place of cemeteries is and how they are perceived in the local community, do they function in the minds of young people and in what way, are they really known to them and are they associated with the Jewish community living here, or rather perceived as places of memory and museum space.
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Classical works on writing within cognitive science focus either on the aspects of written text production or the role of writing from a developmental and evolutionary perspective (Donald, 1991; Flower & Hayes, 1981; Goody, 1977; Olson, 1996). Studies concerning the practices of writing in real-world settings are carried out within the framework of situated cognition (Klein & Leacock, 2012; Menary, 2007; O’Hara et al., 2002), but they mainly focus on writer-writer or writer-artefact interactions. This paper provides an ethnographic account of writing that is understood as a practice that is distributed in a dynamically changing sociomaterial system. The cognitive task under study involves making decisions concerning the contents of a formal document as well as turning them into written text, both of which are supposed to take place in an informed and collaborative manner. Task performance depends on establishing a dense network of interactions that involves numerous sources of expert knowledge and people from various professional backgrounds who often represent clashing interests. The focus of the study is 1) identifying the resources employed in order to complete the task, 2) determining what functions they perform, 3) describing the ways that they are coordinated within the distributed cognitive system so that as a whole it creates incentives for some actions while constraining others. The analysis reveals how several resources contribute to realisation of cognitive operations while at the same time producing powerful effects upon the organisation of the cultural practices (Hutchins 2008) within the distributed cognitive system.
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The aim of my paper is to define three key problems concerning depression and to show how phenomenological and 4E theories of depression can be used to help us with them. I employ the Sellarsian concept of a synoptic view-a good synoptic view of depression should bring together the manifest image (“folk psychiatry”) and the scientific image. The first problem is that currently there exist serious gaps in both images-our mainstream conceptions of depression are lacking and their reception by the general public is oversimplified and overoptimistic. The second problem is that the explanatory needs of the general public regarding depression could not ever be satisfied by the current scientific image- as I show using the case-study of the enthusiastic reception of Mira Marcinów’s 2017 book presenting the often outlandish 19th century Polish theories of depression. It turns out that certain outdated but vivid terms and ideas concerning melancholy actually may be more helpful in many ways than what current biomedical psychiatry has to offer. The third problem is how to rectify the first problem given the existence of the second problem-that is, how to make space for a less biomedical and reductionist approach to depression without risking an overly skeptical, anti-scientific turn within folk-psychiatry. I conclude that although phenomenological and embodied theories could not ever directly influence the manifest image of depression, they need to be included within the scientific image-and then they could become the perfect basis for a truly synoptic view.
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The aim of this paper is to show how the Sindhī community in India (Rājasthān) builds and strengthens its identity by using both traditional and modern means of transmission. The process of reinterpretation of tradition will be demonstrated by discussing the Ūmar–Mārvī story, which belongs to the repertoire of orally transmitted local Sindhī folk stories. The Ūmar–Mārvī story mainly emphasizes local patriotism and adherence to motherland. The message of the story is still valid in the 21st century. In the Surabhi, the literary magazine on Sindhī literature in the Hindī language issued periodically in Jaypur, it took the modern form of a comic book. Thus, it provides another example of a well-known fact in Indian culture, that of the old being repeated but in a new form. Despite using modern means of transmission, traditional mechanisms can still be seen. It seems that it is not enough for the Sindhī community to continue using the folk story but, moreover, it is necessary to give the story a higher rank (a recognised one) by placing it within the frames of the mainstream tradition, that is the so-called Great Tradition of the Hindu culture. This aim is achieved by making the heroine Mārvī equal to Sītā, and, thus, the Sindhī story is linked with the great epic Rāmāyaṇa. As a result, the final product is an old Sindhī folk story presented in the form of a comic book, targeted for a wider audience than the Sindhī community exclusively, entitled Sītā of Sindh (Sindh kī Sītā).
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Some boundaries can never be crossed but boundaries in literature seem to be like no boundaries at all, whether in the geographical, mythological, literary or literal sense. A few of the examples from kāvya literature can be seen in Kālidāsa’s Abhijñānaśākuntala vs. the story of Śakuntalā in the Mahābhārata and in his Vikramorvaśīya vs. the story of Purūravas and Urvaśī in RV 10, 95. In kathā literature geographical hindrances are easily crossed as in Daṇḍin’s Daśakumāracarita and also in Subandhu’s Vāsavadattā. In Bāṇa’s Kādambarī crossing the boundaries happens in space and time through different reincarnations of his characters. Kāvya authors often crossed boundaries by evoking mythological and epic figures, alluding to earlier works, using known motifs, themes and citations, and created new experiences by transforming them.
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This article explores the Scottish character of Groundskeeper Willie in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons with a pragmatic and social-psychological approach. It firstly introduces Willie’s linguistic and visual features, the sample of three episodes the analysis is based on, Scottish stereotypes in Lindsay’s (1997) sociological research, and Searle’s (1976) taxonomy of illocutionary acts (representatives or assertives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations). Secondly, the turns uttered by the groundskeeper in the sample are classified by applying Searle’s taxonomy, and his illocutionary acts are examined in their contexts and compared with the list of national-ethnic Scottish stereotypes compiled by Lindsay. This study demonstrates that Willie’s illocutionary acts and the stereotypes they convey depict him as a figure characterised by positive traits; nevertheless, the responses his illocutionary acts are met with not only counter his pleasant aspects, but also ultimately represent the Scottish groundskeeper as a ludicrous victim of his American fellow townspeople.
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As the world becomes more globalized, various social, cultural, and historical contexts are shaping teacher identities. Exploring teacher identities is essential in understanding experiences, interactions, and beliefs that influence language teachers’ practices inside and outside the classroom (Farrell 2011). This narrative study, conducted in a large urban community college located in the southeastern region of the United States, engaged seven adult ESL instructors in critical reflection on their assumptions, teaching, personal experiences, and an institutional environment. Data collection included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, journal entries, and classroom observations, including notes about artifacts used in the lessons. The findings of this study highlight the relationship between teacher identity and agency in teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Participants characterized themselves as explorers, who valued various cultural experiences and acted agentively to create culturally responsive lessons and an enriching learning environment. These findings have significant implications for language teacher training and further research.
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The Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region is a transboundary mixed World Heritage Property (Lake Ohrid Region WH) located in Albania and North Macedonia. At the time of inscription, in 1979, it covered the Macedonian share of Lake Ohrid and part of its watershed. It was extended in 2019 to cover the Albanian part of the lake and a small strip of land along the western shoreline, with the rest of the Albanian share of the watershed added as a buffer zone. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WH Centre) and its Advisory Bodies guided the Albanian authorities in the preparation of the nomination file for the extension in the frame of the Towards Strengthened Governance of the Shared Transboundary Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Lake Ohrid Region project (LOR Project). Using the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper focuses on the approaches the project used to identify, understand, and communicate Lake Ohrid region’s natural and cultural values. The analysis identifies two complementary perspectives of values (instrumental and intrinsic) that are informed by the values that over the past several decades have shaped the modern heritage discourse. The study also documents examples of how the concepts generated by the value discourse were operationalised in social processes and practice.
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