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The text highlights the behavior mechanisms through which the traditional culture pulls its viability. Among strategies that maintain the traditional system of values, etiquette offers efficient ways of demonstrating social statute. Understood as a ritual, it correlates various languages in order to regularize relations within groups participating in the ritual, but also in order to maintain the basis of society and of traditional culture. The author proposes an analysis of the symbiosis identified in the labeling/designation strategies by verbal language, rite and apparel. Proverbs and household expressions, generally sayings, by their aphoristic and didactic, and also concise form, are very efficient in the process of communication, especially of the normative one. The saying „ori te poartă cum ţi-i vorba, ori vorbeşte cum ţi-i portul” (English translation: either behave as you speak, or speak as you dress) is an emblematic maxim of the traditional culture
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L’étude se propose de présenter quelques hypostases d’un ancien symbole: la coupe merveilleuse. Après avoir signalé l’importance d’un illustre prédécesseur dans la même problématique, le professeur Dumitru Pop, l’auteur donne d’ampleur au sujet.La coupe d’or ou d’argent doré précède dans la tradition populaire roumaine la coupe associée au Saint Graal. L’objet rituel, le gobelet, d’où l’on boit à des occasions spéciales, à des fins magiques, apparaît dès les temps préhistoriques et se retrouve aujourd’hui dans les noëls, les contes bleus, l’incantation et les ballades folkloriques.La valeur du verre miraculeux augmente chez les Roumains grâce à sa provenance: il est le don du parraine. Les images apotropaïques gravées sur de tels vases ont une origine mythique. La coupe rituelle apparaît fréquemment dans l’iconographie populaire. On la rencontre aussi dans la cérémonie nuptiale et à l’occasion des fêtes religieuses.
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In his well-known work, Descriptio Antiqui et Hodierni Status Moldaviae, Dimitrie Cantemir has developed a comparative approach which completes the ethnographic information about Moldavia’s inhabitants and their way of life, in the advent of the eighteenth century. Our paper aims to discern (beyond any auctorial options in writing up and transmitting us the text of Descriptio Moldaviae) the possibility that Dimitrie Cantemir might have followed a clearly-conceived program of presenting his data in accordance with the heuristics of the comparative methodology. Indeed, Descriptio Moldaviae might be also understood as a cross-cultural contextualization of the Moldavian society and its belonging to the European culture and civilization during the Enlightenment century.
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The corpus of the study is represented by 119 magic scenarios consisting of one or several formula (F) and/or procedure (P) components. The model of a scenario is F1P1F2P2 ... FnPn or P1F1P2F2 ... PnFn, where n goes up to 9 for the formulas and up to 10 for the procedures. Each of the F1, F2 ... Fn, P1, P2 ... Pn types represents a distinct textual field. The scenarios were published in the volume Desire Machines: A Romanian Love Charms Database. The database contains 283 textual fields (155 formula and 128 procedure positional types) regrouped in ten types of structural scenarios. The author distinguishes between the occurrence of plant names in the versified texts of the formulas and in the prose descriptions of the procedures as well as between the occurrences appearing in position 1, 2 ... n among the various formulas/procedure components of a scenario. Taking into account the textual fields of their components elliptic scenarios can thus be „completed”.A typology of magic plants is developed and brought into correspondence with the pragmatic typology of love charms. Thus positive (basil, wheat, blooming cherry or apple tree, peony, marjoram, hyssop), ambiguous (blooming pear tree, wormwood, mandrake, hemp) and negative (thistle, nettle, garlic) magic plants respectively characterize love charms that have a positive (charms for love, beauty and honor; charms against hate), ambiguous (charms for bringing one’s fated partner, for ensuring reciprocal submission in the couple, or for limiting sexual desire to the members of the couple), or negative (charms for casting hate upon a rival) magic function.
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The three Fates of Ancient mythology are named Ursitoare in the Romanian folklore. The paper discusses the variants this lexeme phonetically encounters and also the etymology of other known names for the Parcae. Descriptions given by different informants in Romania and fragments from fairy-tales are analyzed in the context of these universal deities. Fates could be heard by parents and traditional midwives, and when people lost this ability different signs made by them were investigated. The Meal of Fates consists in food oblation that may change its aspect over night, a fact which is interpreted as a proof of the Fates’ arrival. Parents try to assure a happy destiny for their infant by pleasing them with a rich meal of sacred aliments.
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The article presents the topic of growing horses in shelters and outdoor in Moldavia. The author examines the owning of horses by the king, boyars and the common people, presenting the variety of royal horses and the ceremonies (parades) in which horses participated. Considerable attention was paid to the favourable conditions of growing animals in the Romanian countries. Several aspects of the commercialization of horses on internal and external market were also presented.
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Pendant l’été 2011, nous avons fait un stage de documentation dans les Archives d’État de Vienne, où nous avons eu la chance de découvrir de précieux documents relatif à l’espace roumain, dont une place particulière est occupée par une partie les archives perdues de la diocèse gréco-catholique de Fagaras et des documents sur l’histoire de l’église de Bucovine après 1775. L’importance de ces documents est exceptionnelle pour les historiens qui s’occupent du passé de l’Église roumaine et des relations sociales de Transylvanie et de Bucovine, et aussi pour les ethnologues et les philologues
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The unfinished paper of professor Petru Caraman provides an impressive review of the editions A Thousand and One Nights collection had throughout time. The scholar had the intention to translate this work into Romanian, together with a critical edition of academic level that stressed the folkloric origin of this literary monument. The approach starts with the first attempts to reconstruct the anthology, carried out by specialists in Arabic culture. It continues with a thorough analysis of famous translations into the main Occidental languages, up to the most recent editions in Slavic languages.
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Sometimes in the 1970s, the present paper was sent for publication in Cercetări istorice Magazine of Iasi. We suppose that due to reasons other than the scientific ones the paper of Ion Chelcea was not published. The villages investigated by the founder of the Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia within the region northeast of Iasi are split in three categories: meadow villages, plain villages and plateau villages. The paper reflects the situation specific to the mid 20th century, when the field researches were carried out. It has an exclusively documentary – historical value.The introductory part refers to the local shepherding of previous times, and then there follow ample remarks on the studies theme from three points of view: a) local – rural shepherding; b) the shepherding zone of the city of Iaşi and c) the transhumant characteristic the shepherding of these places had. Certainly, the importance of the paper relies in the first aspect, the author evoking for the beginning the „possibilities of animal husbandry in the area we refer to during the time when the researches took place”. Further one, there is widely described the sheepfold in the villages of the zone. Chelcea starts from the ¬logical framework that the sheepfold reflects, „up to a certain point, the material and cultural level of the people interested in its construction”. At this point of the research there is already a first conclusion that is put forward, more precisely the one that the „sheepfold of the region northeast of Iaşi is different as aspect from the sheepfold of other regions”. The typology of the sheepfold with the „reed wall” is widely described, pointing out that the type of sheepfold in the northeast of Iaşi region is relatively homogenous. The sheepfold is composed of the following main elements: the sheepfold itself, the geandâr, the throat (strunga), the pound (ocol) with „reed wall” and the sheep cot (târla). We are also informed that the pastoral inventory of the sheepfold is very scarce. Regarding the quantity of cheese and milk preparation, Chelcea points out two systems, one based on „shifts” and another one based on „kilograms”. A sheepfold personnel usually includes only two shepherds.Ion Chelcea’s paper contains „a lot of useful remarks for the understanding of the problem not only of the lowland shepherding but also of shepherding in general. A first remark pertains to the relative homogeneity of shepherding, that is the similitude, to a rather great extent, of shepherding of the concerned region with the one of the Carpathians”. The general characteristic of the type of sheepfold generally found in the northeast of Iaşi region would be the „inclusion of all sectors and parts of the sheepfold in a continuous link”. There also exists a series of particularities. The first one concerns the expression used by Chelcea within his paper: „sheepfolds with reed walls”. The researcher concludes that we are „in the presence of a pastoral phenomenon typical for the lowlands, when both the sheep cot and the flock are identified with this particularity of sheep protection, vital for the exceptional geographic and climatic conditions of sheep sheltering in absolute empty space”. Secondly, he remarks „a series of pastoral terms that have a southeastern common cultural substratum and which helps us determine, to a certain extent, the reality we deal with”. This is the case of the hearth and of the geandâr (term used to designate the closed and covered space where the sheep are milked). In conclusion, „the lowlands shepherding contains in itself, through things and terms, interesting forms of culture which have a certain historical and geographical correspondent, which should be connected to the old and ancient requirements and influences, which often go up to an autochtonism, naturally, reconsidered”.
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The present study is an attempt to elucidate some of the specific problems of the folktale, namely aspects concerning the hero. Thus, the hero is considered the centre of the entire action, an essential part of the traditional story and he has some specific features, which transform him into a prototype. The hero is usually born in a miraculous way, or he is the youngest of a very poor family or the youngest of the emperor’s family. He is always brave and intelligent; he has many qualities, becoming an ideal model of the traditional world. Other characters from the folktale, such as the antagonists or the adjuvant personages also have their specific roles in developing the hero’s initiatory journey.
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The universe of folk culture refers to the visible world and the underworld. For a long period, until mid 19th century, a form of expression of the interdependence of the two worlds was provided by the texts carved on the tombstones and the funeral crosses. Of scripture inspiration, inscriptions assert the condition of „God’s slave” of the deceased and contain various formulas of invoking the divine goodwill. On many times, epitaphs were written like a dialogue between the deceased and those passing by its tomb, with moralizing sentences and thoughts that denote the education of those having ordered them. Written in Slavonic, Romanian and Greek, in prose or verse, inscriptions reflect mentalities, illustrate the evolution of the language and the taste of an epoch.
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The author presents (A) the types of contexts in which (young) women perform charms for bringing their lover/fated partner/husband through the air; (B) the charm scenario types that explicitly state as their function the bringing through the air of a male partner; (C) a corpus of stories about men who were seen flying as a result of such charms. In contradistinction to the charm scenarios, usually collected from expert female magic insiders, the stories were told by magic outsiders (women and men who either do not believe or do not agree with charming as such and who do not know how to charm). Also, while charm-scenarios „work” upon the intentionality of their male Object, submitting it to the wishes and needs of the Charmee, the stories concentrate upon the technicalities of flying, its speed, dangers, trajectory etc. The comparison between the charm-scenarios and the stories about charming makes visible an implicit dialogue between different groups in the communities that were studied.
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The paper highlights the relation of antinomy between two exclusively feminine states: pregnancy and confinement. The former invests the woman with fertility powers, while the latter determines the opposite effect on nature. The nubile girl is also endowed with the capacity to stimulate vegetation in the ritual texts recited to her on Christmas, but consequently she will be socially marginalized unless she has children. These are the two ruling poles for the archaic Romanian woman and the analysis uses numerous ethnographical data to sustain them.
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Si sot një vit më parë familja Raça, Instituti Albanologjik dhe dija shqiptare përgjithësisht mbetën pa njeriun e dashur, pa kolegun e nderuar dhe pa njërin ndër kontribuuesit gjurmëlënës të historiografisë sonë kombëtare. Fjalët e para një viti mund të tingëllonin si shumë emocionale, ngase, pa dyshim, ishim thënë nën ndikimin e fuqishëm të dhimbjes së madhe. Sot, një vit pas, kur jemi bindur për kapitullin e përmbyllur jetësor të Profesor Shkëlzenit, do të provoj të them diçka mbi profilin e tij të përgjithshëm njerëzor, duke u fokusuar gjithashtu edhe te portreti i tij intelektual e shkencor.
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The paper starts from the identification of agricultural motifs in certain Romanian charms. Through the comparative study of magical texts with agrarian ones (holiday season poetry, harvest songs) we achieve the recovery of archaic imaginary typical for these folkloric species reflected in the survival of animistic beliefs. The two types of texts indicate integration into therapeutic magic, by the tendency of peasant agricultural works for removing potential negative influences generated by the terrifying aspect of the sacred.
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The craft of pottery is deeply rooted in the prehistory of our people. Its evolution on the territory of Bessarabia for six-seven millennia fully confirms the fact that the contemporary folk ceramics of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the continuation of the tradition of the Dacian ceramicware by its black pottery, of the Roman one by the unpolished red pottery and of the Byzantine one by the enameled pottery. Traces of four ancient rural pottery centers of the 15th-16th centuries can still be identified nowadays in the villages of Cenişeuţi (Rezina district), Ţigăneşti (Străşeni district), Hogineşti (Călăraşi district) and Iurceni in Nisporeni district. Poorly investigated and insufficiently described by specialists, they continue to be a living proof of the continuity and perpetuation of our people’s culture in these lands. The paper is a short chronicle of the pottery center of Iurceni, with a special focus on its evolution during the last seven-eight decades. This period marked the continuous and dramatic decay of pottery mainly due to the great socio-economical changes in the life of the community, and also of the country and the world. During the socialist period, traditional crafts were perceived only as a rudiment which was to disappear as soon as possible. Although nowadays society has overcome such damaging mentality, there remain like a consequence serious problems pertaining to the conservation and efficient valorization of the ceramic tradition of Iurceni. Finding solutions to such problems is a serious task also for the other ancient pottery centers of the Republic of Moldova.
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Starting from „Mihai Pop” National Scientific Session organized on 26 November 2010 within the Faculty of Letters of the University in Bucharest, where Zoltán Rostás presented the book by Mihai Pop, I want to be reviewed too. The Papers Published During 1937-1940 (Bucharest, Editura Paideia, 2010, 416 p.), the author analyzes this last volume which contains papers of a great thematic variety, prevalent being those pertaining to matters related to the war to come. It also contains papers on important sociological and cultural aspects. Many of the papers analyze the Romanian political realities of that troubled period. Few times he refers to cultural, literary or scientific matters. By their importance, their varied topics, and the commentator’s gift of finely discerning the realities of the 1940s, the papers in this volume contribute to the better and more refined knowledge of the personality of Mihai Pop.
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Apart the activities of storage, conservation, restoration and valorization of tangible heritage items belonging to its collections, the Museum of Arad can also involve, through thorough field researches, in the revitalization of old customs which are still alive in the local consciousness. One of the old customs preserved in the Museum of Arad is the so-called Nedeia de la gorun which was still in use until not so long ago in Vidra locality (commune Vârfurile, Arad county). From village people’s stories, one can understand the persons aged more than 60-70 were active participants in this event and it was by discussing with them that the deployment of this feast could be reconstructed step by step. The paper also advances several suggestions that might lead to the revitalization or safeguarding of this custom by the certified institutions, and especially by the youth of Vidra village and its surroundings.Apart the activities of storage, conservation, restoration and valorization of tangible heritage items belonging to its collections, the Museum of Arad can also involve, through thorough field researches, in the revitalization of old customs which are still alive in the local consciousness. One of the old customs preserved in the Museum of Arad is the so-called Nedeia de la gorun which was still in use until not so long ago in Vidra locality (commune Vârfurile, Arad county). From village people’s stories, one can understand the persons aged more than 60-70 were active participants in this event and it was by discussing with them that the deployment of this feast could be reconstructed step by step. The paper also advances several suggestions that might lead to the revitalization or safeguarding of this custom by the certified institutions, and especially by the youth of Vidra village and its surroundings.
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The paper analyzes the scientific approaches of funeral rituals undertaken during the period 1905-1929. This period corresponds to the first phase of institutionalizing the ethnographic research of Romania and also the launching of the collection „Din vieaţa poporului român”, edited by the Romanian Academy. There are descriptive approaches (in the magazines Tudor Pamfile and Ion Creangă) and collections of funeral chants (Al. Vasiliu, Ion Bîrlea); typological approaches (Iosif Popovici) and comparative approaches (Gh. F. Ciauşanu, I. Muşlea). Therefore, in terms of methodology, one can speak of a heterogeneous period.
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