We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
Одмах чим се зађе у унутрашњост Далмације, из њених приморских градова, долази се у крај гдје живи ≫Мурле≪, ≫Вла’≪, ≫тежачина≪, — насљеђујући те називе далматинске ≫Сињорије≪ за ≫Морлаке≪, пастире и себре, са којима се једнако тепа ≫кршћанима≪ и ≫’ришћанима≪, ≫ркаћима≪ и ≫буњевцима≪, и једнако третира крст и некрст у Далматинској Загори.
More...
The purpose of the article is to capture changes in sensitivity in perceiving and speaking about certain particularly difficult (and often ignored and repressed) Kashubian herstory motifs. The author cites selected, most often discussed, and socially resonating social examples of rehabilitation, reinterpretation, and demanding the presence of Kashubian women on the pages of great history. Contemporary generations seek a suitable language so as to extract from oblivion the concealed and suppressed fate of Kashubian women (the author cites the example of, i.a. the rehabilitation of a female inhabitant of Słupsk, the last to be burned at the stake, and the story about dramatic experiences connected with wartime rape committed in the Kashubian region by Red Army soldiers in the spring of 1945, thus freeing from secondary victimisation and a stereotype concept of heroism). An interpretation of contemporary empathetic memory, citing individual women’s biographies, as reciprocated gratitude towards female predecessors.?
More...
The text is a selection of “raw” notes from the travel around Puglia (Castellaneta Grotte, Monopoli). The author tries not only to describe the landscapes, but also – inspired by reflective anthropology – to look at her own way of perceiving the Italian South.
More...
In this work, we present the essential features of education in Serbian traditional culture. We have presented the characteristics of education in Serbian traditional culture through three aspects. We have listed the most important customs that are present in our traditional culture and are related to children and childhood. The characteristics of the game, its place and role in the patriachal culture of the Serbs are analyzed. The essential features of education in our culture are reflected in the gradual introduction of children into the work process, children’s participation in the community’s economy, joint care of children, ensuring that the tasks entrusted to children are aligned with their age and abilities. In our traditional culture, there are numerous customs related to children and childhood. The most significant are those related to the first ste, the first tooth, the first haircut, baptism and midwives. All customs that have the meaning of the first are important, so special care is taken to ensure that they are carried out literally and to the end. If some of these customs are not implemented, it is believed that it can negatively affect the life of the child. Child care begins in the prenatal period. The period of pregnancy is accompanied by numerous taboos that should contribute to the happiness and health of the child. The purpose of customs is to fit the newborn member into the community, but also to establish friendship with supernatural forces. The game has an important place in education in the traditional culture of the Serbian people. There are numerous games that are played in different regions. There are games that are played by boys, that are played by girls, but also those that are played by children of both sexes. Play is a significant phenomenon and its role is very valuable in the inclusion of young people in culture. She is the link between the world of adults an the world of childhood. In traditional culture, work and play activities are intertwined. Toys are made from natural materials, which is a great way to learn about the environment and the quality of diferent materials. Contemporary pedagogical science should reconsider the values and pedagogical potential of children’s games. Also, it is valuable to study and find new types of games and their authenticity that arise from the geographical and local specificities of a certain area. Education in the traditional culture of the Serbs also has its shortcomings, which arise from the significant influence of mythical-magical beliefs, as well as the lack of positive knowledge about childbirth, care and growing up and upbringing of a child. All this led to the practice of certain customs and rituals that can be dangerous for the health and life of the mother and child.
More...
In recent years, various folklore formats have been organized in all regions of the country. A large percentage of the study. Here I will focus on how the concept of age is defined in the Bulgarian folklore tradition. Customs in which children take an active part and what this entails will be examined. Knowledge of the tradition is extremely important in order for children to gain a real insight into the past and what their role is in the traditional folklore calendar. I will also point out some short rules that may be useful when gathering information from the leaders of the different groups.
More...
The "Khosrow and Shirin" masnavi is a beloved story found within Nizami Ganjavi's "Khamsa of Nizami" and holds a significant place among love-masnavis. Our study is composed of selected works from the illustrated 15th-century Nizami Khamsas found in the Topkapi Palace Museum Library. These are the Nizami Khamsas numbered B.146, H.759, H.761, H.771, H.774, H.778, H.792, and R.866. The miniatures we selected from these works depict the topic of Shapur's journey to Armenia to ask for Shirin. These miniatures have been meticulously examined, and their compositional structures have been technically analyzed. The article briefly discusses the cultural and artistic environment of the Timurid and Turkoman periods in the 15th century and how it is reflected in miniature art. It provides brief informations about Nizami Ganjavi and his Nizami Khamsa. The "Khosrow and Shirin" masnavi is described, followed by a discussion of the story depicted in the selected miniature. Each miniature portraying the same story in the manuscripts has been examined in detail, and the similarities and differences between these pages have been observed. The miniatures have also been examined in terms of depicting the social and cultural life of the period, technically analyzed, and introduced with detailed descriptions. The story has been provided from the Turkish text of the work, and although not too detailed, references have been mentioned.
More...
Since the earliest civilizations, divination practices and occult fortune-telling manifestations have been an enduring component of worldwide culture. This disturbing phenomenon continues to proliferate today, gaining lots of appreciation, contaminating the values of traditional religion. The Romanian peasant subsists in a comprehensive perception, on the threshold between physical existence and spiritual consciousness. As a consequence of economic insecurity and social uncertainty, many inhabitants of the rural areas choose to preserve pagan beliefs and magic rituals, hoping to obtain knowledge about future events. It is certain that many occult expressions become normative for the believers and acquire a more important role than the religious cult itself. The present study targets to identify the most prominent forms of future prediction, favoured and accepted by the provincial population. It will be demonstrated that deception is almost always involved, leading to trickery and extortion of the simple-minded. Orthodox mission is consistently positioned against the occult, conservating the reasoning of the Great Fathers of Orthodoxy and many other Church scholars that counteredthe malpractice of divination.
More...
Continuing a dialogue with Ülo Valk on the value of the etic term vernacular in folkloristic scholarship, this essay responds to his claim that despite the stigma of the word’s past usage and its rejection by other fields it holds promise for folkloristics because of its conceptual flexibility, which he finds is especially conducive to the study of belief and religious practices. Pointing out that flexibility – or “fuzziness” to quote other critics – suggests imprecision, residualism, hierarchy, and lack of analytical instrumentality, this essay contends that use of vernacular reveals more about its users than the groups and practices it purports to describe. Recounting the intellectual history of the term and its adoption in folkloristic circles as well as the author’s own scholarship, this essay maintains that the term has limited, if any, use in folkloristics and ethnology because of its negative assumptions and “fuzzy” logic. It can be reflexively analyzed, however, to understand scholars’ perceptions of cultural phenomena and their conflicts with cognitive categories of practice and belief enacted by cultural participants.
More...
The article focuses on an analysis of the funeral and memorial rituals of the Ludian Karelians in the context of folk religion. For many years, rites of Orthodox origin were either viewed unilaterally or ignored altogether in ethnographic literature, with the reconstruction of ‘pagan’ elements being highlighted, which in turn gave rise to the theory of dual faith. According to the results of my research, the funeral and memorial traditions of the Ludians (from the late 19th to the late 20th century) are based on an Orthodox funeral system in which many aspects derived from a Christian basis found new interpretation. For example, the requirement to light candles was explained as lighting the way to the afterlife, the importance of making confession was so that the dying person’s sins would not attach to the living, and funeral services were to help the soul of the deceased ‘settle’, etc. The principal exponents of the funeral rituals, who ensured the successful transition of the soul to the next world, were representatives of the people: women who washed the body of the deceased, and lamenters, but the church priesthood nonetheless played a significant role in conducting the rituals. The priest’s participation is apparent at all stages of the funeral ritual, from confession to commemoration. Following the abolition of the institution of the church during the Soviet period, the functions of the priest were assumed by elderly women who knew the prayers and church burial traditions.
More...
This article focuses on the immediate near-death experience of an elderly woman living in traditional Vepsian culture. We analyse which universal, and which more culturally motivated features are present in her story narrated to us in 2018. We conclude that, despite the strong association with animistic beliefs in the informant’s everyday life, the experience is dominated by elements specific to vernacular Orthodox Christianity. The article presents a translation from Vepsian of a fragmentary personal experience narrative.
More...
Most Udmurt living in the Bashkortostan Republic and in the Perm’ region of the Russian Federation are followers of a traditional ethnic religion. In their spiritual life, a huge place is occupied by sanctuaries and other places in which their ritual practices take place, such as the worship of deities, spirits and ancestors. We can identify different types of such places in this Udmurt regional group: the sanctuary dedicated to the cult of the clan protector deities, groves dedicated to the god Lud, places dedicated to personal and family cults, sacred places of agrarian sacrifices, territories where funerary and commemorative rituals take place, places dedicated to the propitiation of evil spirits. Depending on their social status, the sanctuaries are regional or general and can be related to a family, clan, village, or multiple villages. In this article, which relies on the authors’ ethnographic fieldwork and published sources, we analyse the present state of the sacred places. We show that the transformation of cultural patterns has led some types of sanctuary to cease functioning, while others have remained as relics and the places of agrarian sacrifices have undergone an active revitalisation.
More...
The topic of the article is metalworking and blacksmithing in Mountainous and East Samegrelo. It is suggested that blacksmithing was a fairly advanced economic branch in this region. Kolkheti’s long history of copper and bronze mining, processing, and production survived in later times and became the basis for the development of the iron industry. Data about high bronze and iron processing technologies used in West Georgia and its environs are found in various historical written sources. This fact is believed to be depicted in the Argonaut Myth as well. The evidence of the Region’s strong blacksmithing tradition is the geographical names derived from the root chkad (chedva, which is Georgian for “blacksmithing”). On the other hand, there are toponyms that are connected to blacksmithing, although do not have the root chkad (for instance, Onoshkere meaning a coal bunker, a place where coal was prepared for use in blacksmithing, as well as Saangure, which is a brick furnace for making clay pots and bricks. Probably, pipes of melting furnaces, clay pipes and some other details were also made there). East Samegrelo has more toponyms that refer to blacksmithing than the western part of Samegrelo Region. This fact suggests that blacksmithing was more developed in East and Mountainous Samegrelo than in other parts of Samegrelo Region. As the field ethnographic data gathered in the mid-XX century evidence, a smithy was revered and a blacksmith was regarded a very valuable and important member of the community, although his social status must have been much more honorable in the earliest days of metallurgy. The smithies were where ritualistic swearing and “anathematizing” (a type of curse) took place. On particular days, blacksmiths would pray to “St. Solomos/Solomon”. Although the most recent field materials do not confirm this practice, sacredness of blacksmith shops is still remembered by the locals. Today, blacksmithing in Samegrelo no longer serves the purpose it once did, though one or two smithies are still working primarily making agricultural tools and equipment.
More...
The article discusses the pottery artifacts preserved in the archeology fund of the Kutaisi State Historical Museum, which are important for clarifying the traditions of making glazed ceramics. The aim of the work is to understand the history of the production of glazed ceramics in the territory of old city Kutaisi through the study and analysis of the remains of medieval ceramic workshops and glass artifacts. The research base was represented by the materials obtained during the archaeological expeditions headed by prof. Omar Lanchava, conducted in the territory of old city in 1984-2010 years: the remains of a ceramic workshop, pottery furnace, a stone ceramic processing machine tool, various items representing the production of ceramics, fragments of glazed ceramics, etc. As a result of the analysis of the mentioned materials and determination of stratigraphic data, it can be concluded that a ceramic workshop functioned in the VIII-XI centuries in the territory of former city of Kutaisi and produced both glazed ceramic vessels and building ceramics. The research is important from the point of view of bringing the Kutaisi collection of ceramics into scientific circulation and for determining the socio-economic and cultural life of Kutaisi city.
More...
The article offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolution and significance of avant-garde theatrical costumes in Ukrainian art during the early 20th century. Distinctly emphasizing the shift of stage costume from mere functional apparel to a symbolic imagery, the study investigates the blending of local Ukrainian traditions with external avant-garde influences from Western Europe and Russia. It underscores the significant roles of artists like Malevich and Exter in the fusion of futurism and cubism within theatrical designs. The avant-garde movement in Ukraine transformed theatrical costume design by introducing non-standard shaping methods, innovative materials, and techniques that prioritize symbolic over aesthetic values. The article concludes with the avant-garde's revolutionary impact on scenographic approaches, accentuating its role in the artistic synthesis of performance, stage design, and costuming. This study serves as a crucial reference for scholars exploring avant-garde influences in theatrical design and its implications in art history and theatre studies.
More...
At the junction of the 20th–21st centuries more and more attention was being paid to the written heritage of Lithuanian Tatars. From 1997 to 2020 seven catalogues of Lithuanian Tatars manuscripts were published. These catalogues describe the Lithuanian Tatars manuscripts, which are kept in state institutions, museums, archives, as well as in private collections of various countries. The largest collections of manuscripts are stored in Belarus and Lithuania. The emergence of such catalogues is an excellent basis for further comparative studies. In 2020 the author of this article managed to get acquainted with a new collection of manuscripts stored in a private collection. Five manuscripts were reviewed and analysed during this research. All of them perfectly represent the main genres of Lithuanian Tatars manuscripts heritage – kitabs, semi-kitabs, hamails, and tefsirs. The manuscripts are dated from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Five manuscripts from this collection were presented in the article “Lithuanian Tatar Manuscripts Written in Arabic Script from the Private Collection: New Discoveries” (2020). So far, the content of only one manuscript has been described in a published article. Starting with the catalogue of Lithuanian Tatar manuscripts written in Arabic script (2005), in which the compilers drew attention to the content of the manuscripts, other catalogues (2011, 2015, 2020) were published according to the same principles – revealing the content of the manuscript. An opportunity to undertake textological analysis of texts opened for researchers. The folklore material from some manuscripts makes a system of incantations, healing spells, and protective rites that were popular not only among the Muslim community, but also among Christians and Jews. This system is closely related to beliefs and superstitions, the origins of which are found in the universal Muslim culture adopted by the Turks. Kitabs and chamails are abound of astrological, calendrical and magical texts. Texts about auspicious and inauspicious days, dreamers and fals (fortune-telling) attract the attention of scholars. In this article, we present a fal that we have found in the tefsir (sufra) written by Chalil Juzefovich. This tefsir is dated from the 19th century. Although the fortune-telling text, which is being described for the first time, has no analogues in other manuscripts, it will provide excellent material for further comparative studies. It is much more difficult to determine the source(s) of such texts, as they were very popular in folk culture, may have had a number of variants and a wide circle of distribution. However, with each newly discovered and decoded text, we reveal a layer of Lithuanian Tatar manuscripts.
More...
The cultural landscape of the Vokė River (the right confluent of Neris) in the article is approached as sacred space for local Lithuanian Tatars, who have settled near this river in the end of the 14th century. There are many Tatar origin place names along Vokė, indicating how densely the area was inhabited by this Muslim community. Some villages ceased to be inhabited quite a long time ago, although older people know the precise places of the old cemeteries and mosques that have vanished or were destroyed. In their life stories the landscape of Vokė emerged as a home of many generations, space of ancestral graves and Muslim faith, as well as a realm of peaceful neighbourhood with Christians and Jews. The life stories of the Tatars from the village of Keturiasdešimt Totorių (Old Russian – Sorok Tatary, Eng. – Forty Tatars) and former Tatar settlement of Afindeviči (now part of Grigiškės town) provided pretext to explore the given territory as spiritual realm. The sacredness in the article is seen not only as a domain of religion, but also as a behaviour, a way of thinking about oneself, others and the surrounding environment. In 2020–2022 recorded life stories are analysed in the context of Christian literature from the 17th century, when Vokė River was inscribed in the sacred Catholic geography as a meaningful landmark of pilgrimage from Vilnius to Trakai. And it was one of the factors that negatively changed attitudes towards Muslim in this epoch of Counterreformation. Cultural space of the Vokė River in the article is presented from three different perspectives. The first one belongs to the paradigm of the Catholic worldview, reflected in the 17th century literature of the authors related to Trakai: the anti-Muslim text written by Piotr Czyżewski entitled “The Real Tatar Alfurkan Divided into 40 Parts”, the religious cycle of epodes of Mathias Casimirus Sarbievius, entitled “The Four Miles of Virgin Mary or A Joyous Public Procession to the Temple of the Virgin Mary in Trakai” and the book by the dean of Trakai Symon Mankiewicz “The Trakai Parish Church, the Miracles of Our Lady Mother of God explained, by the Priest Symon Mankiewicz of the bishopric of Samogitia diocese newly exposed to the world”. Even though this literature reflects the attitude towards Muslims of only one side, it also testifies people’s behaviour where rules dictated by culture and religion were violated when danger to health or life arose. As follows from this literature, at that time the Muslim could pray at the image of Our Lady of Trakai, and a Christian seek to cure the disease with help of Tatar ‘sorcery’. Therefore, the second perspective explores Vokė as a space that has attracted people of various denominations in search for help to recover health and spiritual state of mind thanks to knowledge and mysterious power of Tatar healers, known as ‘faldjey’ (Pol. fałdżej). The portrait and activities of probably the last faldjey from those places was illuminated by his living granddaughters, whose childhood has passed listening for incredible stories of grandfather power over demons. In the third perspective, the Vokė River valley emerges as a place of Tatar pilgrimage. The most important religious centre here is the mosque of the village of the Forty Tatars, meanwhile the memory stories reveal the importance of existing and disappeared cemeteries. Operating cemeteries are still visited during Muslim holidays and Ramadan, and those that have disappeared are remembered via storytelling. While moving to those places both mentally and physically, local Tatars keep ties with their living and deceased compatriots, experiencing a sense of ‘tatarness’ and resilience of identity as well as reconciliation with history and neighbourhood they were ought to live.
More...
Information about the art and design of Tatar footwear, revealed in different historical records, travel diaries, and descriptions of museum collections, is of great importance. It allows us to assume a strong traditionalism of leather mosaic in the Tatar folk decorative and applied arts. This assumption is also supported by the stylistic uniformity of a large number of decorative motifs, the similarity of principles in composition and colour solutions identified with the comparative analysis of leather mosaic and other traditional types of national applied art. The development of style and technical methods of leather mosaic can be assessed by retrospective comparison with later monuments. Wise selection of innovations has always been a wizard of classical folk art. Folk craftsmen had an amazing intuition and only features suitable for adaptation and standardisation were included in the traditional art set. Due to the historical succession, the art of leather mosaic stepped over the centuries, perfecting and improving its distinctive features.
More...
During the bourgeois era in Slovenia, a lot was written about spiritualism, its appearance, development, and characteristics. Many lectures were given, and the literature about it, published throughout the world, was followed closely. It was well known in Slovenia, and a cross-section of the contemporaneous society and politics reveals that the general opinion about it was mostly disapproving and derisive. It was perceived as superstition, deception, a sign of psychological depravity, phantasmagoria, unproven phenomena, blind faith, and as simply wrong. Catholic authors characterised it as contrary to religion and hostile to humanity and God. The liberals believed that people resorted to spiritualism because of social hardships, while the communists saw it as a dangerous poison for the working people, which could undermine their class consciousness. Spiritualism was most favoured in the mining areas.
More...