Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU

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The Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnography SAS (I-VII)/ SASA (VIII/) is a scientific periodical of international significance which publishes papers in ethnology/anthropology. From its inception in 1952, the Bulletin publishes the results of scientific research projects of scientists and associates of the Institute and other affiliated institutions in the country and abroad. In addition, discussions and articles, supplements, field data, retrospectives, chronicles, reviews, translations, notes, bibliographies, obituaries, memories, critiques and similar are published as well. The Bulletin was founded as a means to publish the results of research of settlements and origins of populations, folk life, customs and folk proverbs. However, the concept of the Bulletin, like that of any other contemporary scientific journal, changed over time to accommodate the social, cultural and political processes and research trends in the social sciences and humanities.

The Bulletin (GEI) is referenced in the electronic bases: DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), Ulrich's Periodicals Directory and SCIndex (Serbian Citation Index). All articles are digitally available in a form typographically true to the original (in .pdf format). The Bulletin is also available in the same form on the website of the Institute of Ethnography SASA.

The Bulletin (GEI SANU) can also be found and read at CEEOL (Central and Eastern European Online Library): http://www.ceeol.com


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Typology of entrepreneurs in the first transition
Typology of entrepreneurs in the first transition
This paper is based on the material which belongs to the domain of popular culture. That is, it is based on domestic TV series which belong to the first phase of transition, i.e., 1990's. I assumed that popular culture in general provides an expression of omnipresent, widely accepted and usual viewpoints within a society: as such, it also serves to confirm these values and attitudes. In this sense, I was interested in ways of presentation of entrepreneurs in the two domestic TV series: Srecni ljudi and Porodicno blago; the category of entrepreneurs is especially interesting since in the given transitional period, it became a part of the social, economic and cultural life of the Serbian society. These representations are very well presented by particular social types and they allow an insight of conceptualization of entrepreneurs in general. The two domestic TV series were shown at different times in the period of the first transition, and thus reflect ways of the conceptualization changes and development from the beginning until the late phase of the transition.
Tzintzars in Uroševac and other Kosovo's rail centers
Tzintzars in Uroševac and other Kosovo's rail centers
A relatively large number of Tzintzars used to live in Uroševac for more than 120 years, until they got totally displaced in 1999. The Tzintzars also lived in other Kosovo towns: Lipljan, Obilić, Priština and Kosovska Mitrovica, until hazardous living conditions compelled them to relocate to Vučitrn and Kačanik. Vučitrn and Kačanik were trade centers located near the railroad (that stared to operate in 1873) and, as such, represented attractive locations with numerous possibilities for profit and earnings (that is why J. Cvijić called these settlements, railroad towns"). Hence in a few waves, the Tzintzars that inhabited the mountain zone of Bitolj-Kruševo (Gopeš, Magarevo, Nižopolje, Malovište), and even Bitolj Kruševo and nearby Prizren, started to settle in this region. The relationship with the parent country was maintained by marriage and permanent contact. For a long time, the Tzintzar language was in use, and ethnic identity preserved. The Tzintzars left a considerable mark on the Kosovo economy and culture. Their occupations, like trade (especially grain purchase and its delivery, via railroad to Skoplje, Thessalonica, and other places along the way), handicrafts, hostelry and tavern-owning, enabled them to participate in the founding of new towns: Ferizović (Uroševac) Lipljan, Globoderice (Obilić); and, at the same time, to reinforce economies in Priština and Kosovska Mitrovica. In the interwar period, already ramified Tzintzar lineages extended their economic activities (in the milling industry, banking, agriculture, the commencement of industry), started to send their children to academies and better schools and supported social institutions in their settings. After World War II, following the nationalization of their property, the Tzintzars were forced to hastily change their traditional occupations - thus they started to relocate, mostly to Skoplje. This was a typical outcome for many of the Tzintzar lineages. To illustrate this occurrence, we choose to present in detail the genealogy and history of the lineage Nikolić, from Uroševac. The given data about Tzintzars in Kosovo ravine should add to our knowledge of the general history of Tzintzars from Serbia.
Universal patterns in cultural phenomena
Universal patterns in cultural phenomena
This paper presents various perspectives in studying cultural universal patterns. The focus is placed on the examples drawn from Serbian sources/culture, accentuating myth and tale texts, contrasting and comparing them with Serbian rituals and other cultural phenomena. In this sense, I have chosen to analyze one of the most famous and most complex Serbian tales known as 'Bas Celik', which illustrates formations of the specific structural patterns on a synchronic level. This research also allows studying communication possibilities, that is, transmission and creation of identical contents/information. My previous research on the subject, as well as this one, has allowed a hypothesis based on the presence of identical or similar contents and structures within dreams and tales, as well in folk beliefs. It has become clear that these motives do not represent a direct borrowing but were created independently regardless of the actual contents of particular dreams and tales. This could also be applied to the presence of specific symmetrical and harmoniously organized structural models in myths and rituals. A good example is an appearance of 19 structural patterns which characterize universal frame, i.e., as features of different cultural and natural phenomena. Taking all said into account, it could be argued that the understanding of this particular phenomenon requires an idea of connection of the mind and substance within a unique field that does not recognize spatial and timely limitations, corresponding thus to Levi-Strauss and Jungian models of understandings, in analyzing cultural phenomena and reality.
Urban family and tradition in the 1980's
Urban family and tradition in the 1980's
The paper presents general assumptions and the topics covered of the larger study (to be published) on Serbian urban families in the 1980's. The research was carried out in four cities: Šabac, Užice, Kruševac and Bor. The larger study explores the transmission and maintenance of certain traditional customs and relationships, along with their modifications adaptations, adjustments or disappearances due to the requirements of contemporary urban life. The main assumption of the study is that the urban city family has different characteristics and functions than the rural one. The research method included a questionnaire with various questions concerning the structure of the family, income, occupations, educational level, origin, family hierarchy, property, kinship relations and so on. The research sample, which included more than 50 families from all four cities represents a good foundation for analysis and comparisons. In fact, the sample reveals a general, homogenous picture on a number of traditional elements among Serbian families in the 1980's. Additional data were collected in a few other cities. The results of this study will be compared with the author's previous studies on rural families, suburban areas and city dwellings in Serbia. The data collected so far point to the conclusion that each city has retained a number of traditional, specific features compatible with its local tradition, population origin, economy, and environment. In spite of the study limitations, it seems likely that the main assumption will be found true.
Urban music from Kosovo and Metohija in the researches of Serbian ethnomusicologists up to the second half of the twentieth century
Urban music from Kosovo and Metohija in the researches of Serbian ethnomusicologists up to the second half of the twentieth century
Folk music of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija is considered to be archaic in popular discourse. From the scientific side, that is supported by the ethnomusicological printed and sound recordings, which are one of the first sources about Serbian music folklore. Ethnomusicology in Serbia is based on the results of music ethnography of the nineteenth and the twentieth century, and because of that, it is primary focused on rural tradition. Also in the last years’, popular music arrangements of some of these songs are often, whereby music from Kosovo and Metohija is usually perceived as the rural heritage. Nevertheless, music recorded during pioneer ethnomusicological fieldworks in Kosovo and Metohija is mostly noted in the cities, in organized “unauthentic” situations, and the performers were craftsmen, traders and teachers. Although in the latter ethnomuscological literature music classification according to the ritual background was common, the most of the songs recorded on Kosovo and Metohija have not (strict) ritual function and subject matter. The analysis of the Kosovo and Metohija songbooks of the eminent ethnomusicologists from Serbia proved that urban folk music was very present in the field, but troublesome for regular ethnomusicological classification and interpretation, and also that there were several informants with urban settlement who performed for these ethnomusicologists plenty of folk songs. Since the first half of the twentieth century, these ethnomusicological results have had great result on the popularization of Kosovo and Metohija music heritage. The main goal of this paper is to point on unjustified marginalization of the urban folklore at the ethnomusicological discourse, to illuminate the approaches of the pioneers in ethnomusicology in Serbia to the music heritage which has special significance not only in expert framework and to discuss the role of ethnomusicologist in the creation of the notion of “folk song”. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. ON 177004: Identiteti srpske muzike od lokalnih do globalnih okvira: Tradicije, promene, izazovi]
Use of traditional motives in Serbian science-fiction literature
Use of traditional motives in Serbian science-fiction literature
Subject of this paper is consideration of use of traditional motives in Serbian science-fiction literature in relation with socio-cultural milieu of Serbia from late 80s until now. The author tries to point out ways of usage and construction of some traditional and mythological patterns in certain literature works. This genre of literary production is perceived as a popular culture phenomenon - with this premise, the paper intents to analyze communication process between text and audiences.
Uskršnji običaji - slike iz sećanja Srba u Mađarskoj
Uskršnji običaji - slike iz sećanja Srba u Mađarskoj
Stefanović-Banović, Milesa - Uskršnji običaji - slike iz sećanja Srba u Mađarskoj - Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU
Valentine's day as the 8th March of transitional Serbia
Valentine's day as the 8th March of transitional Serbia
In this text, I examine the phenomenon of sudden occurrence and spreading of the symbols, products and practices related to St. Valentine's Day, in Belgrade, Serbia. Though this custom had never been a part of Serbian festivities, neither "traditional" nor modern, this year it was aggressively marketed in the capital. In order to understand this phenomenon, I look at a similar holiday from the not-sodistant socialist past: Women's Day, or March 8th. Previous researchers of this holiday have underlined its primarily demagogical or mythical function of obscuring the gender inequalities of socialist society through the celebration of, and emphasis on, the proclaimed social equality on all levels. By juxtaposing dominant characteristics of Women's Day and their corresponding ideological functions with the dominant characteristics of St. Valentine's, I point to the possible ideological functions of the latter. On the one hand, it transmits the message of love, romance and reciprocity, therefore obscuring the persistent gender inequalities; on the other, it serves a far less demagogical function of supporting both the market of partners and the market of goods. In the final conclusion, I state that the occurrence of Valentine's Day celebrations in modern-day Serbia can be primarily tied to the development of the market of goods, and the corresponding desire to achieve the European standard, at least in terms of consumerism. Whether this holiday marks a beginning of transition in the domain of personal, intimate relationships, however, remains yet to be seen.
Vampire as a metaphor
Vampire as a metaphor
A vampire, as a demonized deceased human, is used as a specific metaphor to explain unknown sources of various troubles in a community. A malicious deceased one is a mythical creature and as such is to blame for the existing troubles in a community; the creature, in turn, becomes a subject i.e., a victim in a ritual performed to avert the difficulties, so that the community in question could return to its daily life. A myth revival establishes diagnosis and appropriate therapy for the crisis solving. On the other hand, during the next crisis a vampire as a part of the mythical and ritual pattern becomes a troublemaker again.
Vasilica and self-determination of Roma
Vasilica and self-determination of Roma
Vasilica and Đurđevdan are the two most important holidays in the yearly cycle among the Roma of Vranje (Southern Serbia). While they connect the celebration of Đurđevdan (6th of May) mainly with the culture of the Serbian majority group (whose elements they assimilate, giving them a specific interpretation), Vasilica is considered to be a true Roma holiday. During the discussions, all the informants emphasized that Vasilica is the most important Roma holiday, more significant than Đurđevdan. Vasilica consists of two segments. The date of the first one, which can be called the preparation, greeting and celebration of Vasilica, is a fixed one (from 12th to 17th of January, 14th of January being the actual holiday), while the date of the second segment -farewell to the goose - is set individually by every household. This paper offers a thick description of both segments of Vasilica, depicting the way it has been celebrated between 2001 and 2004 in the settlements Gornja Čaršija and Sarajina of Vranje. It also includes selected statements of the informants, as well as the text of the local TV broadcast dedicated to the celebration of Vasilica. The different explanations of the origin of this most important Roma holiday, in light of the current identity problems in Serbia - both of the majority and of the minority group - point to the complexity and polysemy of the answer to the question: Who am I? The aim of this paper is to offer an empirical insight into the situation.
Village fairs (panigyria), dance and social groups in the village of Faraklita, Kefalonia, Greece
Village fairs (panigyria), dance and social groups in the village of Faraklita, Kefalonia, Greece
The aim of this project is to understand the small community of Faraklata, a village on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, Greece, by studying the village fairs (community festivities in honour of individual saints) of Agia Paraskevi and Profiti Ilia and their dance practice. Dance constitutes a major element of the village fairs. The observation of the dancers at each fair leads unavoidably to the question: to which social group do they belong to. The participation of inter-families in the village fair and the dances that take place, reveal a coexistence and competition between two social groups as defined by their family origins.
Vision and visuality
Vision and visuality
This paper presents some similarities between epistemological paradigms in anthropological museum exhibitions and ethnographic films. Both the museum and ethnographic films are analysed as the models of representations based on the domination of vision as mode of knowledge through which curators and film ma­kers produce subjects of their representations. Paradigmatic shifts in the 1980s with the critique of 'modern constitution' and domination of vision as a major 'sense of knowledge' in Western thought had great impact on museum curators and ethnographic film authors who in the last two decades tried to incorporate those changes in their practices. The paper presents some examples of film and ethno­graphic practices that followed those theoretical shifts and try to deconstruct their own representational practices and evaluate the results of those attempts.

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