Kultura
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The Kultura Journal is an international scientific journal for the theory and sociology of culture and cultural policy, which follows culture in the widest sense of the word where science, education and all human activities are taken as its integral part.
It was started in 1968 courtesy to the efforts of Stevan Majstorović, founder of the Centre for Studies in Cultural Development, with the objective to encourage integrative, analytical and critical interpretations of the modern cultural phenomena.
At the time of its establishment, the Kultura Journal was unique in the domain of intellectual thought both in terms of its concept and its design. Since the first issue, i.e. over the fifty years of its existence, Kultura has been and has remained open to creative ideas from the country and the world, as seen from the texts of important foreign authors and contributions from professionals coming from the cultural centres of former Yugoslavia, as well as domestic authors who offered new ideas and approaches to culture. The recognizable design solution of the logo of the journal and its cover page were created by the artist and calligraphist Božidar Bole Miloradović, for the very first number.
As of 1971, the issues were edited thematically, which has been dominant practice to this date, with the aim of enriching certain thematic fields in our cultural and scientific community.
The first Editorial Board of the Kultura Journal consisted of eleven members, led by the Editor-in Chief Stevan Majstorović and Trivo Inđić, as conceptual instigators of the journal which heralded a new orientation in the intellectual field. Members of the Editorial Board were: Slobodan Canić, Dragutin Gostuški, Vujadin Jokić, Danica Mojsin, Mirjana Nikolić, Nebojša Popov, Bogdan Tirnanić, Milan Vojnović and Tihomir Vučković. Over the five decades of the Kultura Journal, editorial boards changed several times.
Kultura is issued every three months (four times a year) and its printing has been financed by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia since 2001. With support of the competent ministry, all numbers of this journal, from the first to the last issue, were digitalized in 2009. As a result, a DVD containing digital form of the journal, was available with the issue No. 129, titled "Electronic libraries". A few years later, in 2013, Kultura switched to the Cyrillic script, with an important note that it still published in Latin script those authors from the region who originally use Latin script(Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia). With the issue No. 140, on the occasion of marking the 45th anniversary of the Kultura Journal, a special USB was made available, with all the texts from the numbers 1-137. The web page of the Centre for Studies in Cultural Development contains all the texts ever published in any issue of the Kultura Journal over half a century of its existence.
The Department for Registration of Journals of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, the Kultura Journal was registered in 2005 (when categorisation of scientific journals started) marked as category P53. In 2010,it was registered as category M52 in the group of journals for history, art,history, ethnology and archaeology. At the beginning of July 2012, the journal advanced to the category of national interest, by Decision of the Ministry of education, science and technological development of the Republic of Serbia (M51).
Kultura is regularly deposited with the Repository of the National Library of Serbia, and since 2010, it has been included in the Serbian Quotation Index, where the texts published in Kultura can be found in full digital form. As of 2011, the texts i.e. scientific articles, apart from the regular UDK (universal decimal classification) also carry specific DOI (Digital Object Identifier) codes, that allow for their greater visibility and international indexing under international standards. In the meantime,electronic version of the journal was started i.e. the first steps were made towards electronic edition by CEON (Service for monitoring, measuring and valorisation of scientific journals) through Aseestant electronic editing programme. This has contributed to the quality of published articles, as the editorial board now have at their disposal adequate programmes for text checking in terms of correct citation sand listings of references as well as prevention of plagiarism.
Kultura is regularly delivered to the National Library of Serbia in Belgrade, Belgrade City Library,University Library "Svetozar Marković" in Belgrade, Library of Matica Srpska in Novi Sad, Library of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, Library of the Rectorate of the University of Arts in Belgrade, University Library in Niš and University Library in Kragujevac. The Kultura Journalis regularly received by numerous interested institutions of culture (libraries, theatres, museums, culture centres) as well as individuals. The Journal nurtures professional exchanges with many similar institutions and magazines in the country, region and in Europe (Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia,Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland and other countries).
In addition to respecting scientific rules and standards for publishing scientific papers, Kultura has not lost the curiosity or the freshness of an avant-garde magazine dealing with both eternal and very actual topics.
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- The scientific-research type approach to media
- Scientific research in the area of (mass)media no matter how rare is also focused on almost exclusively those segments of (mass)media participation in the shaping of reality that puts almost nothing into question. It often reaches the level of conscious non research of themes relevant to the philosophy of media as such. The question of scientific (non) research in the area of (mass)media is closely related to the impact the advertisery and politics have on the media. Most of the research is associated with the ordered studies of individual corporations who by producing for the market must investigate the market expectations that is, follow the relationships on the market as well as the realization.
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- The spectacular bodies in the works of Edward Bond
- This paper will analyze how human bodies, often caught in the spectacles of war, appear in the opus of the British playwright Edward Bond, in his trilogy from the eighties known as The War Plays as well as in his more recent works such as Coffee and Crimes of the 21st Century. The underlying thesis of Bond's work is that the Western Civilization's attitude to the body, made spectacularly visible in war, actually matches its traditional peace-time relationship to the people. In the dominant discourse of society common people are seen as Red, Black and Ignorant, precisely as the title of the first play of Bond's War Plays trilogy suggests. They represent the silent majority, disregarded, exploited and invisible until the moment when their ravaged bodies become conveniently spectacular, the world and media sensation, displayed on the cover pages of newspapers, invoked as subjects of great concern by provocative headlines in the news programs, made objects of scientific analysis, used as metaphors of lost humanness in critical texts, etc. The sudden (hypocritical) concern for the victims of war is staged in order to keep hidden West's real lack of concern and respect for human life, which are the underlying cause of war. Bond sees this paradox as the expected outcome of existence in unjust societies. Never abandoning his radical quest for justice he has spent his entire writing life studying the causes and effects of war and violence. The move away from them requires true understanding of what he calls 'text, subtext and metatext of our situation. The metatext of Red Black and Ignorant says that it takes a lot of culture to make us killers'. For the theoretical framework in this paper Bond's own comments, notes, critical texts and poem will be used, as well as the ideas of cultural analysts and historians Michel Foucault and Howard Zinn.
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- The stakeholder networking approach as a necessary factor of cultural tourism development in Serbia
- One of the biggest challenges in the development and management of tourist destinations that base their offer on cultural attractions, is the need to harmonize interests of numerous actors (stakeholders). Stakeholder analysis is a technique used to identify the institutions, groups and individuals that influence the management of cultural resources and attractions. It also considers the wider socio- economic and political context that influences implementation of strategic measures and activities, as defined by the Tourism Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia. The goal of this research is to identify a system of tourism development in Serbia and principles for formation of tourist destinations. It also attempts to determine if practical application of stakeholder approach is present. Furthermore, this paper defines the levels in which some stakeholders operate, their roles and also limitations in their practices that influence the development of cultural tourism in Serbia. Common interests are identified that could become a basis for the harmonization of general attitudes and facilitation of the cooperation between stakeholders. The aim is also to create a system that would enable a practical application of stakeholder networking leading to sustainable development of tourist destinations.
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- The subject of dance
- Despite the fact that dance is inconceivable without a body dancing, the soul was traditionally understood as the subject of dance. Given the fact that the art of dance underwent its first aesthetical analysis during the modern era, as one of the fine arts, it was philosophically understood against the background of dualism, of soul and body being separated and mutually exclusive entities. In such context, the body was seen as a mere material object, deprived of any features required for the subject of any art. On the other hand, the soul was seen as active, productive, creative, as the origin of meaning and as using body to convey meanings to other minds. Therefore, for the first dance aesthetics the soul was interpreted as the subject of dance, and the body as its instrument. However, the modern idea of dance became the basis for its theoretical inquiry, to be questioned only in the second half of the 20th century. Relying on phenomenology, contemporary dance aestheticians inverted such idea, proclaiming body as the true subject of dance, and ascribing to the body all creative and artistic features that were traditionally ascribed to the soul. In this essay I will examine such inversion, by comparing the most important consequences of the traditional idea with new, contemporary and alternative solutions, based on the idea of body as a kinaesthetic phenomenon. The analysis will show the problems of such inversion, as well as possible further consequences of the idea that body, a kinaesthetic phenomenon, is the true subject of dance.
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- The third culture
- The phrase 'third culture' was created to denote activities of scientists and philosophers who try to articulate philosophical questions based on the results of natural sciences and to provide answers under the framework of naturalism. The aim of my paper is to analyse the most important aspects of the third culture and some philosophical implications of that conception.
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- The truth as a victim of PR in crisis situations
- This paper considers contradictory functions of public relations experts especially obvious in crisis situations. On the one hand, a PR manager is expected to be loyal to the company where he/she works, and on the other, to think about the public interest. Is it possible to expect the truth and ethics from PR persons under such conditions? Critical situations have shown that it is almost impossible. The best proof of this is the tragedy in Japan supporting the platitude that the truth becomes a victim of a PR person in critical situations.
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- The typology of architectural and urbanistic transformations of Belgrade (19th - 21st century)
- So far, the historiographic thought has not paid enough attention to the processes of transforming urban patterns of Belgrade, caused by changing socioeconomic interests. Evasive in real time and comprehensible only from a time distance, the cultural identity of the Serbian capital has often changed over the last two centuries, in parallel with its spatial growth, dense development and demographic boom. Its transformations, sometimes radical and sometimes more moderate, were primarily dictated by war destructions, discontinued social developments, overturning of political systems and with it ruling and architectural ideologies, which resulted in too many different styles and non-harmonized height lines of the constructed edifices. The alternations were usually initiated by decisions of state urban planners or spontaneous, mainly unjustified manifestations of 'silent' building evolution. These transformations of the Serbian capital which first occurred in a vassal and then in an independent Serbian and later Yugoslav state, had different impacts on the existing system of the city structures and the city life. According to critical thought so far, these transformations can be differentiated by the scope of their completion, civilizational appropriateness (or inappropriateness), degree of justifiability, urbanistic-architectural methodology and ideological economic platforms that inspired them.
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- The use of thought experiments in philosophy and film
- In this article the role of thought experiments in philosophy will be considered as well as the possibility to show these experiments on movie screens. Thought experiments as mental models can create a fertile connection between philosophy and film, mind and sight, concept and image. First, a short typology of thought experiments which are suitable for filmic interpretation will be given, especially those experiments which are dealing with the problems of annulling the difference between reality and fiction, problems of personal identity and ethical paradoxes. Some of these thought experiments will be illustrated on the example of three movies (Vertigo, The Matrix, and No Country for Old Men). Hitchcock's Vertigo shows how one person who plays the role of another person can gradually lose sight of the difference between him/her and the taken personality - this identification has tragic consequences for the main characters in the movie. In their science-fiction trilogy, The Matrix, the Wachowski Brothers explore the possibility that human consciousness is manipulated by some intelligent machines and make implicit use of a philosophical thought experiment as presented in Hilary Putnam's work Reason, Truth and History (the case of 'brains in a vat'). The Coen Brothers are thematizing an ethical paradox in No Country for Old Men: Is it possible for a killer to act in accordance with categorical principles? If this is true, should we endorse such behavior? The end of the article briefly discusses a potential heuristic and didactic relevance of the filmic interpretation of thought experiments for philosophy.
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- The words taken away
- This paper examines contemporary interpretations of creativity and instrumentalisation of the concept itself, both in neoliberal discourse and in public policies that have become the driver of ever deeper society inequalities. A review of divergent production research from the second half of the 20th century, as the foundation of all further psychological studies, and the analysis of implicit social agendas reveal three controversial points of theoretical starting points in which creativity was viewed exclusively as adaptive ability validated by the product - the outcome of individual achievement. A response to this simplified concept of creativity has arrived from researchers focused on emerging processes within the collective. In new studies, they have confirmed the primacy of social interaction in a cognitive development, shifting the research focus from adaptive to transformative function, from productivity to processuality, from individual to group level of creativity. Therefore, at this moment, it seems to be fully justified to examine creativity in the light of wider social changes, considering the conditions of Castoriadis's concept of radical imagination, especially because the neglected features of creativity are a common resource, as well as a requirement of change.
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- Theatre audience in Serbia
- Theatre Audience in Serbia was a project of the 2009 Centre for Studies in Cultural Development activity plan. Its first phase devoted to drama audience is completed. Its second phase will deal with the opera and ballet audience (the Belgrade National Theatre). This paper presents findings of the research of the drama theatre audience of all professional theatres in Serbia. The analysis of the structure of drama audience of all professional theatres in Serbia resulted in establishment of all its relevant socio-demographic characteristics. Females dominate in drama audience (almost 2/3) over males (a bit more than 1/3). The majority of audience is 31 to 45 of age; minority of above 65. The fact that the majority of audience is 31-45 of age (27.1%) shows that almost two thirds (65.3%) of the drama audience belongs to the 19-45 age group. The majority of audience has university education (43.1 %), 27.7% secondary, and 11.7% higher. The number of M.A.s is only 7.6 %, while the other education levels individually do not exceed three percentage. As for the professional structure, the greatest percentage is of the experts and students. Among the most important findings of the research is that professional theatres in Serbia have the opportunity to improve the number of their audience by higher quality of their work and communication with the public. It is founded that a good Web (Internet) presentation is necessary if a theatre is to follow communication and information trends of the today information society. The professional theatres in Serbia could count on an approximately 15% of regular audience, but also on a twice as much of potential regular one, as a 'reservoir' of a better and more stable attendance. The most usual reasons of random attendance are not related to a theatre activity and its characteristics, but to socio-economic conditions of the audience and dominant social value orientations. We hope that the theatres and their protagonists and the researchers will be the greatest beneficiaries of this research findings. The former to improve their activities; the latter to further investigate this highly important segment of cultural life. When this type of research is obviously rare, the findings of this particular one could contribute to a better understanding of the position and perspectives of theatres in our cultural and social reality, that might lead to their bigger and more stable audiences.
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- Theatre mask
- The main objective of this paper is to research and analyse the role and significance of the theatre mask. It will include a theoretical study of the mask and its use in some of the most important periods in history when the mask and the masking represented an essential theatrical convention/form, props, part of the costume used by an actor to build a role, by a performer to express himself/herself in front of the audience. It will research into how and why masks were used in the prehistoric theatre, Antique theatre - when the mask gained an important role of reinforcing the idea of tragedy i.e. comedy, giving actors monumental and godly images. In the period of Renaissance, the symbolism of the mask changed, especially in folk stage productions of the Comedia dell'arte. The second part of the paper will analyse the productions and specific uses of the mask in the Avantgarde theatre - the theatre in which the mask is both formally and essentially the core of its performance. In particular, the role of the mask in the dramas Pere Ubu by Alfred Jarry and the use of the mask in the performances of the avantgarde theatrical company Hleb i lutke (Bread and Puppets). The key research question of this paper is whether the mask is just part of the period costume or whether its appearance on an actor's face carries much deeper significance representing one of the authentic and autonomous elements of the theatrical production.