Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Dress as a tool for propagating the bourgeois habitus: an analysis of Barbara Hoff’s articles in the weekly “Przekrój”

Olga Załęska — 2022-12-28

Olga Załęska analyses the content of Barbara Hoff ’s articles in the “Fashion” column in the weekly “Przekrój” in the years 1954–1969. Załęska conducted her research by taking into account the cultural, social and political context of the Polish People’s Republic, and primarily focusing on its unofficial class structure. Załęska argues that Hoff ’s publications had a significant symbolic meaning as tools of class struggle and of
opposition to the ruling political power. Thus, they corresponded with the attitude of he intelligentsia whom this weekly brought closer together (as in the case of Leopold Tyrmand). In the “Fashion” column we can detect elements of the bourgeois habitus, which Hoff propagated among readers representing various social classes. Załęska analyses class aspects of Barbara Hoff 's educational message. Later statements by Hoff and members of the intelligentsia revolving around “Przekrój” ascribe a subversive potential to fashion as a way to resist the socialist system. Załęska explores this thesis, its defense made plausible by the assumption that the “resistance against the ruling power” is understood as a struggle with that power’s aesthetic and cultural aspect.

Architecture and urban planning as demonstration of power in the Polish People’s Republic

Maciej Kędzierski — 2022-12-13

The article aims at presenting diverse architecture and urban planning projects which serve as examples of power demonstration. It is hardly a new phonomenon, since renditions of the personality cult in architecture dates back to antiquity. However, in this article the point of focus remains Poland, in particular the period of the Polish People’s Republic. What was selected for the analysis was the projects which symbolised the then manner of exercising power over the state. Therefore, the rebuilding of socialist Warsaw is mentioned, along with the Millennium Schools (Polish tysiąclatki), civil construction during the term of Edward Gierek, including the famous “Gierkówka” motorway, and some investments of lesser importance realized by lower ranking politicians.

Language as an ethno-identification sign of the German minority in the upper Nitra in the context of historical and social changes

Silvia Letavajová — 2022-12-19

Some Germans are among the traditional national minorities in Slovakia. Their ancestors came to this territory from the 13th century onwards, mainly as miners. One of the locations where they settled was the upper Nitra and the surroundings of Nitrianske Pravno. Until the late 1940s, the German population had a majority representation in these municipalities. Due to the political and social changes after the Second World War, when they were displaced, their numbers are radically reduced and the ethnic identity is also weakened. The study focuses on historical and social changes that condition the ethnicity of this minority community. It focuses on the elements by which the Germans in the upper Nitra declare their togetherness and difference from the majority population. We pay particular attention to language as one of the essential components of ethnic identity, its practice and significance in the self-identification of the German minority. The main methodological procedure is a biographical and oral history interview, conducted with respondents from the municipalities of Nitrianske Pravno, Malinová, and Tužina in 2022.

Exhumation in the tradition of the Betsileo tribe in Madagascar in relation to the funerary practices of Southeast Asia

Józef Niesyto — 2022-09-07

The traditional beliefs of the inhabitants of Madagascar have strong monotheistic elements, focused on life after death and interaction with the god Zanahary and the ancestors. The Betsileo tribe practices a ritual called “famadihana” or “Ati-damba,” which involves exhuming and scrolling or re-wrapping of corpses. Through invocations and blood sacrifices of the zebu, the living seek prosperity while incorporating the deceased into the status of Ancestors. These funerary customs bear similarities to those of China, Southeast Asian fringe cultures, and the Ibaloi tribe of the Philippines. These similarities may have to do with migration waves to Madagascar and the passing down of traditions from generation to generation.

Traditional sports games – as a promotion and a chance to preserve national identity through ludic forms of physical activity

Małgorzata Bronikowska — 2022-08-28

This article shows an important sphere of social life, i.e. Physical Culture, regarding its elements: play, games, and sports as intangible global and at the same time regional heritage of every corner of the world. Through this work, the author wants to emphasise the crucial role of traditional games and sports in the globalised world, also showing UNESCO and TAFISA’s huge initiatives and endeavours they undertake to revitalise and prevent old sports from being forgotten. They are devoted and very involved in building a better climate for the promotion of various traditional physical activities in the context of cultural diversity. The author also wants to stress in this article that there are few groups of people around the globe who really care about the intangible kind of heritage hidden in traditional forms of sports and games. The further intention of this work is to awaken the awareness of other researchers and people for whom the local heritage is fundamental for a better future in a unified world.

Principles and perspectives of the ethnogeographical method in Polish ethnology

Rafał Miśta — 2022-09-29

The article is an attempt at collecting and discussing the procedures of the ethnogeographical method which have been used in Polish ethnology from the beginning of the twentieth century until today. The most important discussions of this method in the Polish scientific literature have been compiled, and on their basis a list synthesising its principles and heuristics has been created. The subsequent part of the article discusses how the ethnogeographic method as practised in Poland so far presents itself from the perspective of contemporary cartographic and statistical methods, especially from the viewpoint of research within the framework of cultural evolution and digital humanities.