Search Results

Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The Development of Culture in a Town and Socio-Cultural Patterns of its Inhabitants

Władysław Jacher

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 39-45

The mechanism of functioning culture in a town demands cultural patterns within which cultural life is well ordered and available. Sociological research and observation refute the existing opinions — the stereotypes about culture in a town as if the numerous cultural devices available to its inhabitants would testify to the high development of culture. The existence of cultural integration in a town is very important as it means that there are alterna¬tives in the choice of cultural values and it is a higher stage in the development of culture. It assumes not only the accessibility and dissemination of culture but also to a higher and higher degree, the ability to choose cultural values which are the closest to a given man. The expression of cultural integration is the participation of town dwellers in culture which allows them to join actively not only to make use of culture but to create it at the same time. It should be noted that all fulfillment of potential abilities of the participation in culture is achieved in an individual act of expressing own interests and aspirations of town dwellers.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Rustic elements in the space of the city - the faithfulness of tradition or commercial actions of the free market?

Barbara Pabian

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 299-311

 The subject of reflection constitutes the condition of the traditional heritage of the peasant’s culture and its place in the contemporary culture of Częstochowa. In the space of this city, the trend for the folk character, going beyond not only the sphere of the advertisement of public life, but also permeating into the family tradition and traditional behaviours has been recently recognised. For example, The Days of The European Folk Culture connected with Jasna Góra Harvest Festival, the National Farm Exhibition, the National Contest of the Folk Art, presentation of the national and foreign folk bands, shows of the works of folk authors, taking into account the “dying professions”, as well as a sale of regional products, the agricultural produce, farm preserves, take place during the first September weekend from the initiative of the Gaude Mater Culture Promotion Centre. A large popularity in the urban environment is ascribed to the so called peasant (homemade) buffets prepared for the second day of the wedding, Fresh pickled cucumbers with a dill, lard with pork scratchings, a traditional ham with a bone, rural paste, brawn, black, a round loaf of bread and even spirit samogon are served at that time. Decorations of the surrounding are made of the attributes commonly associated with a village, such as a plait of garlic or onion, a cluster of dried herbs and mushrooms. Also, the appropriate containers in the form of stone small barrels, clay bowls and plates, ceramic containers, wooden scoops and chopping boards are used. The inhabitants of the city, used to live in rural conditions, are willing to go to distant places, folk stylized hotels and restaurants in which they can find a substitute of ruralness. Waiters wearing pseudo folk clothes serve there the dishes of regional cuisine. Everything takes place in rustic interiors, the sounds of melody and folk songs recorded or played alive by the folk bands and groups. The very stylizations are usually the effect of the owner’s or designer’s vision. They most often constitute a mixture of the elements borrowed from the culture of different regions (most often from Podhale) or the adaptation of the elements of the culture of another, often distant, region. In such a situation the questions on the nature of such actions arise. Is the permeation of given rustic elements into the urban space the result of the dynamics of the social awareness, filled with values deeply rooted in the culture of the countryside, also the attempt to continue the tradition or the a reflection of a temporary trend promoted on the series of commercial actions? The author of the article made an attempt to analyse the place of the urban cultural heritage in the contemporary urban environment.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Formation of the culinary culture of the Europeans

Rastislava Stoličná

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 209-219

Food and habits connected with it provide a lot of information on the subject of culture. The cultural memory of people, connected with a mythological and religious understanding of the world giving certain dishes, food, drinks a symbolic meaning and some that of taboo, was encoded in eating. The ancient culture of Greeks and Romans was based on farming. Harvest, grapes and olives — three produces of food and cultural role, and the identification symbol of this civilization were the most important. On such basis grew the Mediterranean culinary system which possessed visible vegetarian features, completed with meat and cheese. Nutritionally, the values accepted by “barbarians”, population inhabiting northern and southern Europe at this time, were much different. Different Celtic and German tribes upheld wild nature, fishing animals and collecting widely growing plants. Their main culinary value was not bread but meat. A significant difference between a culinary culture of particular areas of Europe, initiated in ancient times, has existed in the cultural memory till now and belongs to the factors of their identification and separateness. Christianity which was born and grew as the evidence and heritage of Hebrew culture, within the Mediterranean civilization, relegated the role of the products forming a material and ideological basis for this culture to the role of culinary symbols of the cult. By a gradual mixing of “barbarian” rituals with Christian ideology the European culinary culture was cristallised, including mainly the role of meat and fat. In a Christian cultural circle meat had connotations it has nowadays. A common food eating in a symbolic and real way expresses peace and friendship, as well as complementariness between co-feasters. During feasts and ceremonial dinners meat is offered being the symbol of prosperity and culinary pleasure for Europeans.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Silesia as a borderline. The specificity of life conditions of the population and their culture-created meaning

Irena Bukowska-Floreńska

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 89-103

Cultural tradition of Silesia is connected with its location at the meeting point of trade going from the east westward and from the north southward. A socio-political and economic situation of this region and settlement processes caused that the cultures of neighbouring countries and ethnic groups: Polish, German, Czech, Morawy permeated in this area from the Middle Ages forming the borderline culture. Life conditions in this region in the past were influenced by not only long-standing dependence on neighbouring countries (Prussia, Germany and Austria later on — till the beginning of the 20th century and then German Occupation till the half of the 20th century), but the development of coal mine ores and industry. The process of industrialization which covered especially Upper Silesia, the outskirts of Cieszyn and Opawa Silesia brought about a rapid development of technological civilization. Existential dependence of local and inflow population of physical work in coal mining and industry, and the necessity to getting accustomed to outside farm work caused the development of new categories of professional groups, a specific way and life style, formation of a new industrial culture. Ardousness of dangerous conditions, the need to provide for the everyday life and coresponsibility in the work place and family life resulted in deep religiousness, strength of social bond and sense of unique responsibility and awareness of family, local and regional identity. It all had not only a culture-created importance but contributed to the formation of personal features of Silesian population who have considered themselves as hard-working, well-organised, responsible and economical people till now. Contemporary cultural transformations in this region are connected not only with the phenomenon of culture globalization being popularized, but the necessity to restrict former coal mining and industry, regression of former sources of living. Tradition-maintained social culture and spiritual culture rooted in mentality of native population is however still a feature of the very population, its borderline culture constituting support for the awareness of the identity of people in Silesia.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A toy as a text of culture

Jan Kajfosz

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 198-208

The article is devoted to the role of a toy in the process of getting to know the world by man in the process of enculturation. What constitutes the center of author’s attention is a toy programmed and made for children’s play, especially the toy, the aim of which is to represent something different — most often the thing which for man playing it, because of his/her low height, little experience and limited opportunities, is physically not available directly or often even dangerous (e.g. a dangerous car represented by a little car understood as its miniaturized model). A similar representation bases on the analogy, which allows for naming a given type of toy an iconic toy. It helps people to relatively safely get to know the world which is dangerous and difficult to grasp. The iconic toy in this sense serves to get familiarized with the world. Within the culture of a traditional type the iconicity of toy boils down to the analogy based on simplification. The culture toy of a traditional type is always distinguished by “essential” (in other words typical) object features it represents. Thus, it is somehow a counterpart of the prototype in the cognitivist theory in the sense that it is an idealized image of the thing represented. It is also its functional equivalent if one assumes that its task is to simplify and cognitively make available the world which, on account of its diversity and changeability, is cognitively intangible. Thus the aim of the traditional toy is to give the reality specific borders and accustom man to it, which is a condition of a cognitive ruling over the world. In the contemporary culture apart from iconic toys the analogy of which to the object they represent is based on simplification appear toys, the analogy of which to the represented object bases on “deformation” (e.g. an anthropomorphic monster with a non-standard number of eyes, limbs, etc.). From the cognitive point of view, similar toys do not confirm the world borders. On the contrary, they constantly disturb them, thus violating models, types and typologies. The function of similar toys in the enculturation process may lead to preparing man to functioning in the “fluid” modernity (Z. Bauman), which is characterized by instability of the cosmos borders in that that the very borders are prone to possible revisions and changes. Verbal play, developing in the situation of direct presence of the sender and receiver are extremely precious for retaining the identity of a child living in a multicultural environment. Spontaneous relations during play not only integrate the peer environment, but also give the sense of safety resulting from the belief that the remaining participants of the communication act have an analogical system of values, represent similar views and have a similar sense of aestheticism. A said word is the symbol of the living and dynamic culture which fulfills the needs of the group in a natural way. In the system of culture shaped in such a way foreign

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A flat designed in an IKEA style. Considerations from the area of the ethnography of living

Katarzyna Orszulak-Dudkowska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 190-203

The article presents considerations on a domestic space, its functional division and ways of arrangement, the analysis of which is to illustrate both the continuation of old cultural patterns, and various types of changes proved by the attempts to transfer new social trends to homes. The author underlines that an overview of the ways of living in a given culture can reflect the dynamics of the rhythm of a particular culture. The way of organizing and functioning a house has always been influenced by such factors as the level of a technical development, economy type, values and ideals of a dominant culture, as well as a political system and social ideology. However, nowadays, a big influence on shaping a domestic space is ascribed to the culture dominated by the market laws and common consumerism, as well as a marketing policy of big market chains and commercial messages promoting their offer. An example of this commercial message which influences certain ways of arranging and using a flat interior design is in socio-cultural conditions in Poland these days, is a catalogue of IKEA shopping chains which, in these considerations, constitutes the basic material subject to analysis (the IKEA catalogues published in Poland between 2004—2011 more specifically). As the analysis conducted has it, the IKEA marketing materials treat house as one of the most appreciated values. What is more, it is a domestic space and its arrangement that is to be one of the most important elements defining an identity of an individual, but also revealing the quality of their everyday life. Thinking about a home designed in an IKEA style refers both to cultural traditions, presenting a vision of living in the contemporary world deriving from a material heritage of various world cultures, and grows from the rules of the market governing the economy of modern societies. Thus, IKEA, in its marketing practices, aims at developing a new life style meaning a particular relationship of traditions and material heritage with culture based on the market and commercial laws, but also deriving from a modern thinking about man’s identity these days.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The problem of valuing cultural heritage and its functional conditions from a cultural studies perspective

Andrzej Bełkot

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 32-43

The cultural studies analyses basing on a socio‑regulating conception of culture understand culture and cultural heritage in a very similar way. The difference could consist in perceiving culture more „procedurally” and cultural heritage more „subjectively”. The former would refer to the thought reality, the latter to its content. However, in both cases, they take on the form of cultural regulations that is why the division suggested is fairly arbitrary in nature. The main subject of considerations is the problem of complex relations between the means of a conscious development of the cultural heritage and its dependence of objective conditions. In the light of theory‑cultural assumptions, worldview valorizations influence the ultimate form of cultural heritage less significantly than the demand of social practice. Despite it, the components of socio‑subjective regulators are mental in character, and depend directly on their previous historical forms. Thus, one cannot totally abandon or overcome cultural heritage. Even though particular regulating beliefs or their whole units deactualize in culture, they can exist in social awareness after the meaningful recontextualization under the label of precious „cultural traces” or relics deprived of symbolic values.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Interethnicity in child folklore at the Polish-Czech borderline

Katarzyna Marcol

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 153-170

The study is devoted to oral, anonymous and collective works of Polish children in Cieszyn Silesia, on both sides of the Polish-Czech national borderline. A special emphasis was put on the repertoire functioning in the environment of Polish minority in Zaolzie, in the Czech Republic. Here, I aim at discussing the interethnic specificity of verbal play by Polish children from Zaolzie by means of a comparison with ethnically Polish store of folklore on the Polish side of the borderline in Cieszyn Silesia and with ethnically Czech texts. Verbal works of Polish national minority in the Czech Republic develops under the constant influence of ethnically foreign culture, language, literature and mass media. The analysis of specific genres of child folklore — rhymes — showed that the texts are marked by the interference of two languages and cultures. It is, however, the proportions between the elements borrowed from other culture and the parent one that bring about the ethnic nature. Borrowings, though, are not taken on passively and mechanically, but are modeled according to the principles of one’s own anonymous works. The influences of Czech enrich the Polish-speaking works of children, are adapted to the poetic system in accordance with the principles of one’s own anonymous works. Verbal play, developing in the situation of a direct presence of the sender and receiver, are incredibly precious for maintaining identity of a child living in the multicultural environment. Spontaneous reactions when playing do not only integrate peer environment, but give the sense of security deriving from the belief that the remaining participants of the act of communication have an analogous system of values, represent a similar worldview, and have a similar sense of aesthetics. A spoken word is a symbol of a live and dynamic culture, which realizes the needs of a group in a natural way. In the system of culture shaped in such a way foreign ethnic influences can only enrich it brings about its interethnic specificity.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Alternative culture — identity — communication

Grzegorz Studnicki

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 185-197

A social group functioning in Polish reality after 1989 combining features of punk and neoanarchism subcultures, associated with “anarcho-punk”, is combined with joint symbols, values and more or less direct social relations, interactions or social bonds. Despite some secondary local differences and ethnic as well as national flavour, neoanarchist environments and punk subcultures are treated as certain imagined communities constituting a peculiar point of view and “tool” for their participants, through which they perceive, interpret and evaluate the world surrounding them, behaviours or their or others actions. At the same time they are a “product” of “late postmodernism” and “mirror” in which the specificity and condition of the contemporary culture reflect and break. People connected with anarcho-punk through the network of mutual interactions within movement, both the direct and indirect ones, and thanks to numerous contacts with social system external to them very often use other fields of culture and human activity, among others decomposing the elements of popular culture in order to create their own system of references and meanings. Intergroup communication and jointly taken forms of activity play an important role in the process of identity gain or the choice of lifestyle as well as evaluation of socio-cultural reality. They are the means of conveying symbols, patterns of thoughts, myths enabling the interpretation of the world. Thus, they guarantee the”reproduction” of an anarchist discourse. Participants joining the actions within the movement do not only use the already-existing system of meanings, but also modify it and adjust to the changing socio-culture background. Such socially created and approved system of symbols do not only guarantees the continuity of the movement, but also serves the formation of new values, strategies or social practices which serve the group and their members to create new meanings, a critical description and working out the strategy serving the opposition in the light of dominating discourses, structures or centres of power. Thanks to symbols, repeated, interpreted, redefined constantly anew, the movement members give sense to their actions, valorize and structure the world surrounding them, define their own place in the world, interpreting their own experiences and direct their actions.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The issue of folk art in the ethnology of the borderland

Kinga Czerwińska

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 171-184

The role of folk culture, especially artistic works based on traditional patterns and shaped under the influence of natural, historical, social and economic factors has an unquestionably important position in a discussion on the national heritage, its separateness and “place” in the European culture. Ethnologically, the folk art was interpreted as the utilitarian, religious, magic, prestigious, culture created as well as artistic and aesthetic value. The discussion on the contemporary state of the so called folk art and scope of definition of the very cultural phenomenon experiences many obstacles. The notions “ folk art”, “folk works” and “innate works” demand necessary verification in which one has to take into account new defining criteria, such as technique, subject-matter, function, and, above all attitude and author’s artistic self-awareness. A characteristic feature of this work is the continuation of traditional patterns and at the same time search for artistic individualism. In consequence, it leads to diverging from a typical convention, aiming at new, different formal, technical and thematic solutions. What needs verification is also the notion of “a folk author”. Nowadays it is rather a “pseudofolk” author, an artist for whom the most important is the process of creating his/her own artistic reality, experienced inside him/herself and its expression. A creative passion is an attempt to fight with passing time and rapid changes he/she does not follow, and overcoming workshop and emotional barriers. The very text is an attempt to characterize the contemporary and individual artistic work on the basis of the studies conducted in Silesia, especially Cieszyn Silesia and Zaolzie.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A cultural and social space of the city as a research problem

Irena Bukowska-Floreńska , Autor Autorowski

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2016 | Abstract | pp. 19-38

Mass migrations to industrial cities progressing with the development of different categories of industries in Polish cities, an extensive development of Silesian mines, steelworks and industrial production connected to them, made the rural people, coming here after the World War II with their own cultural baggage become labour workers, gain qualifications, take on and create new cultural patterns. The situation of the countryside so far investigated by the ethnologists was changing that is why the beginnings of the Polish ethnological studies on the cultural and social space of the city, already started in the 1960s, concern the observation of the process of its urbanization and history of rural people settling in cities. The researchers first started to observe the change of migrants; cultural patterns and the attitude of the city to ruralness and the other way round. They examined, above all, the culture of labour communities which absorbed the groups of newcomers or held their own folk industrial culture created in the course of the development of urban tecgnical civilization. Such stud¬ies were conducted in Upper Silesia, Lodz, Zyrardów, Warsaw, Konin and other cities. With time, the studies on the cultural and social problems of the cities spread, deepen and specify. What caused that constituted, above all, the studies conducted in Lodz, where the researchers aimed at defining the subject and methodological assumptions of the studies on big city commu¬nity. As a result, the knowledge on the cultural tradition of labourers from Lodz and their families was collected. Hierarchies of values, social life in a given space of living (a tenement), which is an intermediary space for man, between a social wide and the place of his/her own existence. The cities and suburban areas, with a created cultural specificity, were dealt with by Silesian researchers who extended the very subject matter by the notions within the scope of the ecology of culture. The proc¬esses of cultural adaptation to the conditions formed in the former rural environment, in villages around industrial factories, determined here not only the subject matter, but also a research strategy, going beyond the method of a monographic and integrative description traditional for ethnologists. Thus, remaining it initially, it was gradually enriched by a multiaspectual and diagnostic way of inquir¬ies, allowing for not only getting to know the origins of the reality examined and its classification, but also its importance for the existence and needs of the city community, for shaping the way and life style, social norms, for the system of values, mechanisms of the functioning of the contemporary city.

2016-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Ethnic tourism and the experience of cultural otherness

Beata Hoffmann

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 153-166

Relocation in space has accompanied people for ages. Searching for food, new possibilities of the settlement, work, education or religious cult places have become the aim of first excursions and journeys. It is difficult, though, to regard the communities at that time as travel and their activity as the development of tourism. There exist many definitions of tourism, and the majority of them underlines the importance of a free, and spacious mobility of people connected with changing places of residence, environment or the rhythm of life. Irrespective of definitional propositions, tourism is without a doubt a complex psychological, social, economic, spacious and cultural phenomenon. Special attention is to be paid to connections between tourism and culture. Tourism protects, enriches and popularizes cultural goods while culture inspires the development of tourism. Enabling culture meetings, tourism is becoming a more important factor of cultural changes. A revival of locality, growing criticism of mass civilization, and technizational idealism observed in recent years, formed a type of nostalgia for the past, and influenced a significant growth of interest in cultural, or put it more precisely, ethnic tourism. Ethnic tourisms is identified with alternative, rural, folklore, adventurous or sentimental tourism. Its present shape, however, has become yet another example of cultural non-transparency of modern reality. On the one hand, we observe a clear demand for typical ethnically-foreign tourist elements and a valorization of our own traditions, and a conscious development of a native group identity on the other.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The forgotten "sacrum" - cemeteries of German and Jewish people as a socio-cultural problem of the contemporary town

Jacek Grzywa

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 386-404

In the Christian culture, a cemetery is a special place, a memory place of those who died, a place symbolically marked with specific forms of small architecture, sculpture, engraved in the stone of an often poetical informative documentary transcription. It is a unique place, protected with a centuries old tradition and common respect, but also law agreements. The landscape of Polish cities involves historical necropolis of other beliefs or ethnic minorities. The centuries old tradition of Polish tolerance facilitated the creation of a special cultural symbiosis based on the co existence of ethnic minorities or ethnic groups in the space of the Polish cities. They left precious monuments of the material and sacred culture. The process of social and cultural spacious changes in the contemporary Polish cities also concerns the small cemetery architecture. On the one hand, one can observe its enrichment, and, on the other hand, destruction, especially in old, less known cemetery spaces. Many monuments, including cemeteries, have not survive up till now. The very article is documentary in nature and presents the author’s observations on the cemeteries of German and Jewish people within the period of a few last years, their history and the current state, situated in the landscape of Polish cities. The studies covered some of the places in the Silesian, Lower Silesian, Małopolska, Świętokrzyskie, Lubuskie and Zachodniopomorskie voivodship.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

How to design ethnoanimational research in action. Good practice and the animation zip

Maja Dobiasz-Krysiak , Maja Dobiasz-Krysiak

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2016 | Abstract | pp. 160-171

Ethnoanimation connects ethnographic research and culture animation. This method has been developed for ten years by Tomasz Rakowski, The Field Collective and author of the text. The last project where the method was tested was the laboratory known as the “Local dimensions of cultural participation. Ethnographic action research”, Warsaw University within a larger framework of a Ministry of Culture grant “Creating bottom-up culture”. In this project students and The Field Collective created an ethnoanimation project in the villages of Zaława and Cukrówka in Poland. They reflected upon them by putting them on an “animation zip” diagram according to the level of cohesion between animation and ethnography in their projects. The “animation zip” as an useful tool that may be interpreted inthe context of “best practices” of culture animation defined by National Culture Centre to define typical features of ethnoanimation practices. In this text the author tries to answer the question–what makes an ethnoanimation project most effective.

2016-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A battle for the space in a multicultural city on the example of Vilnius

Iwona Kabzińska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2016 | Abstract | pp. 71-86

A mythologised image of Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie and its capital — Vilnius — says about a co existence of the representatives of the ethnic, religious and cultural groups. The situation changed radically in the 19th century when the leaders of the Lithuanian national movement treated the opposi¬tion to everything that is Polish as a condition of the success of the national idea, the development of the Lithuanian culture and identity. The benefits deriving from the historical relations with Poland were negated. The Poles were accused of the conscious devastation of the Lithuanian culture and compulsory Polonization of Lithuanians. The next source of conflicts was the inclusion of Vilnius and Wileńszczyzna to the II Republic of Poland (the so called Vilnius excursion 1919—1920). In spite of the flow of time, the echoes of the battles of Vilnius have been still alive. As it was in the past, the questions that arise are Whose city it is? To whom does it belong? The cause of the conflicts is not only historical “past”, political issues, mutual accusations and sense of harm, but also the contemporary transformations of the city. The battle has been fought on the so-called resources, being at the same time a perfect example of the rivalry of the space in a physical and symbolic sense. The very battle also has an economic dimension. It is also interpreted in the ethnic categories (the opposition: poor Poles — rich Lithuanians: Poles as the victims of the Lithuanian policy). The changes taking place in the space of the city lead to a greater restriction and appropriation of the sacred sphere by the commercialization, business, noise and entertainment. The conflicts fought in the Vilnius space (and on this space) prove how difficult it is to realize the ideals of multi culturality, an intercultural dialogue, non conflict life at the cultural borderline. They also show the power of money and its contribution to a division of the space of the city and managing this space. It is also visible on the basis of the problems with the returning the ground in Vilnius and Wileńszczyzna to its lawful owners (Poles in the predominating part of the places), the realization of the project “Great Vilnius” and appropriation of the Polish cultural heritage and its Lithuanisation.

2016-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The change of the uran space and its influence on the sense of identity of Będzin inhabitants

Dobrawa Skonieczna-Gawlik

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 312-325

The author of the article raises the issue of changes taking place in the urban space of Będzin and their influence on man. She wonders if the inhabitants of Będzin feel connected with their city, identify with it or if the current spacious urbanist system of the city influences their attitude. Which streets, districts and elements of architecture are the inhabitants of Będzin mostly attached to? Which of these do they consider as symbols and why? Is their attitude influenced by their knowledge of history and culture of the area of living? The work also deals with the problem of the influence of the urban space transformation on the continuity of tradition, self identification and sense of identity of people from Będzin. In order to gain the information on the influence of the urban space on the identity of people living in Będzin, the author presents a spacious urbanist development of the city over centuries. Next, on the basis of the studies and conversations with the inhabitants, she raises the issue of “islandness” of the urban buildings, the separation or even a partial separation of both urban and suburban districts. She pays attention to important and considered to be central or symbolic spaces or buildings in the city which, according to the inhabitants of Będzin, though precious and valuable (e.g. historical), are often neglected, little attractive or mismanaged by the government. Although the inhabitants of Będzin, in majority, are attached to their city, they see its lacks and imperfections. However, many people place family bonds, friends in the first place. Only later on do they place their attachment to the city. The author, on the basis of the studies, states that currently, a small influence on the sense of bond with the city among the inhabitants of Będzin is ascribed to the traditional culture. Many of them cannot even show its elements, such as customs, beliefs, songs, dances, etc. Taking everything into consideration, the author states that the process of searching for one’s own identity by the inhabitants of Będzin has just started, and its course is conditioned by not only the historical past and economic factors, but also to a large extent the urbanist — spacious structure of the city, the urban space shaped by inhabitants and shaping them as such.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Popculture mechanisms of creating the worlds of the past. Cultural heritage in contemporary exhibition practices

Elżbieta Nieroba

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 179-189

The memory of the past in a modern society finds its shelter in the walls of lieux de memoire, such as libraries, archives or museums. It is these institutions that we shift our responsibility for registering and storing everything that should be retained for future generations on. From this perspective, a museum can be perceived as a unit responsible for creating a social definition of heritage. Museologists, tidying a local, regional or national memory in an exhibition space, impose the vision of events and evaluation of past achievements on the audience. In a conscious or unconscious way, they participate in defining the truth about the past biding in a particular historical moment. A careful observation of changes happening in ways and styles of life in societies of late modernity shows limitations resulting from the Enlightenment museum discourse. A postmodernist blurring of a borderline between a high and low culture constitutes a starting point for going beyond fixed modes of thinking about museums as just dignified art institutions and temples of knowledge, and facilitates search for new tools in order to create a museum discourse using popular culture. Thus, museologists make efforts to make new exhibition arrangements adjusted to the present‑day expectations of the audience building and supporting bonds with the visitors, encouraging for discovering a potential of the artefacts presented, stimulating for a discussion with a suggested vision of the world or, generally speaking, to encourage undertaking cultural practices.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The border — an anthropological portrait

Halina Rusek

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 77-88

It is difficult to define the spacious scope of borderland because its only stable point is the borderline. It visibly separates any two parts, two societies with their different systems of values, models and life styles, also often separates “the familiar” from “the foreign”. It is so on the Polish-Czech borderline where the Olza River used to flow through the culturally homogeneous Cieszyn Silesia and currently, as the country borderline, separates two Cieszyn lands going their own and separate ways for over 90 years. Revolutionary changes in Poland and Czech Republic from the turn of the 1980s and 1990s have changed the nature of the borderline which has become the focal point of the most and most intensive transborderline cooperation. Does it mean that the unity of Cieszyn Silesia as a culturally homogeneous and Central European region can return one day? It seems impossible because even the strongest formal relations, administrative actions and intensive mutual contacts will not glue dispersed identities of the inhabitants of both sides of borderland into one Cieszyn identity. Though, the identity of the inhabitants is never homogeneous and clear. It is composed of extremely rich and ethnically diversified material. The people of the borderland move freely from culture to culture, choosing the best contents and models for them, which causes that all dissimilarities are obvious for them and worth acceptance. However these are the people always situated on one side of the border, the one they identify with as their private homeland. The inhabitants of Cieszyn Silesia have two such homelands.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The Documentary Practices and Usage of the Cultural Heritage of Cieszyn Silesia from the beginning of the 19th Century to the Second World War

Grzegorz Studnicki

Language: PL | Published: 21-12-2020 | Abstract | pp. SEIA.2020.20.01 s. 1-21

This article is devoted to an interest in local folk culture, regional heritage, and the past of Cieszyn Silesia, as well as to methods extending back through the 19th century for the documentation, popularization, and protection of the unique cultural knowledge of the region. Attention is primarily given to the activities of the Cieszyn Silesians themselves. The author examines multiple sources, including local periodicals, for elements of local culture (folklore, dialects, traditional outfits, customs). He tries to capture how the phenomena of cultural heritage is defined both regionally and nationally, and also how it can be used as a resource in tourism and in broadly-understood identity polic

2020-12-21



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Exploring cultural heritage in terms of market applications of cultural codes

Rafał Paprocki

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 67-77

The article concerns cultural heritage in terms of identifying cultural codes with their market applications. The very subject-matter is presented in the context of modern socio-civilizational changes. The leading premises of the studies on culture in the light of the market applications of cultural codes are the strengthening process of permeating the world of culture and the world of market, as well as the phenomenon of globalization. The article is based on the assumption that understanding the nature of modern cultural changes needs a multidisciplinary approach. In order to define the conditions of cultural and consumerist patterns three selected conceptions included in qualitative market studies were taken into account. After bringing the premises of a qualitative method closer, methods and techniques constituting the tools of the research on attitudes and preferences culturally-conditioned were discussed. The text closes with an attempt to reflect on the role of science and studies on cultural conditions of behaviours in terms of chances and threats deriving from the exploration of cultural heritage.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Globalization and a Lost Sense of Identity and Cultural Heritage

Halina Szymańska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 240-252

More and more people, especially young have problems with indentifying themselves and cultural heritage. The ethnology examines the mechanisms of culture, globalisation processes and cultural heritage. The purpose of this article is describing the relation between culture globalisation and consumerism as well as identity crisis. Efforts have been taken based on the literature and own considerations that propagation of consumer life style in global media culture contributes to the spread of addition, depression and aggression and at the same time forgetting about the cultural heritage and lost of the sense of identity.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Expansion of the Ludic Character in Contemporary Culture

Janina Hajduk-Nijakowska

Language: PL | Published: 21-12-2020 | Abstract | pp. SEIA.2020.20.05 s. 1-15

The process of the carnivalization of urban space is aided by contemporary media, which, in popularizing myriad events, amplifies community activities ranging from festivals to mass public shows connected with historical events. Contemporary fascination with such phenomena finds its sources in ritualized models of paratheatrical activity rooted in the traditions of peasant culture, as well as in forms of mass folk protest. As a result, we can observe the rapidly-developing ability of citydwellers to occupy public space while creating emotional communities that extend into virtual, and other, realms, with the aim of realizing political goals.

2020-12-21



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Lost, Sought, and Recovered: The Cultural Heritage of Industrial Łódź and the Example of Art_Inkubator in Fabryka Sztuki [Art Factory]

Natalie Moreno-Kamińska

Language: PL | Published: 21-12-2020 | Abstract | pp. SEIA.2020.20.02 s. 1-17

Over the past 25 years, Łódź has seen an evolution in attitude towards the city’s post-industrial heritage, both material and non-material. Exemplifying these processes of loss, seeking, and retrieval is Art_Inkubator, a complex of 19th-century factories in the city’s central district of Księży Młyn that once belonged to Karol Scheibler and Ludwik Grohman. The goal of the project, carried out by a municipal cultural institution known as Fabryka Sztuki, has been to revitalize and adapt former factory buildings, including them in its incubator program dedicated to the support of activities within the creative industries sector. Another cultural heritage site known as MuseumABC is also located in this area. Fabryka Sztuki’s efforts have preserved the factory buildings as part of the city’s cultural heritage and made it possible to put their historic features to good use in the development of innovative and creative activities. After decades of neglect, the characteristic red-brick buildings have been
given “new life” as centres of culture and business enterprise.

2020-12-21



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Worker's flats in the area of Upper Silesia - the past and the present

Monika Gnieciak

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 139-150

The article compares the points of view of two groups of respondents — the inhabitants of new and old districts of Upper Silesia concerning the space inhabited by them, its organization and division expressing the life styles and structure of an every day of its inhabitants. Nikiszowiec, a district of an almost symbolic character for the social and urbanist history was chosen as a representative of old districts whereas the new districts were represented by particular districts of Tychy. As a result of this comparison, the types of workers’ flats, in the perspective of tradition and Silesian culture as well as the contemporary flat and district patterns are presented. The subordination of the region to the heavy industry influenced the spacious organization of the Upper Silesian cities. The relation between the industry and pragmatics of an every day life was most strongly reinforced in old workers’ districts, at the earliest in the form of the industrial settlement in the region whereas the spacious shape of workers’ colonies built conditioned and consolidated the social norms, typical of the inhabitants of the region. The old workers’ districts of Silesian cities were formed on the basis of patron districts built from the half of the 19th century around the abruptly appearing and developing mines and steelworks. The organization of the living space in the area of Upper Silesia was always marked with a given specificity, expressing the obligatory life style, work division and structure of the Upper Silesian family. The block of a red brick was its symbol giving the frames to the everyday outlines of the living space. Nowadays, an example of the spacious unit in question is Nikiszowiec, the former mining colony placed next to “Wieczorek” mine in Katowice. However, different districts, though also working class ones in the plan, built after the World War II in the form of big city blocks of flats are to be found nearby. The creation of new flats for the working class started under the ideological caption of the necessity to eliminate the social inequalities within the scope of living conditions. As a result of it, the representatives of different classes, professions characterized by different social and regional origins are neighbours in the PRL like blocks of flats. In the name of socialistic ideas, the project, unique in form, of a socialistic city of Tychy, a big base for incoming and native people working in the region of GOP was created. Both types of buildings — the one in Nikiszowiec and Tychy — currently constitute the spacious landscape of Upper Silesia and the way of inhabiting them determines the frames of life of the contemporary inhabitants of the region.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

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

Małgorzata Bronikowska

Language: PL | Published: 28-08-2022 | Abstract | pp. 1-13

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.

2022-08-28



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

An oriental Polish group

Janusz Kamocki

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 282-290

An unquestionable phenomenon is the fact of existing in Poland, the country of the tradition of “the bulwark of Christendom”, a small community of Muslim Tatars who settled down as defenders of Polish eastern borders also against their Tatar and Turkish co-believers. The very group has been totally Polonicised, however, maintained its own religion. They remained faithful to Poland, also in the 19th century when Poland stayed under rules. As a recognition of their patriotism, a special unit of cavalry, maintaining the tradition of Polish Tatar army, was created in the inter-war period in the Polish army. Unfortunately, the number of Polish Tatars in the 20th century has decreased significantly. After the World War I and gaining independence out of 11 000 Polish Tatars, half of them was beyond Poland (in Lithuania and Soviet Bielorussia), and after the World War II, when their main headquarters were in the areas occupied by Soviets, many of them were expatriated into the remaining Polish territories, settling down, among others, in the area of north-eastern Poland that was closest to their settlement so far. They recreated here their social and religious life in which, however, they clearly underlined a religious autocefaly of Polish Tatars and a certain separateness of their Islam from the one of an Arabic type. In a rich bunch of the Polish national culture, Polish Tatars create the most oriental flower.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The issue of the ethnic diversity of Austronesia in the light of the analysis of water transport

Zygmunt Kłodnicki

Language: PL | Published: 16-12-2021 | Abstract | pp. 1-28

In his article, Zygmunt Kłodnicki defines the boundaries of cultural regions and the paths of expansion of chosen products representative of the nautical culture of Austronesia. Kłodnicki examines the conditions for the development of shipping in this area and emphasizes the importance of the geographical environment in this process. Specifically, he draws attention to the importance of rafts in the migration of Austronesians and points out that boats equipped with a stabilizer, known as outrigger canoes, can be considered the differentia specifica of the Austronesian culture from the moment they left Southeast Asia. On the basis of his analysis of the diversity of the structure of the stabilizing device, boat equipment, and sailing terminology, Kłodnicki identifies the paths of cultural expansion in Austronesia. Maps relating to outrigger canoes and the cultural regionalization of the area in question are an integral part of the article.

2021-12-16



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A semiotic space of the city. Problems and research proposals

Grzegorz Błahut , Autor Autorowski

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 132-140

Researching the local space equals the preferences of the holistic attitude in the anthropology of the city. A strongly urbanized local space is marked by condensation of social and cultural phenomena which are reflected in various symbolic actions. Forms of graffiti, based on mythical structures of image or memory places constitute the semiotic space of the city. The semiotic space of the local area is not alike the space of the city as an urbanist whole although it is directly and indirectly connected with it. On the one hand, it is a collection of objectivised products of symbolic actions and on the other hand, the means of establishing social relations and articulating defined cultural phenomena. The phenomena taking place in the semiotic space of the city can be grouped into two main fields. The first one includes material objects of the sign type and objectivisd representations of particular value and idea, typical of sensori-motor perception. The second one would involve imaginative-notional objects, fulfilling the mythical function and referring to models of the world appearing in a given culture. Due to the diversity of the phenomena taking place in a semiotic space the research examining it should base on the application of various methods, paying special attention to the structural-semiotic method.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Anthropological implications of the categories of night and darkness in “fantastic” stories

Magdalena Ziółkowska

Language: PL | Published: 29-06-2021 | Abstract | pp. 1-11

In her article, Magdalena Ziółkowska discusses the anthropological implications of the categories of night and darkness present in “fantastic” stories. Literature of the fantastic includes genres such as horror, fantasy and science fiction. In each of them there are categories of night and darkness and they are closely related to their anthropological interpretation in culture and society. The process of symbolizing these categories is present in popular culture. Cultural connotations in “fantastic” literature are based, on the one hand, on people’s natural fear of night and darkness, and, on the other, on narrative consistency with the cultural and social competences of the readers.

2021-06-29



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Friend or enemy? Water ambivalence illustrated with the example of selected descriptions of Dutch hydrotechnical construction

Sebastian Latocha

Language: PL | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 41-53

Flood is not an episode in the history of the Netherlands, but a recurring fact of nature and social experience. The Dutch struggle against water (this metaphor seems to dominate the descriptions of the Netherlands) is not only troublesome and strenuous, but its significance also happens to be assessed in a positive way. In the literature indicated by the author, fascination with the capriciousness of the element of water and Dutch water engineering (satisfying a tourist‘s appetite?) takes prece‑ dence over the catastrophic and empathic discourse of lamentation. The article is an interpretation of the Dutch model of struggling against the element of water through the prism of anthropological categories of culture and nature. The exemplifications come from travel literature, tourist guides and scientific monographs, the reading of which shows that the mutual relationship (symbiosis) of the water element and cul‑ ture, the mentality of the Dutch who struggle with nature is the reoccurring concept
scheme. What is the main feature of the aquatic element is the ambivalent influence of water on Dutch culture. It is Dutch fairy tales that may prefigure this ambivalence.

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Topicality of magic practices on the basis of the ways of preventing children from spell (prepared on the basis of the materials from the Polish Ethno

Agnieszka Pieńczak

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 231-243

The article presents the results of the research works of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas, presenting the topicality of magic practices concerning the ways of preventing children from spell. It constitutes an attempt of a cartographic analysis of data collected in the 1970s in 338 research points situated Poland wide. Atlas studies showed that the communities under investigation knew and practised different ways of preventing children from spell. These involve for example practices connected with using of elements in an intensive colour, isolative practices (ban on showing a child to strangers and covering it with cloth), practices concerned with turning the clothes inside out, practices combined with using impurity (spitting), practices connected with using sacred objects and votive gestures. The images on maps point to the relict nature of analysed magic practices on the one hand, and their former popularity in Poland (scattered and edged scope prove it). The maps show that some practices were maintained longer in the eastern and south-eastern Poland than in other areas. The very territory is often defined as the most conservative in terms of the traditional folk culture.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Tourist souvenirs — a miniature or a caricature of cultural heritage?

Magdalena Banaszkiewicz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 167-178

Cultural heritage constitutes one of the most important constituent elements of a modern tourist product. When explaining the phenomena connected to the phenomenon of modern travelling, understanding interactions co‑creating a tourist offer seems to be a key task not only from the academic point of view, but also a potential development of the region. Tourist souvenirs can be perceived as a certain product of cultural narration, social expectations and hard laws of economy. Can they lead to a better “plunge” in culture or rather they oversimplify a rich understanding of tradition boiling it down to popculture artefacts? A semiotic-cultural analysis presented in the very article is to introduce the circle of issues connected to the dynamics of relations between cultural heritage and tourist souvenirs, as well as bringing processes lying at the bottom of the so called tourism culturalisation closer.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A small town as the subject of ethnological studies in Poland. The state and perspectives

Grzegorz Odoj

Language: PL | Published: 20-12-2011 | Abstract | pp. 116-131

A small town is almost completely skipped in studies of Polish ethnologists. The main scientific output in this field constitute works by sociologists, demographers, geographers, historians and urbanists. The reason of ethnographers’ weaker interest in small town communities lies above all in the position of classical ethnography, functioning until recently, for which a traditional thread of research interest was the culture of farming village community. After all, a relatively small number, complex structure and sometimes complicated network of small social groups, people density, intensifying specific types of social interaction, concentration of different functions connected with urban organization and lifestyle are only some of premises reinforcing the attractiveness of small-town communities as a type of laboratory of ethnological studies and ethnological analyses. On the basis of an overview and short description of the research situation concerning the cultural issues of the small-town community as the research subject, one can see that there are many topics that are hardly examined or totally skipped in the studies. Still there are few works concentrating on the problems of attitudes, motivation of behaviours and interaction. The awareness aspects in the functioning of a small town as a collective community have been covered to a large extent. Thorough, regular and broader-scale studies on the phenomenon of cultural identity and local identification among the inhabitants of Polish small towns have not been conducted yet. After all the studies carried out with reference to a slightly big community, allowing for grasping all problems appearing in it, allow to explain the creation of social groups, their duration, development dynamics and coherence in a more precise and consistent way. It usually has a vital importance for formulating wider theoretical generalizations further on. A relative spacious isolation and closeness of social contacts enable the conditions to verify the already stated theses. What is more, a lot of interdependences existing within a small-town spacious-cultural system can constitute a basis for generalizations extrapolated on other levels and systems of a social life.

2011-12-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Homo ludens in the space of the contemporary city

Magdalena Szalbot

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 222-236

Socio cultural problems of the contemporary city can be considered from the perspective of unusually diversified, yet concrete phenomena, and aspects co creating the city reality. The aim of the paper is to analyse the current state and changes of the contemporary cities, taking into consideration changing ludic needs of the inhabitants. It goes about illustrating how the present day party like behaviours of the city society reflect in the changes of the city space and in which direction they seem to go. On the one hand, the aim of the work is to show how the inhabitants of the contemporary cities, paying more and more attention to attractive forms of spending leisure time, impact on the city, changing it, and on the other hand, how the city alone and the urban life style, giving new stimuli and possibilities in this area, condition the behaviours of the inhabitants. The observations and studies conducted, the results of which were presented in the article, make us aware that the city is, on an unusual scale, becoming a ludic space for a contemporary human being. Socio cultural changes of contemporary cities and urban life style were shown from the perspective of the current state of a ludic sphere of culture on the basis of the examples coming from the city centres of different size, cultural affiliation and situated in different geographical latitude. The main part of the article, on the basis of the cities of a different scale and geographical location, presents some general and contemporary tendencies within the scope of “ludicity” of the spaces of contemporary cities and urban style as a result of unrestrained, grass roots and individual ini¬tiatives of the inhabitants, as well as purposeful and planned urban enterprises the observation and examination of which allows for joining a discussion on widely understood socio cultural problems of the contemporary city.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Traditional tattoo of the Croats inhabiting Bosnia and Herzegovina as a model of physical culture

Lidia Pac-Pomarnacka Pac-Pomarnacka

Language: PL | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 228-243

Ornamental tattoo is a decorative element of the body of many cultures, often associated with a specific profession, for example a sailor, soldier, or with belonging to a given tribe, social group or subculture. The traditional tattoo of the Croats from the areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a manifestation, praise for certain ideals. It was part of the culture of the local Christian community. It was worn on the body as an indelible sign of religious affiliation and protection against Islamization. To this day, in many villages of Bosnia and Herzegovina it is possible to come across elderly women with traditional tattoos

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The Concept of Lexicon Devoted to Silesian Culinary Art

Lidia Przymuszała , Dorota Świtała-Trybek

Language: EN | Published: 18-07-2019 | Abstract | pp. 46-62

As far as Silesia is concerned the language and cuisine constitute fundamental and distinguishing factors of the Silesian ethnic group, they are the determinants of cultural identity and the symbol of cultural identification. The concept of perceiving the culinary art from two perspectives, cultural and linguistic one, was born taking the above into account. Culinary art, as a component of culture understood in a broad manner, serves as a significant element of the language system as well. It plays a crucial culture-forming role in human life and it has certain position in the semantic structure of language which is adequate to its rank. The lexicon of Silesian cuisine, which is being currently prepared, aims at collecting names of dishes in one publication, not only those which are still in use today and dishes recorded in the general consciousness of Silesians, but it also aims at archiving culinary vocabulary which is basically forgotten by presenting it in close connection with the culture of the aforementioned region

2019-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Keeping a TV remote control or embracing a bicycle handlebar? Ways of spending leisure time in the space of the late-modern city on e.g. of Katowice

Andrzej Górny

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 207-221

 The present time can be defined by means of the epoch of choices. The contemporary reality is amazingly pluralist in all practical dimensions of life. In modern societies we also deal with a particular paradox with respect to time — on the one hand, it is organized according to an objective academic model and, on the other, it splits into different time cultures every day. A new selected sphere of human time, leisure time, undergoes division. What appears are new needs and, at the same time, institutions which satisfy them in a different way: a service, educational and recreational one. The former homogenous human action is being split into many separated and isolated “times”. Considering the issue of free time from the sociological perspective, it is legitimate to assume that ways of spending leisure time are inscribed into fairly visible cultural patterns which within years are subject to dynamics. It is their identification in reference to the social space of Katowice that became the subject matter of the very article. It presents the results of the studies conducted in July and August 2007 on the sample of 492 adult inhabitants of Katowice. In the context of the issues dealt with, several questions arise: How do inhabitants of Katowice use their free time? Do the forms connected with the physical activity or rather passive rest dominate? How much time do they devote to the Internet and television? What is the activeness of the respondents in their free time when it comes to culture? As a predominant analytical perspective served an attempt to answer the question if the changes connected with a more and more common trend on the so called healthy lifestyle or a growing pressure on the creation of the cultural wealth, also affect the ways of spending leisure time. In view of a big social, economic and spacious diversification, the area of Katowice is extremely interesting research area of the very problem among the contemporary inhabitants of a big city.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Sacral, charitable, commercial. Food products in the religious culture of post-modern society

Barbara Pabian

Language: PL | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 212-227

Consumption of food, which apart from biological functions performs also socio-cultural ones, is a source of interesting data about human life, including its symbolic and religious dimension. Some food products still have the status of religious symbols (in Christianity they are, for example, bread and wine). At present, they are also an element of some charity initiatives (e.g. the so-called pilgrim bread, forestry products)—the income obtained from their purchase is used in aid activities. In recent years, a new phenomenon has emerged, which is the result of a trend related to the commercialization of modern reality: in order to ensure a profit from sales, food products with names referring to the religious sphere (e.g. the so-called “god’s fudge”) are introduced into the market. The aim of the author of this article is to discuss the position and importance of food products in the contemporary religious culture in the aspect of the process of transformation

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A heritage of complexes. A cultural crisis of the borderlands?

Katarzyna R. Łozowska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 81-93

The borderlands perceived as borderlines, peripheries, a small homeland form a discourse of multiculturalism, one of the strongest discourses successfully functioning in the light of others, an anthropological, sociological or historical one nowadays. It was 1989 that made us aware of not only rich traditions of what was traditionally called the borderlands, but confronted Poles with the existence of the “Other” and “Foreign”, as well as discovered a series of relations that joined us with them. The awareness of cultural, social and traditional differences slowly overlapped with a belief that the freedom of Poland is not only the result of their dedicated battle, and martyrdom inscribed into our patriotic genotype. Apart from pride, Poles strongly felt the sense of injustice for territorial, cultural and economic loss, unjust accusations of our neighbours, but also a hidden sense of guilt, Poles’ co‑responsibility for the Holocaust or our colonization past. A discourse of multiculturalism is considered to be the product of passion and power, needs, anxieties, projects and longings. Searching joint experiences with our neighbours, we establish our existence according to the latest biding criteria. We use politics to hear “Polishness” when saying “multiculturalism”. A multicultural pot included accusations of xenophobia and arguments against it, our openness to the “Other”, tolerance of various ethnoses, joint historical experiences. Multiculturalism is an answer to Jews’, Lithuanians’, Ukrainians’ or Germans’ grudges telling their own history in a way totally different from our versions. Collapsing borderland projects discover a new space of multivoicing, without ideological benefits for the Polish culture. The problem of the “Other” is becoming a suggestion to find a real self, deprived of an embarrassing heritage and „overload of everyday life” in its face.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Go woke, go broke? On black elves, anthropological perspective, and critical approach to “culture wars”

Tomasz Raczkowski

Language: EN | Published: 27-06-2023 | Abstract | pp. 1-16

The text reflects on the issues of wokeness and culture wars in regard to mainstream cinema and its reception. Building on the author’s own ethnographical fieldwork within film industry, it addresses the question of desired anthropological approach to the discourse about representation in popular culture. The case of backlash against certain elements of popular fantasy live action series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and The Witcher is used by the author to argue for intersectional analysis rooted in economic perspective that exceeds identity-oriented, binary discursive setup, in search of more nuanced social knowledge, which is something that should constitute anthropological presence in public debate.

2023-06-27



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

(Polish Ethnographic Atlas — challenges in view of modernity)

Edyta Diakowska-Kohut

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 241-253

The article presents an over 65-year history and output of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas, treated as an invaluable source of information on the Polish traditional culture. The main challenge to be currently faced by the Atlas Studio, is actions in favour of the maintenance and promotion of cultural heritage included in the materials from the field studies. The very materials prove the elements of cultural heritage comprising information on disappearing beliefs, traditions, ceremonies, social and economic behaviours such as agriculture, farming, rural construction, or traditional craft. Thus, what becomes necessity is digitalization allowing for maintaining and popularizing Atlas. Making digital copies and their availability is extremely important for maintaining cultural heritage for future generations. On the other hand, it will protect this part of the output of Polish ethnology, namely a valuable and unique collection of the materials of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The virality of songs on TikTok and cultural context: A study of the interaction between music and users

Urszula Sawicka

Language: PL | Published: 31-12-2025 | Abstract | pp. 1-13

This article focuses on the musical aspect of the TikTok application. The aim of the study is to identify elements of a musical piece and other factors that may influence the popularity of a song published on this platform. The main research method is the analysis of the content of songs that have gone viral on TikTok. In addition, existing sources related to the subject of the study were analysed. The results of the research show that the elements that can contribute to a piece of music “breaking out” on TikTok include: lyrics that address typical human problems, a fast tempo, and simple and effective choreography created for the song. The resonance of the song with pop culture and the activity of influencers also play a significant role in its promotion.

2025-12-31



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Between ecological time and the ecology of time in the culture of acceleration

Celina Strzelecka

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 272-289

Time and space are concepts that form an indivisible entity in the concept of ecological time. The process of separating these ideas in Anglo-American culture began along with the acceleration of technological development. It resulted in a quick, almost instantaneous rate of life, which affects destructively both individuals and general public. What is the main postulate of the ecology of time is to stop the negative effects of acceleration, and re-integrating the idea of time and space in the practice of everyday life.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Science and knowledge in a ludic performance in the spaces of a contemporary city

Ryszard Kantor

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 191-206

A contemporary consumption society has become the society of fun, which means that fun and entertainment are playing a more and more important role in its culture. A social range and availability of forms of fun broaden. A number of its forms and places of realization grows. Fun is given more and more time, especially in city conglomerations. Among the areas of a socio cultural life one can also find the ones that, as some researchers believe, are strongly placed in the sphere of seriousness. These cover science and knowledge. According to the author, also these spheres of life are not free from the ludic pressure. Innumerable festivals, fairs, science fairs and days, taking place in closed spaces, but also in the open air of a contemporary university city, compete with one another in a ludic presentation of science and knowledge. A symbiosis of fun, science and knowledge seems to be a perfect realization of the idea: to teach entertaining, to entertain teaching. However, it raises certain doubts. The author of the article quotes the warnings, among others, by Neil Postman, who believes that such a light, easy and pleasurable ludic education does not give a reliable and deep knowledge. The education, and knowledge gain should not be an entertainment, but also a hard work. A belief becoming more and more common in the society that everything that is worth familiarising with may or even should take on the form of entertainment, is disastrous and typical of the times when the sphere of seriousness and fun intermingled almost completely.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Conceptual metaphors related to the domain ‘conjuring’ in the studies into Afro-American oral folklore of the coast of Georgia in the 1930s

Elżbieta Binczycka-Gacek

Language: PL | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 165-176

The author became interested in the body of the texts analyzed in this article during her research on variants and versions of the Flying Africans myth in 20th century culture and literature. In the US the main folkloric source of this narrative is an account of oral folklore collected in Georgia from African-Americans, published in 1940 as a part of Federal’s Writer’s Project. The book, entitled Drums and Shadows. Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes directed by Mary Granger, contains interviews with people many of whom had been born in slavery. African Americans interviewed in the project speak widely about talismans, spirits, lucky and unlucky omens and actions, as well as other aspects of their culture and folklore, including a significant amount of flight-related narratives. The dialect in the interviews is transcribed phonetically and difficult for a non-English native speaker, nevertheless the concept of ‘conjuring’ grabs the attention of the reader. This short study is an introduction to a broader analysis of the conceptual domain of ‘conjuring’ in the GWP interviews. The author uses the conceptual metaphor theory in order to establish how magic and witchcraft are conceptualized by the Georgia Writer’s Project speakers.

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The influence of the cultural town space on the individual identification - an example of Ciechanów and Warszawa

Irena Kotowicz-Borowy

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2010 | Abstract | pp. 416-423

We create, animate and value space, marking it with a historical memory of events and filling it with artifacts. They constitute signs and symbols transmitted with the whole cultural heritage and tradition to next generations. A town dweller, as man of a traditional rural community, moves throughout his/her whole life between two types of space: a safe one (orbis interior) and an unknown, foreign, dangerous one (orbis exterior). The loss of place by an individual in a known and safe space causes willingness and need to find him/herself a place. The lack of ingrainment causes the inability of identification. The individual often feels alienated, deprived of his/her “own place” in the natural, historical, geographical, ethnic and cultural sense. The identification as such of Ciechanów town dwellers who came to Warszawa 30—40 years ago proves the lack of the sense of full identity with the cultural space of the capital. It is to a greater extent the identification with particular places in this space, e.g. with an Old Town, The Warsaw University, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Wilanów or even The Palace of Culture and Science. A big part of the cultural space in Ciechanów was rejected, especially the one which lost its traditional image and because of Macdonaldisation became unremarkable (e.g. Marshal J. Piłsudski Square). The young generation of children of migrants from Ciechanów, brought up already in Warszawa, e.g. in the district of Ursynów, shows the sense of bond with the cultural town space, both the traditional, modern and Macdonald one. At the same time, they are more and more interested in places connected with the childhood of their grandparents and parents, as well as more and more often reveal the willingness to identify with the traditional cultural space of their ancestors.

2010-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Art — a useful or useless memory of the place?

Ewa Gładkowska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2012 | Abstract | pp. 207-217

Against the background of a dramatic and complicated post-war past of Warmia and Mazuria, the author of the article makes an attempt to show area impoverishment being the result of among others the ignorance, and often, a methodical distortion of a historic substance, constituting an element of foreign heritage. In an outline, she presents a difficult process of regaining the awareness of a multicultural heritage of these lands, underlining a contribution of the Borussia Cultural Community to the development of a different culture of inheritance than the one before the political transformation. A work of art being a carrier of historical and aesthetic values is also a memory of the place. Especially the architecture monuments realize this mission combining the present with the past. They remind of their old identity performing a new function today. Basing on the example of the project Mendelson’s House, realized by Borussia in Olsztyn, the possibilities of the restoration of the very object connected with the history of East-Prussian Jews and an activity of Erich Mendelson, a world-famous architect from Olsztyn were presented. The project realized by Borussia seems to be a solution adjusted to the contemporary needs connected with the acquisition of cultural heritage and places of memory. In view of its aesthetic values, art is a special carrier of memory and cultural good building, as attempted to be shown, the sense of a region al identity inscribing into the idea of an open regionalism. The art of this region is perceived as dominants of the cultural memory when exploring and acquiring a multicultural heritage of Warmia and Mazuria.

2012-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Guardians of the memory: Reflection on Holocaust archives with special focus on International Tracing Service

Anna Kuchta

Language: PL | Published: 30-06-2024 | Abstract | pp. 1-16

The presented article focuses on International Tracing Service (from 2019 operating under the name The Arolsen Archives – International Center on Nazi Persecution), world’s biggest archive on Holocaust victims and survivors, which activity is analyzed in the context of individual and collective memory of the Shoah. The article references, among others, concepts introduced by Jan Gross, Marianne Hirsch and Dan Stone in order to depict International Tracing Service as an important agent in shaping the European memory of the Holocaust.

2024-06-30



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The offensive of globalization and consumerism. Remarks on the consequences of the modernization changes in the Nile valley of north Sudan

Maciej Kurcz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 253-271

The article—deeply based on the field observations—deals with the proces of globalization in Northern Sudan, focusing particularly on infrastructural changes and their results in the second decade of the 21st century. Scholars—starting with the book by Jeremi Prestholdt (2008), who imported history of consumption and consumerism into the African studies—are currently debating over the character and impact of globalization. Using this approach, the article addresses the question about what needs some of the imported goods satisfy, how African consumers deal with these objects, and finally how these objects become incorporated into the local culture system.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

On the Cultural Heritage of Sheep Herding and the Shepherd Symbolism, Culinary Artistry and Good Taste

Marek Rembierz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 82-108

A great culture-creating event “The Carpathian Sheep Graze — Transhumance 2013”, organized with due respect for pastoral tradition, and “Lamb Meat Feast” in Ustroń are examples of restitution and popularization of the cultural heritage of sheep farming and pastoral symbolics. Both events appeal to very deep layers of tradition, which raise reflection on culture-creating aspects of sheep farming (one of the oldest forms of agricultural economy), on the signs of pastoral customs and symbolics, and on culinary traditions. Pastoral elements still seem to be present in modern culture, especially in the religious symbolic imagination. However, most frequently there is no direct presence of sheep and shepherds, which might make them only a “relic” of the past.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Gastronomic rarities on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as an inspiration for culinary tourism

Dominik Orłowski , Magdalena Woźniczko

Language: PL | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 98-124

This article aims at browsing through items of gastronomic rarities in UNESCO World List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which might be the reason and the motif to visit particular places in the world. At the same time, it reflects a new trend in topic-related trips, which is obviously culinary tourism. Gastronomic rarities items placed in UNESCO World List of Intangible Cultural Heritage are the examples of world’s culinary cultural heritage. According to the international community, food regarded as gastronomic rarities in UNESCO World List of Intangible Cultural Heritage has a historical value nowadays. It is due to preserving customs and ceremonies which coincide with national culture of nutrition and food consumption.

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

A detective at the crossroads of cultures: The hybrid heritage of Ibn-e Safi

Marcin Ciemniewski

Language: PL | Published: 30-06-2024 | Abstract | pp. 1-17

Ibn-e Safi’s work is an example of a cultural hybrid that transcends the traditional boundaries of detective fiction. The author’s literary output not only constitutes the canon of Pakistani and Indian light fiction, but also shows how literature can function as a bridge between different, often distant cultural traditions, creating new forms of expression. On the one hand these novels are strongly rooted in the Western genre structures, while on the other hand they are saturated with local narrative elements that deviate from the conventions commonly associated with classic crime novels in the West. The aim of this article is to analyze Ibn-e Safi’s prose, focusing on the character of Detective Faridi, the main protagonist of the Spy World series. Particular attention was paid to the methods used by the author to deconstruct Western narrative patterns, introducing a different style of writing and local cultural tropes into his novels.

2024-06-30



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Taḥarruš—sexual harassment in the Arab world illustrated on the example of Egypt. Part 1

Ignacy Nasalski

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 233-252

Group sexual harassment in the Arab World, so called taḥarruš, has reached an extraordinary extent in recent years. The problem remains unsolved despite various state actions and social initiatives. The text argues that the failure of the initiatives and information campaigns results from the fact that those actions and initiatives locate the causes outside the cultural and religious system, while it is the social structure itself, maintained by the universal nomos of religion and culture, that generates sexual frustrations which are in turn being vented in a manner combining elements of teasing and aggression. The article has been divided into two parts—the first contains a presentation of the problem, the second offers its analysis and explanation.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Time in the Maghreb culture: Night as an inversion

Anna Barska

Language: PL | Published: 29-06-2021 | Abstract | pp. 1-14

In this article, Anna Barska examines the events significant for Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and a month of fasting, practiced by the followers of Islam in the Maghreb countries. Ramadan introduces an inversion day and night. This subject matter has made necessary reflections on the essence of time, and especially on the specific understanding time and the night in Islam. Barska shows the way in which Ramadan is celebrated through the behavior of the Maghreb people in private and public spaces. She focuses on the time when the fasting is interrupted, on the foods consumed, on celebrations both at home and on the streets, in cafes, as well as on the strength of the religious experience.

2021-06-29



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The Tasks of Local Governments in Preservation and Dissemination of Cultural Heritage. Trials and Experiences of the Nowy Sącz Poviat

Stanisław Węglarz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 69-81

The implementation by the Nowosądeckie district of its statutory tasks in the area of culture through concrete action is dependent inter alia on geography, demographic situation, history and traditions, as well as on current social and cultural context. For this reason, the actual information on local government projects of Nowy Sącz district in the sphere of the protection and promotion of cultural heritage is preceded by a historical outline. This part deals with administrative divisions and basis of multiculturalism in the Nowy Sącz region. One of the most important tasks is to aid to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the Nowy Sącz region in order to maintain the local identity.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Novruz—Persian New Year and its transformation in diasporic environment. Example of Afghans living in Slovakia

Silvia Letavajová , Marián Žabenský

Language: ##locale.name.sk_SK## | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 82-97

The study aims to describe a history and original forms of pre-muslim Persian New Year—Novruz, as well as its changes affected by migration experience of the original holders. We are interested in its role in creating community identity in the case of the Afghan diaspora in Slovakia. The findings suggest that in the new environment, there is a number of changes in the formal side—the absence of certain habits, their simplification and rationalization, the incorporation of major culture elements. In a term of significance, this holiday takes a new relevance and reflects the degree of the community integrity.

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Post Industrial Material Culture Heritage in the Revitalization Process (as Illustrated by Patronage Housing Estates of Upper Silesia)

Grzegorz Odoj

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 210-222

The consequence of transformations induced systemic transformation and restructuring of the economy is the degradation of the Upper Silesian estates patronage. The inversion of the negative changes involves conducting the integrated process of the revitalization. Such a program cannot be directed only to the architectural-spatial sphere. Since not the historic character of the degraded quarters predestinates them to the revitalization but the particular accumulation of the social and economical problems. While the initialization and the realization of the revitalization generally lie with the local authorities, it cannot be fully successful without the support and the participation of the inhabitants.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Paranoia and technology. The conspiracy theory in the context of technophobia and technological progress

Santana Murawska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2016 | Abstract | pp. 33-43

The aim of the article is to show conspiratorial thinking combined with technophobia. The author presents the similarities and relations between conspiracy theories and other narratives (present in popular culture), which emerged as the aftermath of the Cold War and apocalyptic fears. The article presents three options for the perception of the relation between technology and conspiracy theories: in the context of dystopian and utopian cultural texts, and in the context of space as no-place, in which there operates a community centered around conspiracy theories.

2016-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Alienation versus acceptance. Looking at immigrant communities in the French cinéma de banlieue from 1995 to 2019

Natalia Majewicz

Language: PL | Published: 29-12-2023 | Abstract | pp. 1-18

Searching one’s own identity in a foreign culture is one of the indispensable elements of the modern world. The purpose of this paper is to characterize the way in which cinéma de banlieue portrays dominant problems faced by immigrants in everyday life in France. Methodologically, the article is based on the research tools proposed by Manon Grodner and centers around three domains of public discourse, such as democracy, society and laicity. In particular, the focus is on the antagonistic picture of men and women. The research covers the period from 1995, the official date of the beginning of this cinematic movement, to 2019, the year of the release of the film Banlieusards.

2023-12-29



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Straw in traditional culture

Mariola Tymochowicz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 146-160

Straw is a particular raw material that has been widely used in the past and in the past. The text enumerates its practical qualities and reported importance in former rituals, beliefs, healing or divination. Then the text deals with the symbolism of the straw, which is becoming more and more difficult to interpret.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The latest history of Cracow in local ludic performances

Ryszard Kantor

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2013 | Abstract | pp. 118-139

One of the forms of popularising the knoweldge on the past is local historical performances. They are ludic in character, but also perform didactic functions with regard to a younger and older generation. They transmit patriotic information in an attractive form, and influence the process of shaping a historical awareness of Poles. The historical performances presented in the article show the history of Cracow. They are very popular among the inhabitants, though, arouse some concern, too. They are an example of the trivialization of scientific knowledge that is more and more often serving the role of fun. Its ludic, popcultural presentation has become a fairly unquestionably used canon of pedagogy these days. Historical performances seem to be yet another piece of evidence of the cumulation of the process of making modern culture more ludic.

2013-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Human-powered transport in Slovakia until the second half of the 20th century. Selected questions

Katarína Slobodová Nováková

Language: EN | Published: 28-12-2021 | Abstract | pp. 1-20

For centuries, traditional means of transport have been tightly connected to traditional peasant culture. The work of a farmer has always represented not only the means of adaptation to the natural environment and the acquisition of essential articles of food and raw materials, but also the realization of one’s cultural identity. Over the centuries, it has acquired its typical features and has become distinct within several regional forms. This has been reflected in the traditional means of transport related to the daily annual cycle of a farmer’s work, as well as various non-agricultural opportunities. The aim of the study is to summarize the knowledge within the field of traditional transport in Slovakia during the first half of the 20th century, exemplified through some typical transport aids. It aims to point out their manifold utilization and their gradual adaptation to the changing natural, historical, and social conditions.

2021-12-28



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Cultural Heritage and Its Global / Local Manifestations In a Contemporary Small Town

Katarína Koštialová

Language: ##locale.name.sk_SK## | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 197-209

This paper considers the cultural heritage and global / local manifestation in urban spaces. It focuses on cultural monuments, phenomena, events and the image of the city, which form a historical continuum and the part of today's city culture with the overlap between global and local elements, forms and functions. Global and local manifestations enable compliance or conflict that may promote, encourage, even out or damage cultural heritage. Municipal institutions, NGOs, individuals and foreign investors and entrepreneurs enter into this process. The paper is the result of field research in Zvolen located in central Slovakia.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Colonization of the Lowland by Slovak ethnicity. The case of the landscape research in Vojlovica (Serbia)

Marián Žabenský , Silvia Letavayová

Language: ##locale.name.sk_SK## | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 244-255

The paper deals with the issue of cultural landscape research with emp‑
hasis on the changes caused by the colonization by Slovak and other ethnic groups.
Some parts are focused on defining the methodology of cultural landscape research
(multi-temporal analysis of cultural-landscape layers) and its subsequent application
in the studied area—the example of Vojlovica village, which is now part of the town
of Pančevo in Serbia. The paper also deals with the issue of cultural geography and
the retrospective influence of Slovak ethnicity on the landscape. Traditional material
and spiritual culture is a reflection of human action in the country and the result of
the relationship triangle: landscape—culture—history.

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Publishing activity of the German minority in the Silesian Voivodship as an example of its continuity

Agnieszka Gołda

Language: PL | Published: 29-06-2023 | Abstract | pp. 1-16

This article presents the effects of the editorial activity of organisations representing the German minority in the Silesian Voivodeship – the German Community “Reconciliation and Future”, the Social-Cultural Association of Germans of Silesian Voivodeship and the Upper Silesian Eichendorff Culture and Meeting Centre. Since the
1990s, they have been active in publishing, resulting in magazines, publishing series and, less frequently, books. The aim of this type of output – as the content analysis has shown – is to maintain knowledge of the achievements of minority representatives, their contribution to the development of the region (literature, science, art) and to indicate current needs and aspirations. All publication undertakings characterised in the text allow the ethnos to persist in Silesia and to build its identity.

2023-06-29



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Art as a tool for building relationships between man and nature

Kinga Czerwińska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 103-114

The article focuses on art understood as a tool for building relationships between man and nature, and the resulting participation of man in nature. The character of this tool, that is art, is dependent on the development of philosophical thoughts and the level of civilization, and has changed together with the development of culture. Recently, under the influence of the progressive degradation of the natural environment, artistic activities are ecologically oriented. However, it is an observable fact that the “taming” of nature through art makes one function more easily in the existing reality.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Cultural Heritage as a Part of Cultural Potential (in the Context of Revitalization of Ethnic Minorities)

Ladislav Lenovský

Language: EN | Published: 18-07-2019 | Abstract | pp. 77-88

Cultural heritage is considered to be a valuable and representative part of the culture derived from the past. Cultural potential is a set of cultural phenomena, elements and complexes used or usable for profit. It consists of five components: heritage; organizations and institutions; events and products; infrastructure; human resources. Cultural mapping is being used for its identification, where the elements of cultural potential are cultural resources. The mapping of cultural potential with an emphasis on cultural heritage is a prerequisite for the success of revitalization of the nearly extinct ethnic group of German woodcutters from the Small-Carpathian region – Huncokars.

2019-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Paradise from a developer. A cultural image of a housing cooperative in new housing estates

Szczepańska Magdalena

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2013 | Abstract | pp. Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy Katedra Socjologii

The advertisements of new housing estates convince us of a new quality of the flat environment. The aim of the text is to present a cultural image of new housing estates of blocks of flats built after 2000. A dominant organizational form are housing cooperatives there. They were described through the prism of the organizational culture. The analysis of the content of opinions on the housing cooperative Internet fora was made, namely the analysis of the topics important for inhabitants, methods of their joint actions, norms binding in these communities and ways of taking social control. The studies included 30 opinions from the housing cooperative Internet fora from Gdańsk, Poznań, Warsaw, Wrocław and Łódź.

2013-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Taharruš—sexual harassment in the Arab world illus-trated on the example of Egypt. Part 2

Ignacy Nasalski

Language: PL | Published: 18-07-2018 | Abstract | pp. 15-40

Group sexual harassment in the Arab World, so called ta arruš, has reached an extraordinary extent in recent years. The problem remains unsolved despite various state actions and social initiatives. The text argues that the failure of the initiatives and information campaigns results from the fact that those actions and initiatives locate the causes outside the cultural and religious system, while it is the social structure itself, maintained by the universal nomos of religion and culture, that generates sexual frustrations which are in turn being vented in a manner combin‑ ing elements of teasing and aggression. This is the second part of the text—the first contained a presentation of the problem, this part offers its analysis and explanation.

2018-07-18



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Nutrition of the population of Slovakia in the period of building socialism

Rastislava Stoličná

Language: PL | Published: 28-12-2021 | Abstract | pp. 1-11

The study aims to describe the most important changes in public nutrition during socialism in Slovakia. It explains the essence of the state Communist ideology’s involvement in people’s eating habits and the reality of socialist food production and distribution in the 1950s, when the acquirement of even basic foodstuffs was often accompanied by food shortage, bad quality, time losses related to food acquirement and high prices in some cases.

2021-12-28



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Globalization and Valuation On The Example of the “Angelus” Literary Award

Paweł Krzysztof Rutkiewicz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 173-184

The main purpose of the article is to consider the institution of literary award as something, which could consolidate a culture in spite of globalization — understood as a set of processes causing the cultural destabilization. The article is focused on literary texts honored with Angelus Central European Award (from a year 2006 to 2012). The following interpretations are used for exegesis of esthetical and ethical values, which are expected to form a kind of symbolical basis for the socio-cultural space of Central Europe.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Fanfiction, coping mechanisms, and shifting the realities

Kaja Rokicka

Language: EN | Published: 22-06-2023 | Abstract | pp. 1-15

The development and popularization of social media have increased social anomie, as exemplified by dissemination of fake news, stereotypes, hate, ostracism, social isolation, and ubiquitous fear of missing out. As a result, members of society are more exposed to witnessing and reading of tragedies than previously. The youth of today try to find some methods to “drown out” the reality, even if the methods they use were to be effective only temporarily. That is how, in some cases, people become addicted to and dependent on any form of mass media: social media and fiction (such as video games, books, TV shows, movies or cartoons, etc.). The present article attempts to answer the question of why the young people seek closure aided by fiction, and to provide examples to illustrate it.

2023-06-22



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Anthropologist in the face of cultural and natural diversity. Reflections of Maria Czaplicka from the Siberian expedition

Magdalena Banaszkiewicz

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 32-46

The article examines the narrative of the diary „My Siberian Year” written by one of the first women-anthropologists—Maria Czaplicka. There is a notable absence of discussion about her achievements, despite the fact that her book significantly exceeds the frames of the anthropological narrative of her times. In this paper the perspective refers to the experience of strangeness/otherness as a constitutive part of any fieldwork. This category may be analyzed within different dimensions, which concurrently shed light on the nature of the relationships between people, culture and environment.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Tradition and modernity — transformations of cultural areas of former patronate housing estates in a postindustrial town

Barbara Rożałowska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2013 | Abstract | pp. 87-97

The aim of the article is to show the relationship between the Zandek housing estate and the community inhabiting it. Concentrating workers of Donnersamck steelwork, it used to be a perfectly functioning space of inhabitance. Nowadays, the inhabitants form a culturally diversified system. The problems are standard flats and social pathology. Though, it used to be the place of a specific culture. Today Zandek can be considered a cultural area because of the monuments placed here and an active nature of enthusiasts. Tradition, closed in the inhabitance space, helps to look for an identity and meet the needs of living in a safe and healthy environment. It is a factor stimulating the formation of formal societies that have a positive influence on the whole local community.

2013-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Endogenous and exogenous transformations in the song repertoire of the Silesian Beskid. Selected examples

Magdalena Szyndler

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2017 | Abstract | pp. 304-316

The article deals with folk music culture in the Silesian Beskid. Endogenous and exogenous transformations in the Beskid repertoire are related to various factors, therefore taking a definite attitude towards them may bring an ambivalent result. In the first case, according to the author, the changes may move in two directions, depending on the repertoire awareness of folk musicians. The transformation proces may be conscious when it is based on an authentic, well-known repertoire. In the case of the absence of a solid repertoire basis or being not aware of them (it is mostly true for young musicians), unreflective repeating of musical material occurs, which may result in “musical impoverishment” and even in the “loss of musical tradition”.

2017-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

The Realities of Learning Foreign Languages by High School Students in United Europe

Aleksandra Wojciechowska

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 162-172

Currently, development of language and cultural competencies is of fundamental importance. Cultural education (including multiculturalism) enriches and models one’s own culture, prepares for dialogue, creates identity based on the strong sense of national values and roots while respecting and understanding others. The goal of language learning is clear: education should lead to language competence, make cultural intertwining easier and implement the basis for tolerance and openness. Cultural (multicultural) competence is a result of gaining experience (also linguistic experience) which is an ongoing process involving analysis and discovering rules rather than being a skill that one can learn.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Tradičné prvky v priestore súčasného mesta

Zdena Krišková

Language: ##locale.name.sk_SK## | Published: 20-02-2015 | Abstract | pp. 213-222

The paper addresses the issue of preservation and transformation of traditional cultural elements in contemporary urban space. Attention is focused on northern Spiš, characterized by a proximity to Slovak-Polish culture, specifically on the town of Poprad. The paper documents preservation and transformation of traditions (based on Christmas) in contemporary urban environment and society. Tourism plays a significant part in the process of social and cultural development. The role of autonomy as a determinant of social and cultural events in urban environment is also not negligible.

2015-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Review: Časové a prostorové souvislosti tradiční lidové kultury na Moravě (The temporal and spatial determinants of traditional folk culture in Moravia). Ed. Roman Doušek, Daniel Drapala. Brno, Masarykova univerzita, 2015, 224 p

Anna Dróżdż

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2016 | pp. 263-266

2016-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Cultural and Regional Education as an Instrument of Upholding Tradition and the Notion of Rooting in a Global Reality

Irena Kotowicz-Borowy

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2014 | Abstract | pp. 109-117

Unstable currently communication between generations, migrations and life globalization makes that determining of own identity becomes more difficult.Simultaneously commercialization of cultural heritage along with the development of merket economy may result in a threat to existence of native or regional culture. All the more, regional and cultural education, gaining greater importance, playing the essential role in the „small homelands”, as in the educational environment.Their aim is to restore post-memory, promotion of cultural heritage and using of cultural resources of local communities for the promotion and development of social capital in the region.

2014-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

“It’s happening!” – memes as vehicle for online extremism based on an example of narratives from 4chan’s /pol/ (politically incorrect) board in the wake of Christchurch terrorist attack

Patryk Wojciechowski

Language: EN | Published: 29-06-2023 | Abstract | pp. 1-25

Online spaces, discussion boards, social media or open forums provide currently active generations of netizens with places to openly discuss ways in which they perceive the world, from their views on entertainment to political sympathies. Memes play an important role in that process as symbolic representations of emotions, humour and supported or opposed values. However, they may also present often inappropriate content in accessible way, hidden under the guise of irony or innocent fun. This article
presents a discourse analysis conducted on a sample of 40 discussion threads posted on 4chan’s /pol/ board after the Christchurch terrorist attack. It aims to look into how through the use of memes and ironic posting such acts might be used to desensitize users to violence and extremist ideologies, while briefly covering core characteristics of memes and describing the notion of chan culture. It also touches on the matter whether such discourses, grounded in board users’ linguistic practices and the socio-cultural environment of /pol/, could be (re)producing (symbolic) violence.

2023-06-29



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

City entrapped by spontaneit

Regina Maga-Jagielnicka

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2015 | Abstract | pp. 94-105

Transformations of the functional and spatial structure of the city are a process in which spontaneous phenomena may occur. Designers of urban space may draw inspiration from the spontaneous activity in the natural environment. In the city, which is considered man’s natural habitat, spontaneous actions of the users of space generate chaos, but also initiate a new order. By using a variety of spatial planning instruments, one may prevent the possible destructive consequences of spontaneity. In this regard, the principles of shaping urban spaces inside culture parks are of particular importance.

2015-02-20



Journal: Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne

Creative ethnography. The establishment of methodological expertise which combines ethnographical research with the practices of contemporary art

Ewa Rossal

Language: PL | Published: 20-02-2016 | Abstract | pp. 172-187

The relations between cultural anthropology and art constitute their shared history. This article is an effort to establish methodological expertise, linking ethnological research with the practices and tools of contemporary art. Taking as a point of departure shared research conducted during social engaged art activities I will try to present that situation, created by such actions which reveal particularly “thick” ethnographical realities which allows the discovery of heretofore unrecognized dimensions of culture.

2016-02-20