This paper offers an overview of a "specifically American genre" – the American jeremiad, whose origins lie in the Puritan political sermon and which, with certain historical and cultural modifications, exists to this day. This overview, like most studies of this rhetorical form, is based on the work of Sacvan Bercovitch, who established it as a genre and offered the most exhaustive interpretation of its structure and meaning to date. The American jeremiad aims to homogenize the American community, and to steer it towards a common national goal, as reflected in its three-part structure: an evocation of the ideal/the ideal state of the community, a denunciation of its current state, and an affirmation of the goal and a vision of progress. As, according to Bercovitch, the American jeremiad despite historical and social changes retains the cultural hegemony of the symbol of America, later studies have tested this thesis by looking at political speeches, public addresses, American films, etc., through the concepts of the contemporary secular jeremiad, historical, Afro-American, film jeremiads, etc., and almost without exception conclude that this symbol, in one form or another, is alive and well.
{"title":"The American Jeremiad: A Specifically American Genre","authors":"Vladana Ilić","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I4.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I4.7","url":null,"abstract":"This paper offers an overview of a \"specifically American genre\" – the American jeremiad, whose origins lie in the Puritan political sermon and which, with certain historical and cultural modifications, exists to this day. This overview, like most studies of this rhetorical form, is based on the work of Sacvan Bercovitch, who established it as a genre and offered the most exhaustive interpretation of its structure and meaning to date. The American jeremiad aims to homogenize the American community, and to steer it towards a common national goal, as reflected in its three-part structure: an evocation of the ideal/the ideal state of the community, a denunciation of its current state, and an affirmation of the goal and a vision of progress. As, according to Bercovitch, the American jeremiad despite historical and social changes retains the cultural hegemony of the symbol of America, later studies have tested this thesis by looking at political speeches, public addresses, American films, etc., through the concepts of the contemporary secular jeremiad, historical, Afro-American, film jeremiads, etc., and almost without exception conclude that this symbol, in one form or another, is alive and well. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89983812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The vaccine is considered in academic, foremost medical, but also in political and public discourse as one of the greatest human achievements. Immunization has saved and is saving millions of lives around the world. However, from a historical perspective, immunization was always followed by more or less public resistance due to its alleged negative side-effects, such as outbursts of severe illnesses. A mandatory childhood vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) is part of the current controversy over the harmfulness of vaccines in Serbia. In view of the fact that the media is an important source for transmitting health messages and understanding health issues, the subject of this paper is the media presentation of MMR immunization in Serbia. How was the state health care narrative on MMR immunization presented in the Serbian daily press during the last two measles outbreaks in 2014-2015 and 2017-2018? By using the theoretical “text-context-hypertext” approcah to media content by Ljiljana Gavrilović, Serbian broadsheets and daily papers, such as Blic, Kurir, Politika, Večernje Novosti, from the period 2014-2020, are analyzed. The preliminary results show that the news that concurs with the 2014-15 measles epidemic differs greatly from the news during the 2017-18 epidemic. During the first period, the papers carried medical experts’ advice on the benefits and importance of the MMR vaccine, criticizing (irrational and emotional) parents (mostly mothers) who do not vaccinate their children, in parallel with parental lay evidence on its harmfulness. From approximately 2017 anti-vaccination attitudes disappeared from the newspapers, even from the yellow press. This is concomitant with the new Law on the Protection of the Population against Communicable Diseases (2016), which penalizes anti-vaccination lobbying. In other words, instead of gaining public trust in the health sector and the state by presenting facts, offering dialogue with opponents and systematic education, the state leaders discredited and excluded opposing opinions as “uncivilized”, “irrational” and part of “anti-vaccination lobbying”. Studies explained that citizens of post-socialist countries trust more individuals (friends and family) and distrust the state authorities (as enemies). By introducing compulsory penalties for non-vaccination, the state only deepened this historical and cultural distrust between the state and its citizen. To conclude, insults to parents of non-immunized children, threats of penalties and actual penalties, and the exaggeration of the outcomes of the 2014-15 measles epidemic did not lead to mass immunization. On the contrary, all this acted only counterproductively, as the latest epidemic broke out precisely among non-vaccinated and semi-vaccinated populations. Therefore, it is suggested in the paper that this vaccine should be optional, parallel with the introduction of organized promotion of MMR vaccination, its benefits and side-effects, detail
{"title":"“Stick without a Carrot”: An Anthropological Analysis of the Daily Press on Mandatory MMR Immunization in Serbia","authors":"Marija Brujić","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I4.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I4.2","url":null,"abstract":"The vaccine is considered in academic, foremost medical, but also in political and public discourse as one of the greatest human achievements. Immunization has saved and is saving millions of lives around the world. However, from a historical perspective, immunization was always followed by more or less public resistance due to its alleged negative side-effects, such as outbursts of severe illnesses. A mandatory childhood vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) is part of the current controversy over the harmfulness of vaccines in Serbia. In view of the fact that the media is an important source for transmitting health messages and understanding health issues, the subject of this paper is the media presentation of MMR immunization in Serbia. How was the state health care narrative on MMR immunization presented in the Serbian daily press during the last two measles outbreaks in 2014-2015 and 2017-2018? By using the theoretical “text-context-hypertext” approcah to media content by Ljiljana Gavrilović, Serbian broadsheets and daily papers, such as Blic, Kurir, Politika, Večernje Novosti, from the period 2014-2020, are analyzed. The preliminary results show that the news that concurs with the 2014-15 measles epidemic differs greatly from the news during the 2017-18 epidemic. During the first period, the papers carried medical experts’ advice on the benefits and importance of the MMR vaccine, criticizing (irrational and emotional) parents (mostly mothers) who do not vaccinate their children, in parallel with parental lay evidence on its harmfulness. From approximately 2017 anti-vaccination attitudes disappeared from the newspapers, even from the yellow press. This is concomitant with the new Law on the Protection of the Population against Communicable Diseases (2016), which penalizes anti-vaccination lobbying. In other words, instead of gaining public trust in the health sector and the state by presenting facts, offering dialogue with opponents and systematic education, the state leaders discredited and excluded opposing opinions as “uncivilized”, “irrational” and part of “anti-vaccination lobbying”. Studies explained that citizens of post-socialist countries trust more individuals (friends and family) and distrust the state authorities (as enemies). By introducing compulsory penalties for non-vaccination, the state only deepened this historical and cultural distrust between the state and its citizen. To conclude, insults to parents of non-immunized children, threats of penalties and actual penalties, and the exaggeration of the outcomes of the 2014-15 measles epidemic did not lead to mass immunization. On the contrary, all this acted only counterproductively, as the latest epidemic broke out precisely among non-vaccinated and semi-vaccinated populations. Therefore, it is suggested in the paper that this vaccine should be optional, parallel with the introduction of organized promotion of MMR vaccination, its benefits and side-effects, detail","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86005865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The process of archaeological inference begins prior to the beginning of interpretation or even the actual discovery of a particular object. Certain objects, materials, or groups of finds raise more intense interest among researchers and general public alike. Object made of precious materials and minerals are particularly attractive, especially if they are recovered from even more attractive contexts such as richly furnished graves or groups of objects found together – hoards. Objects deposited in groups of identical or similar artefacts, particularly if laid into a recipient such as a vessel or a casket, have raised attention for centuries or even longer. Researchers and general audience are equally interested in hoards consisting of precious metals, jewellery, weapons, and principally of coins. In the context of archaeological research and interpretation, hoards consisting of ordinary everyday objects, such as raw and semi-processed materials and tools, also figure prominently. In their form and context, they are similar to hoards containing precious objects, and are therefore intriguing to researchers, since it is expected that some of enduring questions on behaviour of prehistoric people, especially in symbolic domain, will be solved by examining these finds. Ascribing symbolic meaning to hoards has been the constant practice of archaeologists from the times of formation of professional archaeology till today. This text is a review of interpretations of stone and bronze hoards, registered in the region of the valley of Sava, and dated into late Neolithic and Late Bronze Age. The exceptionality of the finds in the perception of archaeologists dictates the archaeological interpretation, not only of the particular find, but also of the whole context. Hoards and depositions, along with many other archaeological assemblages of finds, are mainly interpreted according to the dominant narrative and conceptual framework of prehistoric society as the one of primordial communities, whose every action is imbued by ritual and mystery, at the same time being exceptionally rational in their economic relations.
{"title":"Written in Stone, Cast in Bronze: Durability of Archaeological Interpretation of Prehistoric Hoards in the Valley of Sava","authors":"Rajna Šošić Klindžić, H. Kalafatić, M. Mihaljević","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.7","url":null,"abstract":"The process of archaeological inference begins prior to the beginning of interpretation or even the actual discovery of a particular object. Certain objects, materials, or groups of finds raise more intense interest among researchers and general public alike. Object made of precious materials and minerals are particularly attractive, especially if they are recovered from even more attractive contexts such as richly furnished graves or groups of objects found together – hoards. Objects deposited in groups of identical or similar artefacts, particularly if laid into a recipient such as a vessel or a casket, have raised attention for centuries or even longer. Researchers and general audience are equally interested in hoards consisting of precious metals, jewellery, weapons, and principally of coins. In the context of archaeological research and interpretation, hoards consisting of ordinary everyday objects, such as raw and semi-processed materials and tools, also figure prominently. In their form and context, they are similar to hoards containing precious objects, and are therefore intriguing to researchers, since it is expected that some of enduring questions on behaviour of prehistoric people, especially in symbolic domain, will be solved by examining these finds. Ascribing symbolic meaning to hoards has been the constant practice of archaeologists from the times of formation of professional archaeology till today. This text is a review of interpretations of stone and bronze hoards, registered in the region of the valley of Sava, and dated into late Neolithic and Late Bronze Age. The exceptionality of the finds in the perception of archaeologists dictates the archaeological interpretation, not only of the particular find, but also of the whole context. Hoards and depositions, along with many other archaeological assemblages of finds, are mainly interpreted according to the dominant narrative and conceptual framework of prehistoric society as the one of primordial communities, whose every action is imbued by ritual and mystery, at the same time being exceptionally rational in their economic relations.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"54 6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80941207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The aim of the present study lies in an effort of converging anthropological, ethnomusicological and psychological approach to the relationship between music and collective identity. Music is considered a socio-cultural artifact, which mediates the processes of collective identity construction, and whose function in such process can be multiple. In order to understand the ways in which it is sutured into (in)formal processes of collective (self)identification, we propose simultaneous consideration of various dimensions: cultural, social, political, psychological. Although there already has been interdisciplinary research of the role of music in the emergence of identity, we advocate for a more complementary approach, by a consideration of the psychological accounts, adjusted to the needs of ethno-anthropological analysis. As the most comprehensive theoretical approach, we propose cultural psychology of music. Future empirical research on specific identity processes mediation by music as cultural artifact, should include the analysis of intersecting local and global social trends, aspects of musicological analysis, specificities of psychological development of identity, the role of socio-political strategies of identity formation, and, last but not least, cultural specificity of the community in focus of the research. We find the complexity of the phenomenon in focus to be obligatory for the complexity of the theoretical and methodological approach.
{"title":"A Consideration of the Relationship Between Music and Collective Identity: From the Viewpoint of Cultural Psychology of Music","authors":"Ana Đorđević","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.11","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the present study lies in an effort of converging anthropological, ethnomusicological and psychological approach to the relationship between music and collective identity. Music is considered a socio-cultural artifact, which mediates the processes of collective identity construction, and whose function in such process can be multiple. In order to understand the ways in which it is sutured into (in)formal processes of collective (self)identification, we propose simultaneous consideration of various dimensions: cultural, social, political, psychological. Although there already has been interdisciplinary research of the role of music in the emergence of identity, we advocate for a more complementary approach, by a consideration of the psychological accounts, adjusted to the needs of ethno-anthropological analysis. As the most comprehensive theoretical approach, we propose cultural psychology of music. Future empirical research on specific identity processes mediation by music as cultural artifact, should include the analysis of intersecting local and global social trends, aspects of musicological analysis, specificities of psychological development of identity, the role of socio-political strategies of identity formation, and, last but not least, cultural specificity of the community in focus of the research. We find the complexity of the phenomenon in focus to be obligatory for the complexity of the theoretical and methodological approach.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88071090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Heritage management at the local level benefits heritage properties and serves the public interest. By using comparative and interpretative analyses, we argue for the use of the “heritage community” term in current heritage management, and analyse what this expression brings for the role of local authorities. We upgrade this definition with attributes that characterize heritage communities. The paper presents the evolution of the concept of participatory heritage management in the context of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. It tests the relevance of the participatory approach in the heritage field against the theory of social systems. Conclusions comprise principles defining the role of local authorities in facilitating direct participation of heritage communities in heritage management.
{"title":"Heritage Management at the Local Level: Heritage Communities and Role of Local Authorities","authors":"Jelka Pirkovič","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.8","url":null,"abstract":"Heritage management at the local level benefits heritage properties and serves the public interest. By using comparative and interpretative analyses, we argue for the use of the “heritage community” term in current heritage management, and analyse what this expression brings for the role of local authorities. We upgrade this definition with attributes that characterize heritage communities. The paper presents the evolution of the concept of participatory heritage management in the context of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. It tests the relevance of the participatory approach in the heritage field against the theory of social systems. Conclusions comprise principles defining the role of local authorities in facilitating direct participation of heritage communities in heritage management.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86068783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The main thesis of the present article is that cross-gender casting can function as a Brechtian estrangement technique, an approach which denaturalizes gender and other social constructs. The term “cross-gender casting” is preferred to the term “travesty”, which is mainly used by Serbian theatre critics, because it is more precise and refers directly to gender studies. The theoretical framework of our analysis is constituted by theatre and performance studies on the one hand, and gender studies on the other. The concept of performance introduced by Erica Fischer-Lichte helps us to understand the tension between the “phenomenal body” and the “semiotic body” of the performer, which is increased by cross-gender casting. The result of this tension is the phenomenon we call “cross-gender effect”. The new amalgam-body is best described as queer because it is simultaneously perceived as both male and female. The ambivalent impact it has on the audience could be understood through the concepts of otherness and Julia Kristeva’s abjection. In order to explain the difference between male-to-female and female-to-male cross-gender casting, we discuss two Serbian performances: Gospođa Ministarka / Mrs Minister (Boško Buha Theatre, 2013) and Skup (Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2002). The cross-gender effect is more intense in the first example because female physical bodies are generally more easily absorbed by male semiotic bodies. By its capacity to denaturalize “the normal” in the patriarchal worlds of Nušić and Držić, the cross-gender technique brings about new meanings, some of which may even have eluded the creators of the analyzed performances.
本文的主要论点是，跨性别角色扮演可以作为一种布莱希特式的异化技术，一种使性别和其他社会结构变性的方法。“跨性别选角”一词比“滑稽”一词更受欢迎，后者主要由塞尔维亚戏剧评论家使用，因为它更精确，直接涉及性别研究。我们分析的理论框架一方面由戏剧和表演研究构成，另一方面由性别研究构成。Erica Fischer-Lichte引入的表演概念帮助我们理解表演者的“现象体”和“符码体”之间的张力，这种张力因跨性别铸造而加剧。这种紧张的结果就是我们所说的“跨性别效应”。用“酷儿”这个词来形容这个新的混合体再合适不过了，因为它同时被认为是男性和女性。它给观众带来的矛盾影响可以通过他者的概念和茱莉亚·克里斯蒂娃的落魄来理解。为了解释男性对女性和女性对男性跨性别角色的差异，我们讨论了两种塞尔维亚表演:Gospođa Ministarka / Mrs Minister (Boško Buha剧院，2013)和Skup(南斯拉夫戏剧剧院，2002)。在第一个例子中，跨性别效应更为强烈，因为女性的身体通常更容易被男性的符号体所吸收。通过在Nušić和Držić的父权世界中使“正常”变性的能力，跨性别技术带来了新的意义，其中一些甚至可能是被分析的表演的创造者所回避的。
{"title":"Performer’s Body: Cross-Gender Casting as an Estrangement Technique in Theatre","authors":"O. Obradović","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.10","url":null,"abstract":"The main thesis of the present article is that cross-gender casting can function as a Brechtian estrangement technique, an approach which denaturalizes gender and other social constructs. The term “cross-gender casting” is preferred to the term “travesty”, which is mainly used by Serbian theatre critics, because it is more precise and refers directly to gender studies. The theoretical framework of our analysis is constituted by theatre and performance studies on the one hand, and gender studies on the other. The concept of performance introduced by Erica Fischer-Lichte helps us to understand the tension between the “phenomenal body” and the “semiotic body” of the performer, which is increased by cross-gender casting. The result of this tension is the phenomenon we call “cross-gender effect”. The new amalgam-body is best described as queer because it is simultaneously perceived as both male and female. The ambivalent impact it has on the audience could be understood through the concepts of otherness and Julia Kristeva’s abjection. In order to explain the difference between male-to-female and female-to-male cross-gender casting, we discuss two Serbian performances: Gospođa Ministarka / Mrs Minister (Boško Buha Theatre, 2013) and Skup (Yugoslav Drama Theatre, 2002). The cross-gender effect is more intense in the first example because female physical bodies are generally more easily absorbed by male semiotic bodies. By its capacity to denaturalize “the normal” in the patriarchal worlds of Nušić and Držić, the cross-gender technique brings about new meanings, some of which may even have eluded the creators of the analyzed performances.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78828071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper we analyze the different ways in which COVID-19 is used as a carrier of cultural communication, whereupon it appears as a signifier of other socio-cultural phenomena and as a conveyer of messages of such communication. Accordingly, this paper will not observe health plan of COVID-19, nor the accompanying sociological phenomena of the epidemic in the strict sense of the word, but will focus instead on the cultural dimension of the infection. As a cultural phenomenon, the process of the planetary spread of COVID-19 infection – and hence the virus itself – can be viewed as an ambiguous symbol through which the collective experience of reality is constructed and communicated, perceived and interpreted. By relying on the decades-long tradition of Serbian ethnology and anthropology in the modified application of structural-semantic analysis, we define the use of COVID-19 as a symbolic means of cultural communication, here seen as indexical. This means that the said communication is organized on the principle that “A indicates B”, where the signifying A refers to the metaphorical and metonymic use of the disease, and B refers to various social phenomena related to it. As a metonymy, the considered phenomenon can be seen in the light of the classical binary division of purity and danger, whereupon the virus, in the cultural sense, divides the whole social reality into pure (still unpolluted) and impure aspects, one corresponding to the “normal” condition of things, and the other indicating a sense of explicit danger – not only from infection, but from the collapse of the social system and the disintegration of public health and community as well. As a metaphor, we observe the virus in relation to the official political instrumentalization of the discourse of warfare, which – depending on who employs it, and why – generates different notions on the “invisible enemy”, war victims (deceased as a consequence of infection) and “(super) heroes” (primarily, health workers, but also state officials and other public figures). COVID-19 is, however, peculiar because it can also play the role of an inverse sign, by which common cultural concepts and representations are perverted, destabilizing the shared sense of “real” and “normal”.
{"title":"Index “Corona”: Symbolic Employment of COVID-19 in the Public Discourse in Serbia","authors":"M. Pišev, B. Žikić, M. Stajić","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.9","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper we analyze the different ways in which COVID-19 is used as a carrier of cultural communication, whereupon it appears as a signifier of other socio-cultural phenomena and as a conveyer of messages of such communication. Accordingly, this paper will not observe health plan of COVID-19, nor the accompanying sociological phenomena of the epidemic in the strict sense of the word, but will focus instead on the cultural dimension of the infection. As a cultural phenomenon, the process of the planetary spread of COVID-19 infection – and hence the virus itself – can be viewed as an ambiguous symbol through which the collective experience of reality is constructed and communicated, perceived and interpreted. By relying on the decades-long tradition of Serbian ethnology and anthropology in the modified application of structural-semantic analysis, we define the use of COVID-19 as a symbolic means of cultural communication, here seen as indexical. This means that the said communication is organized on the principle that “A indicates B”, where the signifying A refers to the metaphorical and metonymic use of the disease, and B refers to various social phenomena related to it. As a metonymy, the considered phenomenon can be seen in the light of the classical binary division of purity and danger, whereupon the virus, in the cultural sense, divides the whole social reality into pure (still unpolluted) and impure aspects, one corresponding to the “normal” condition of things, and the other indicating a sense of explicit danger – not only from infection, but from the collapse of the social system and the disintegration of public health and community as well. As a metaphor, we observe the virus in relation to the official political instrumentalization of the discourse of warfare, which – depending on who employs it, and why – generates different notions on the “invisible enemy”, war victims (deceased as a consequence of infection) and “(super) heroes” (primarily, health workers, but also state officials and other public figures). COVID-19 is, however, peculiar because it can also play the role of an inverse sign, by which common cultural concepts and representations are perverted, destabilizing the shared sense of “real” and “normal”.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84433120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The text discusses the epistemological problems and dilemmas of the attempts to study religious life in prehistory by archaeological means. Among numerous difficulties, theoretical as well as practical, hindering these attempts, a general problem is discussed here: is archaeology of religion possible and on what grounds? This dilemma raised a series of discussions over the last decades of the 20th century, primarily among the English-speaking archaeologists. However, in the tradition of regional archaeology of Yugoslavian and post-Yugoslavian lands this discussion has not been initiated, and the religious life of the prehistoric communities has not been the subject of particular research interest. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to bring attention to the possibilities and limitations of research into religion in prehistory, referring to the recent discussions in wider archaeological community. Two questions are discussed: firstly, how religion is conceptualized and defined in prehistoric contexts, and secondly, how it is possible to make inferences on religion on the grounds of material remains, if religion is understood in general sense, as belief in supernatural, non-material principles. The text concludes by the suggestion that the holistic approach, advocating that the religious phenomena should be regarded in structural relationship to all other aspects of social life, is productive if this proposition is taken to imply the scrutiny of numerous correlations between religion and other social domains. However, it is not acceptable to deny heuristic and analytic value of the very concept of religion. The importance of research into religious rituals is stressed, i.e. religious behaviour and practices, that are accessible through archaeological record, as opposed to religious principles, beliefs and dogmas. The orientation of archaeological research towards the field of ritual practices presupposes the effort to discern the purpose of a ritual and its outcomes, i.e. to consider the structural intertwining of ritual behaviour with all other aspects of social life, in accordance with the holistic approach.
{"title":"How is Archaeology of Religion Possible?","authors":"Zorica Kuzmanović","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.1","url":null,"abstract":"The text discusses the epistemological problems and dilemmas of the attempts to study religious life in prehistory by archaeological means. Among numerous difficulties, theoretical as well as practical, hindering these attempts, a general problem is discussed here: is archaeology of religion possible and on what grounds? This dilemma raised a series of discussions over the last decades of the 20th century, primarily among the English-speaking archaeologists. However, in the tradition of regional archaeology of Yugoslavian and post-Yugoslavian lands this discussion has not been initiated, and the religious life of the prehistoric communities has not been the subject of particular research interest. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to bring attention to the possibilities and limitations of research into religion in prehistory, referring to the recent discussions in wider archaeological community. Two questions are discussed: firstly, how religion is conceptualized and defined in prehistoric contexts, and secondly, how it is possible to make inferences on religion on the grounds of material remains, if religion is understood in general sense, as belief in supernatural, non-material principles. \u0000The text concludes by the suggestion that the holistic approach, advocating that the religious phenomena should be regarded in structural relationship to all other aspects of social life, is productive if this proposition is taken to imply the scrutiny of numerous correlations between religion and other social domains. However, it is not acceptable to deny heuristic and analytic value of the very concept of religion. The importance of research into religious rituals is stressed, i.e. religious behaviour and practices, that are accessible through archaeological record, as opposed to religious principles, beliefs and dogmas. The orientation of archaeological research towards the field of ritual practices presupposes the effort to discern the purpose of a ritual and its outcomes, i.e. to consider the structural intertwining of ritual behaviour with all other aspects of social life, in accordance with the holistic approach. ","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77315045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scientific interest in the painted pottery of the Starčevo culture in Serbia dates back to the very beginnings of research and the first works on the relative-chronological systematization of the Early and Middle Neolithic of the central Balkans. This paper presents the deconstruction of our established notion of painted ceramics as the ultimate parameter of relative-chronological dating, the most representative material reflection of the cultural identity of the people of Starčevo culture and the highest achievements of Starčevo culture. The paper discusses circumstances and archaeological practices through which this ingrained view and knowledge of painted pottery was formed. The research is based on the analysis of the biography of a painted vessel from the Starčevo-Grad site, having in mind that a detailed life history of an object can shed light on wider phenomena in the archaeological discipline. The aim of this paper is to remind that objects do not have a single essential meaning, but that their meaning shifts and builds through changes in the historical and social context, as well as through changes of actors gathered around certain practices in which the objects are used. The biography of the painted vessel is therefore viewed as a series of assemblages of relations in two planes, through which its identity and layers of meaning were built. The first plane is the Neolithic, in which the focus is on the practices of painting and use, and the second is her life in the role of an archaeological artifact, during which she moves from the sphere of scientific research and musealization to the sphere of negotiating contemporary cultural identities. By applying a new analytical approach, we discovered that this vessel was not very skilfully and carefully painted, and that as such it does not testify to the highest achievements of Starčevo culture, but to a social practice, learning, apprentices and mastering the skill of pottery painting. Therefore, I believe that by reducing painted pottery to relative-chronological parameters and luxury objects, we lose sight of the possibilities through which we can build much more diverse interpretations of the past.
{"title":"Biography of a Painted Wessel from Starčevo: Discovering Layers of Meaning","authors":"Olga Bajčev","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.6","url":null,"abstract":"Scientific interest in the painted pottery of the Starčevo culture in Serbia dates back to the very beginnings of research and the first works on the relative-chronological systematization of the Early and Middle Neolithic of the central Balkans. This paper presents the deconstruction of our established notion of painted ceramics as the ultimate parameter of relative-chronological dating, the most representative material reflection of the cultural identity of the people of Starčevo culture and the highest achievements of Starčevo culture. The paper discusses circumstances and archaeological practices through which this ingrained view and knowledge of painted pottery was formed. The research is based on the analysis of the biography of a painted vessel from the Starčevo-Grad site, having in mind that a detailed life history of an object can shed light on wider phenomena in the archaeological discipline. The aim of this paper is to remind that objects do not have a single essential meaning, but that their meaning shifts and builds through changes in the historical and social context, as well as through changes of actors gathered around certain practices in which the objects are used. The biography of the painted vessel is therefore viewed as a series of assemblages of relations in two planes, through which its identity and layers of meaning were built. The first plane is the Neolithic, in which the focus is on the practices of painting and use, and the second is her life in the role of an archaeological artifact, during which she moves from the sphere of scientific research and musealization to the sphere of negotiating contemporary cultural identities. By applying a new analytical approach, we discovered that this vessel was not very skilfully and carefully painted, and that as such it does not testify to the highest achievements of Starčevo culture, but to a social practice, learning, apprentices and mastering the skill of pottery painting. Therefore, I believe that by reducing painted pottery to relative-chronological parameters and luxury objects, we lose sight of the possibilities through which we can build much more diverse interpretations of the past.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"72 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84496131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Archaeology in the countries which belonged to Yugoslavia (1918–1991) was mosaic of different traditions. The development of archaeology was greatly affected by political changes in the last 150 years; all of them required significant re-contextualisation of the discipline and its practice. The renewal of archaeology after the Second World War, in the context of Socialist Yugoslavia, acted on both levels, in building-up the existing national (republican) archaeological disciplinary frameworks, and in forging ‘new’ common Yugoslav archaeology. Key role in this process played the Archaeological Society of Yugoslavia, established in 1950 as the principal coordinating scholarly organisation in the country. The Society’s immediate task was to create conditions for the cooperation of all archaeologists in the country, including the international promotion of the (new) Yugoslav archaeology. Despite having less than 100 archaeologists in the 1950s, the Society designed very ambitious program of ‘internationalisation’ (e.g. exchange of publications, participation at the international conferences, grants, invitation to foreign scholars, special publications published exclusively in foreign languages etc.) which proved highly successful in a very short time. The peak of these endeavours was participation at the 1st International Congress of Slavic Archaeology in Warsaw (1965) and organisation of the 8th Congress of the UISPP in Belgrade (1971); the event which could not be organised without intensive promotion and networking of the Yugoslav archaeologists in the international academic arena in the 1950s and 1960s.
{"title":"Internationalisation as a Long-Term Strategic Project of the Post-War Renewal of the Yugoslav Archaeology (1950–1971)","authors":"Črtomir Lorber, P. Novakovic","doi":"10.21301/EAP.V15I3.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V15I3.3","url":null,"abstract":"Archaeology in the countries which belonged to Yugoslavia (1918–1991) was mosaic of different traditions. The development of archaeology was greatly affected by political changes in the last 150 years; all of them required significant re-contextualisation of the discipline and its practice. The renewal of archaeology after the Second World War, in the context of Socialist Yugoslavia, acted on both levels, in building-up the existing national (republican) archaeological disciplinary frameworks, and in forging ‘new’ common Yugoslav archaeology. Key role in this process played the Archaeological Society of Yugoslavia, established in 1950 as the principal coordinating scholarly organisation in the country. The Society’s immediate task was to create conditions for the cooperation of all archaeologists in the country, including the international promotion of the (new) Yugoslav archaeology. Despite having less than 100 archaeologists in the 1950s, the Society designed very ambitious program of ‘internationalisation’ (e.g. exchange of publications, participation at the international conferences, grants, invitation to foreign scholars, special publications published exclusively in foreign languages etc.) which proved highly successful in a very short time. The peak of these endeavours was participation at the 1st International Congress of Slavic Archaeology in Warsaw (1965) and organisation of the 8th Congress of the UISPP in Belgrade (1971); the event which could not be organised without intensive promotion and networking of the Yugoslav archaeologists in the international academic arena in the 1950s and 1960s.","PeriodicalId":43531,"journal":{"name":"Etnoantropoloski Problemi-Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88273290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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