Category: Blog

1. Home /
2. Archives /
3. Vol 16 No 1 (2022) /
4. Articles

In this essay, I describe and discuss the ways in which tradition is demonstrated, staged and understood in Kosova restaurants. After the 1999 war in Kosova, restaurants emerged as new places, privately public and publicly private, that display local aspirations and intentions to re-invent the roots of tradition and construct routes to Europe. In addition, they illustrate the intention to modernise, and provide routines for social life and conviviality. Within the context of gastronationalism and culinary diversity, I use local language derived concepts such as katunopia and sofraisation to argue that Kosova gastronomy is undergoing continuous change and transformation characterised by a process of searching, combining, inventing and re-vitalising ‘tradition’ to build a new culinary identity.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 3.0.2.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License.

1. Home /
2. Archives /
3. Vol 16 No 1 (2022) /
4. Articles

The article presents the results of textual studies of the early recordings of the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho, recorded from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that scientific research of the texts of the early recordings of Olonkho with full broadcasts of the plot is most widely, systematically carried out. At the same time, researchers today continue to pay less attention to early recordings of Olonkho, producing brief or incomplete schematic statements of content. A review of early texts on Olonkho shows that these reviews have incomplete, overly concise, summaries of the plot, although they do confirm the stability of the ancient thematic content, plot structure, motifs, and image system. The richness of the poetic language and the beauty of the style, and the surprisingly artistic content and archaic motifs, which can be seen even in translations, are of considerable value for establishing a full picture of the unique oral creativity of the Yakut people. This study attempts for the first time to systematise transcriptions of early recordings of Olonkho using a summary of the plot in Russian compared with a summary of the plot in the original language. The systematised texts will be used in a comparative study of Olonkho texts recorded in the 19th and 20th centuries. This analysis shows that there has been a transfer of plot with epic texts of the late period in order to maintain a degree of continuity, using both common and specific features to bridge between traditional and modern forms of Olonkho, taking into account regional and local features. 

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

1. Home /
2. Archives /
3. Vol 16 No 1 (2022) /
4. Articles

In this case study I offer an insight into the activity of an association for local traditions in a Hungarian village. In addition, I provide some general analytical frames for the examination of such tradition-based locality projects. The field of the observation is Kóny, a village in north-west Hungary. Its peasant traditions – especially the famous male dance, Kóny verbunk – were re-contextualised from time to time in the 20th century. The latest, recent, wave of re-construction concentrates on the systematic (re-)valorisation of locality by highlighting its former peasant traditions and the vernacularisation of the concept of heritage. While the organising work means a new, shared everyday practice for the association’s members, performing the traditions in the public space offers the villagers an occasion to reinforce local identity and identify with the locality.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

1. Home /
2. Archives /
3. Vol 16 No 1 (2022) /
4. Articles

This article examines the changing meaning and status of colostrum in Estonian food culture, relying on data drawn from ethnographic archives and historical sources, cookbooks, and the media. From seasonal food consumed by both Estonian peasants and the Baltic German elite it has been transformed into a modern functional food. The study provides a lens through which to examine the economic, social, and cultural factors that have shaped the modernisation of food culture in Estonia as well as contemporary interpretations of food heritage.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union Russians had to search for a new identity. This was viewed as an urgent task by ethnic Russian nationalists, who were dreaming of a ‘pure Russian country’, or at least of the privileged status of ethnic Russians within the Russian state. To mobilise people they picked up the obsolete Aryan myth rooted in both occult teachings and Nazi ideology and practice. I will analyse the main features of the contemporary Russian Aryan myth developed by radical Russian intellectuals. While rejecting medieval and more recent Russian history as one of oppression implemented by ‘aliens’, the advocates of the Aryan myth are searching for a Golden Age in earlier epochs. They divide history into two periods: initially the great Aryan civilisation and civilising activity successfully developed throughout the world, after which a period of decline began. An agent of this decline is identified as the Jews, or ‘Semites’, who deprived the Aryans of their great achievements and pushed them northwards. The Aryans are identified as the Slavs or Russians, who suffer from alien treachery and misdeeds. The myth seeks to replace former Marxism with racism and contributes to contemporary xenophobia. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

1. Home /
2. Archives /
3. Vol 6 No 2 (2012) /
4. Articles

In this paper, I explore how contemporary American practitioners of belly dance (as Middle Eastern dance and its many varieties are often called in the English-speaking world) conceptualize not only the spiritual dimensions of their dance, but also how the very notion of performance affects sacred and spiritual dance practices. Drawing on interviews with this community, I describe the techniques of sacred and spiritual belly dancers, how these dancers theorize performance, and how the conflicts inherent to patriarchal mind-body dualism are resolved in these practices. My purpose here is twofold: to document an emergent dance tradition and to analyze its meanings in the relevant social context.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

Tura is a mixed community where Evenks live alongside other indigenous groups and Russians. The establishment of Evenk autonomy, with the centre in Tura, in 1930 strengthened Evenk ethnic identity and unity through increased political and cultural representation, as well as through the integration of migrants from other regions. In the post-Soviet period, the community witnessed a population loss, a declining socio-economic situation, and the abolition of autonomy. In the long course of reforms and identity construction, the indigenous intelligentsia has manipulated the concept of belonging to the land either to stress or to erase cultural differences, and thus, to secure the access of the local elite to valuable resources. currently, the most hotly debated boundaries are those dividing Evenks into local and migrant, authentic and unauthentic, urban and rural. The paper illustrates the intricate interrelations between ethnic, indigenous, and territorial identities from an identity politics perspective.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

1. Home /
2. Archives /
3. Vol 3 No 1 (2009) /
4. Articles

This article discusses recent changes in Catholic festivities, especially the system of fiestas in rural Mexico. The ethnographic focus of the discussion is on indigenous Zapotec communities of the State of Oaxaca. Collective religious practices in Mexican villages contribute to social cohesion. Fiestas commemorating patron saints of the villages play a particularly important role in (re)constructing communal identity and the feeling of collective belongingness. Various global processes like secularisation, integration of local economies into the capitalist market system, increasing out-migration from villages, and the rise of Protestantism have undermined the position of the Catholic Church in the region. The article scrutinises the changing organisation and role of fiestas in the communities, concluding that the impact of secularisation, migration and Protestantism in particular is not simple and always negative – these changes can actually invigorate certain dimensions of the fiestas.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

@article{JEF, author = {Antonina Koryakina}, title = { A Systematisation of Transcriptions of Early Olonkho Recordings According to Plot Peculiarity}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {16}, number = {1}, year = {2022}, keywords = {}, abstract = {The article presents the results of textual studies of the early recordings of the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho, recorded from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that scientific research of the texts of the early recordings of Olonkho with full broadcasts of the plot is most widely, systematically carried out. At the same time, researchers today continue to pay less attention to early recordings of Olonkho, producing brief or incomplete schematic statements of content. A review of early texts on Olonkho shows that these reviews have incomplete, overly concise, summaries of the plot, although they do confirm the stability of the ancient thematic content, plot structure, motifs, and image system. The richness of the poetic language and the beauty of the style, and the surprisingly artistic content and archaic motifs, which can be seen even in translations, are of considerable value for establishing a full picture of the unique oral creativity of the Yakut people. This study attempts for the first time to systematise transcriptions of early recordings of Olonkho using a summary of the plot in Russian compared with a summary of the plot in the original language. The systematised texts will be used in a comparative study of Olonkho texts recorded in the 19th and 20th centuries. This analysis shows that there has been a transfer of plot with epic texts of the late period in order to maintain a degree of continuity, using both common and specific features to bridge between traditional and modern forms of Olonkho, taking into account regional and local features. }, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {135–152}, url = {https://jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/434} }