The protection of the cultural heritage is one of the extremely current topics in the process of the formation of different identities, cultural politics and development strategies of the contemporary world. This is the reason why it is crucial to analyze on the one hand the way in which cultural heritage is defined and used, and on the other hand to research what is excluded from the process of preserving and representing the past experiences (in the other words, what is not cultural heritage). This theme unquestionably speaks about the ways in which the state, or any other type of community, wants to represent itself - to the others, and to its own members. Therefore the research of shaping, preserving and presenting what is considered to be cultural heritage is totally discursive, and consequently changeable. Accordingly, diachronic analysis of the way in which cultural heritage is conceptualized, gives the answers to the following questions: what did we want to be in certain periods (how did we want to look like) and how the strategies of identity and representation did change, as well as in which ways were they carried out in the legislation and in practice.
The special emphasis in this complex project will be on the discourses through which the images of the past have been constructed, and on the ways in which they correspond with the contemporary popular/high cultural patterns.
Leader: Lјiljana Gavrilović
Researchers: Miroslava Lukić-Krstanović, Lada Stevanović, Zorica Divac, Miroslava Malešević, Ivan Đorđević, Srđan Radović, Vesna Trifunović, Jovana Diković, Sonja Žakula, Marina Simić, Bojana Bogdanović.
Multiethnicity and migrations, together with multiculturalism as one of »identity policies«, are strikingly important problems of contemporary world at the global level. Social organization of multiethnicities, multicultural policy, migrations which contribute ethic and cultural non-homogeneity, pose, above else, the questions of belonging / not-belonging, collective and individual rights and collective and individual identities. These questions essentially challenge the way in which nation state has been understood and has functioned from the 19th century until today. Both in Serbia and in the surrounding region, these questions are attributed with certain specificities depending on social-cultural context. The project shall deal with these issues from the perspective of ethnology – social and cultural anthropology, meaning that it shall focus on cultural processes, primarily the processes of construction of identities, everyday culture and life and subjective experiences of the protagonists in these complex processes. The aim of the project is to monitor various meanings and functions of (multi)ethnicity and migrations in post-socialism, i.e. in the time of transition, globalization and Euro-integration, first of all of the Serbian society. The focus of research on the society of Serbia in no way excludes other questions which enable comparisons and parallels involving the region, as well as the question of the diaspora – particularly the wave of emigration from Serbia / Yugoslavia during the 1990s and, in final instance, observation of ethnicity and migrations in the global context.
Leader: Mladena Prelić
Researchers: Miroslava Lukić-Krstanović, Mirjana Pavlović, Jadranka Đorđević Crnobrnja, Gordana Blagojević, Sanja Zlatanović, Miroslav Niškanović, Aleksandar Krel, Marta Stojić, Goran Bašić, Jelena Tošić
A revival of religion at the end of the 20th cent. was for the most part, an unexpected event. This is supported by a review of the past circumstances- the intellectual heritage of the past, two centuries long modernization paradigm based on principles of rationalism and secularization, as well on the faith about unlimited progress and human potential. An epilogue of moderna, reflected in negotiation of boundaries and creation of global market and economic and cultural capital, has gained its counterbalance in a return of religious concepts to the historical scene. Multifaceted meanings, complexity and often, a dramatic tone of the return reflected the crisis of the sense of the cotemporary world.
In Serbia, this return to religion was especially intensive during the 1990's. This process could be reviewed at the two basic levels. Firstly, the return signified an increase in interests about mystical and occult knowledge, which has brought about an expansion of Eastern cults and meditation techniques, divination and related alternative medical practices. However, the mainstream of the religion revival refers to the return of the Serbian Orthodox Church into the public scene as well as an increased significance of the Orthodox teachings. At the level of individual, this designated an increase of participation in church rituals and higher frequency of practices of the traditional religious rituals within families. At the collective level, this process assumed a formation of new patterns of collective identity, suggested, supported and constructed mainly from "above"; a closer alliance of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the state aided to this. Furthermore, the church was often an organizer or one of the main participants in different public events- protests, rallies, manifestations etc.
Leader: Aleksandra Pavićević
Researchers: Dragana Radojičić, Jelena Čvorović, Ivica Todorović, Milina Ivanović-Barišić, Milesa Stefanović Banović, Marijana Mitrović, Đurđina Šijaković, Branko Ćupurdija, Milica Bakić Hayden, Jelena Čvorović, Mihailo Smiljanić, Nina Aksić.
Leader: Dragana Radojičić
Subproject: Ethnological and anthropological readings of traditions.
The focus of the subproject is on decoding and analyzing traditions and identities in Serbia and the surrounding regions, including models and strategies that have helped to define, keep and transform the particular traditions, under the influence of history and societal pressures. The analyzed and interpreted data on cultural heritage and identity practices will be presented in the encyclopedic part of the digital Lexicon of Serbian Culture and in anticipated scientific papers, to be integrated with the internet library. The research will include: concepts of tradition in the past and present; everyday life, rituals and customs, mythology, religion and new religions, identity and cultural practices in the rural and urban cultures and subcultures at the local, national and regional level; gender identities, media and identity practices; dualism and parallelism of the customary and civic law, folk and alternative medicine, demography and reproductive strategies, collective memory patterns; models of the cultural and morphological variations between different populations, range of variables and variations of the cultural and biological characteristics, analysis of the social and micro-evolutionary processes that have caused them, especially migrations.
Subproject leader: Milina Ivanović-Barišić
Researchers: Dragana Radojičić, Aleksandra Pavićević, Lada Stevanović, Ivica Todorović, Ivica Todorović, Milesa Stefanović Banović, Branislav Pantović, Vesna Trifunović, Toma Tasovac, Đurđina Šijaković, Đorđina Trubarac Matić, Nina Aksić, Petrija Jovičić.
The archived field data collected in Prizren, owned by the Library of the Institute of Ethnography SASA, which dates back around 60 years has not yet been systematized.
The research which led to the data was conducted not only by ethnologists, but also by scholars in different, related disciplines (sociology, architecture, musicology and others). The research team for the monograph on Prizren consisted of prominent scholars such as Vojislav Radovanović, Dušan Nedeljković, Borivoje Drobnjaković, Mirko Barjaktarović, Hristifor Crnilović, Petar Vlahović, Srebrica Knežević, Milka Jovanović, Vidosava Nikolić Stojančević, Mark Krasnići, Dragoslav Dević, Milica Ilijin, Branislav Kojić, Branko Maksimović, Slobodan Nenadović, Zoran Petrović, Branko Milenković, Milisav Lutovac, Cvetko Kostić, Petar Šobajić, Radoslav Pavlović, Darinka Zečević, Željko Kumar, Vladimir Đurić, Leposava Žunić, Rada Marković and others.
The project refers to the digitalization of archived data collected in the field in Prizren, owned by the Institute of Ethnography SASA, and its publication as part of the digital platform http://prepis.org. Digitalization implies the transfer of ethnographic notes, photographs, negatives, tape recordings, video cassettes, manuscripts, geographic and topographic maps, sheet music and music scores into digital format according to archival principles. The variety of data owned by the Institute of Ethnography SASA allows for multifaceted research and multidisciplinary connections: on the culture of living (blueprints of houses), food culture, the typology of dances and songs (tape recordings and sheet music), crafts and customs of larger ethnic communities, linguistics (etymology, onomastics), history (oral history) in the former Prizren area. Certain segments of the data will be systematized into collections, for example personal collections (A. Deroko) and will interact with other types of data, which will enable it to be used both as scientific data and to be displayed to the public through exhibitions and publications. The electronic database of ethnographic notes and archival data will enable future generations of researchers to get to know the existing data and the principles behind it. This will further the approach to this branch of science through practical training for the entry of new ethnographic data into the database and the use of the data which is already stored in it.
Leader: Dragana Radojičić
Banat is a region characterized by a distinctive cultural diversity (ethnic, linguistic, religious...). So far, research in ethnology and other related disciplines has pointed to, among other things, the wealth of intangible cultural heritage, such as customs and rituals, folklore etc. The aim of this project is to – through researching the wider cultural context such as the network of various identities, cultures, traditions – isolate, document, analyze and present those elements of intangible cultural heritage which are considered especially significant by the local communities as well as by the experts in the relevant fields. It may ensue that some of the cultural elements are not only significant and specific as valuable heritage of particular ethnic groups that comprise the multi-ethnic community of the Banat region, but also those that transcend their individual boundaries and which are, to the contrary, the result of inter-ethnic communication and cohabitation of these entities. Researches will pay special attention to the non-material elements of cultural heritage which are the specific local product of cultural borrowing and acculturation among different ethnic cultures.
The aim of this project is also to help raise community members’ awareness of their cultural values, which could, in turn, help protect the heritage in the field. In addition, another specific goal of the project is to isolate the most valuable elements which would be suggested for protection at the national level and consequently for inclusion into the National Registry of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Serbia.
Leader: Mladena Prelić
Researchers: Miroslava Lukić-Krstanović, Mirjana Pavlović, Gordana Blagojević, Sanja Zlatanović, Aleksandar Krel;
External researcher: Biljana Sikimić (Institute for Balkan Studies SASA)
The second half of the 20th century was marked by social processes-urbanization, modernization, secularization, de-secularization, transition- all of which initiated radical changes in traditional culture. The significance of the project lies in noticing changes in the way of life in traditional/modern, rural and urban environments, and as a consequence of political, economic and social processes. Research on the project will include a) observing specific historical processes and events during the second half of the 20th century with an emphasis on the 1990s, b) implications on social-legal and economic-political processes in relation to the institutions of society c) observing cultural dis/continuity between traditional and modern cultural concepts under the influence of external factors (globalization, integration, transition, socio-political events in Serbia) with the aim of establishing factors of cause and consequences and their influence on legal and economic policy measures as well as changes within the institutions of society through studying of housing, marriage and family, youth, family relations, and religion. Synchronic and diachronic research of changes initiated by cultural and social processes with a multidisciplinary and comparative approach will enable an overview of transformational and transitional processes in anthropological studies of Serbian society with an emphasis on the second half of the 20th century.
Project leader: Dragana Radojičić, PhD
Researchers: Ivicа Todorović, Jаdrаnkа Đorđević, Miroslаvа Mаlešević, Lаstа Đаpović, Milinа Ivаnović-Bаrišić, Aleksаndrа Pаvićević, LJiljаnа Gаvrilović, Zoricа Divаc, Mаrijаnа Mitrović, Ivаnа Grubišić
The project examines the development of systems/forms of cultural communication in different cultures in Serbia, their connection to the social structure and types of cultural environment. The project includes the study of communities with an oral tradition (on the example of Romani people and Vlachs) and contemporary popular culture in Serbia. Through the comparative analysis of these different cultural types, it will be possible to establish variations and similarities between the group orientation and understanding of time as an “event” in Roma`s and Vlach`s oral cultures versus the assumed individual orientation and understanding of time as an linear concept in contemporary culture in Serbia. The project will also analyse the phases of deconstruction/reconstruction and the establishment/development of interaction systems within cultures with the oral tradition and popular culture. The aim of this approach is to explain how people receive and use information and how they use different forms of communication as a basis for creating a social/cultural identity. The social behaviour that surrounds the creation and the use of communication “products” is the key to understanding culture as a system of communication regulated by a social system. Through a comparative analysis of communities with oral and written tradition, the project will show how meanings adopted and transferred by different forms of communication shape the identity of the participants, their view of the world and social engagement, as well as how different forms of communication create, transfer and maintain relations of power, gender and morality within cultural groups.
Project leader: Jelena Čvorović, PhD
Researchers: Ljiljаnа Gаvrilović, Miroslаvа Lukić-Krstаnović, Miroslаvа Mаlešević, Aleksаndrа Pаvićević, Ivаn Đorđević, Srđаn Rаdović, Vesnа Trifunović, Slаvoljub Gаcović, Gorаn Štrkalj
The primary goal of the project is to contribute to the understanding of the meaning and perspectives of multi-ethnicity in the modern world, especially in Serbia and the regions of the Balkans/Southeastern Europe, with an emphasis on the problems of ethnic minorities, their position and the processes of ethnic identification. The research will include cultural as well as political and legal dimensions of the problem, that is, their interaction. The focus would primarily be on the problems related to the symbolic construction and representation of minority as well as majority identities; problems of their homogeneity, relativity and multiplicity; for the position of ethnic minorities, both those with an acknowledged status and those disputed or “invisible”; interethnic communication and conflict; responses of ethnic groups to modern processes of transition, Europeanization, globalization; power relations between the majority- the minority, that is, the ethnic group- the state; as well as all the issues of minority rights and the relationship between the community of citizens and the ethnic group, which today questions the 19th-century concept of the state and rights (sovereignty, legitimacy, loyalty, self-determination…) and open numerous questions regarding the democratic foundation of the consociation of different ethnic groups within one state/society.
Project leader: corresponding member of the SASA Vojislav Stanovčić
Researchers: Mlаdenа Prelić, Sаnjа Zlаtаnović, Mirjаnа Pаvlović, Miroslаvа Lukić-Krstаnović, Miroslаv Niškаnović, Aleksаndаr Krel, Gordаnа Blаgojević, Mаrtа Stojić, Dušаn Drljаčа
During 2002, the SASA Institute of Ethnography continued its numerous activities related to work on the new, three-year-long projects, the implementation of which began in 2002. Upon the request of the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, the program objectives and work plan of the SASA Institute of Ethnography for the year 2002 were submitted, within the application for fundamental scientific research projects of the Ministry. The Institute applied and submitted complete documentation and presentations of topics and research goals for two projects:
1. Traditional culture of Serbs- presentation systems, rituals and social institutions (project leader Lasta Đapović, PhD), which deals with the monographic study of certain segments of traditional culture and smaller geographic units in Serbia and ethnicity of Serbs in diaspora.
2. Contemporary rural and urban culture- roads and transformation (project leader Dragana Radojičić, PhD), which deals with the research of new living conditions and forms of traditional culture both in the village and in the city, which have been changed or transformed into new.
Work on both projects includes a multidisciplinary and comparative approach to research, and 16 researchers of the SASA Institute of Ethnography as well as three retired senior research associates will be working on these projects. In addition to researchers, the library and professional services have been engaged in the projects.
These projects form the backbone of the work of the Institute in the future.
The work of the SASA IE on existing projects represents the basis for the future soundings and research of the ethnic image of the current Serbia, which would be aimed at presenting the cultural reality and finding ways to stabilize it.
2011- 2013 Cooperation between the Faculty of Design and Communication of University of Palermo from Buenos Aires and the Institute of Ethnography of SASA
The project result of this cooperation is one publication named "Nаcionаlni identitet: Predstаvljаnje elemenаtа kulture u Argentini i Srbiji; La identidad nacional: Representaciones culturales en Argentina y Serbia" .
The disintegration of Yugoslavia and the emergence of new countries changed radically the position of Serbs in Slovenia and of Slovenians in Serbia: they became citizens of new, “ethnically” constituted countries. The consequences are also visible in the perception of this position and in the (cultural) identity of emigrant communities, which serve as the subject of this research project.
The identities and self-receptions of Serbs in Slovenia and Slovenians in Serbia are contextual phenomena, whcih change and reconceptualize because of their inner dynamics inside the migrant gorups, as well as because of the attitude of the states (both domicile as well as the one of origin) towards these groups. Thus for example, in summer 2010, the formal situation of Slovenians in Serbia changed, as the National Council of the Slovenian national minority in the Republic of Serbia was elected, thereby enacting the Slovenian national minority in the Republic of Serbia, a change to its legal position and funding of its operations.
The identity and self-perceptions of Serbs in Slovenia and Slovenians in Serbia in their “shared” history have always been co-created by numerous social, cultural, political, economic, and other factors. Based on these starting points, the project is aimed at exploring the chosen topics, i.e. various ways, by means of which individuals and groups in both national environments re-live their belonging – be it to the Slovenianness, Serbianness, Yugoslavianness or something hybrid. Particular attention will be paid to experiencing and marking the ethnic/national belonging, identities ascribed mutually and specific experiences of Yugoslavianness before and after 1991.
The aim of the project is to continue renewed scientific cooperation between institutes in Ljubljana and Beograd, but also to enlarge it. Namely, Slovenian side includes also experts from the Slovenian Migration Institute (SRC SASA).
In the long term, the research aims at ensuring a better understanding of everyday and symbolic practices in a multi-national/multi-cultural environment, and a contribution to a tolerant intercultural dialogue. The indirect effect of the research will be applicable in marketing, tourism, in appropriate public use of national symbols (e.g. food, memorials, tourist souvenirs and symbols, the policy of space, collective notions and myths, the policy of identity and related discourses), and in the flow of findings into university education and related research projects.
Prof. Dr Maja Godina Golija
Dr Lada Stevanović
Project results:
Serbs and Slovenians: migrants, meeting of people, ideas and ideologies and Serbo-Slovenian relations, in GEI SANU, LXIV, 2016.