Cultural and Academic Contacts – Serbs and Slovenians between the 19th and 21st Centuries

One of the objectives of the proposed joint project of the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology SRC SASA and the Institute of Ethnology of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (Belgrade) is to at least partly fill the gap in cooperation between Slovenian and Serbian scholars that occurred after 1990. This tumultuous period, which brought a complete turnabout of the citizen status of Serbs in Slovenia and of Slovenians in Serbia, limited contacts between Slovenia and Serbia. These events profoundly influenced everyday lifestyles of both groups and their perception of their own position and cultural identity in view of new circumstances. It is the principal aim of this study to investigate these changes and issues. Slovenian researchers plan their research work along two lines: 1. Research of selected segments of cultural heritage and of the present situation of Slovenians living in Serbia (parallels in folk narrative, Slovenian Society »Sava« in Belgrade) 2. Scientific parallels: comparative research of the history, methodology, theory, and practice of ethnology (academic contacts between Slovenian and Serbian intellectuals in the 18th and 19th centuries; parallels and divergences in ethnology and folklore studies in the 20th century; comparative research on visual production). Researchers plan an international conference in Serbia (2009) and a common publication (2010).