Rok Mrvič is a researcher at the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology ZRC SAZU. He earned his PhD in folklore studies at the ZRC SAZU Postgraduate School. Using interdisciplinary approaches, he studies the historical development of folklore genres in the Slovenian and broader Slavic cultural and linguistic space, while also tracing individual folklore elements and their genre patterns in contemporary everyday life, including digital environments. He is particularly interested in how new cultural phenomena emerge at the intersections of older and newer folklore genres, how people understand fragments of oral tradition, and how they adapt them to new contexts and functions in contemporary settings.
Rok Mrvič conducts his research at the intersection of ethnology, folkloristics, paremiology, and phraseology. Drawing on cultural semiotics, he develops new theoretical models for folklore genres, with the aim of filling gaps in Slovenian folkloristic scholarship. His doctoral research produced a model of the genre of verbal bonds, which provides a methodological basis for further study of short folklore genres and for building digital databases that bring together archival materials and contemporary fieldwork.
His broader research interests include how social and cultural change shapes the folklore repertoires of individuals, how narrative and mythological motifs survive and transform in the figurative language of everyday speech, and questions of linguistic heritage within the field of intangible cultural heritage.
Rok is active in both Slovenian and international scholarly communities, with a particular focus on underexplored folklore genres and expressions in contemporary communication. He wishes to develop this area through his role as co-coordinator of the Short Folklore Forms Working Group of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research. He presents his work regularly at international conferences in folkloristics and paremiology, and has completed academic and professional training in Moscow (2020), Tartu (2022), and Helsinki (2022).
2025. Co-author Matej Meterc. The Best Known and Frequently Used Slovene Proverbs According to Chatgpt-4o: Exploring the Potential for an AI-Based Paremiological Minimum. In Phraseology in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities, eds. Erika Kržišnik, Daša Stanič, Urška Valenčič Arh. Linguistica 65 (1): 127–143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4312/linguistica.65.1.127-143.
2025. Co-author Saša Poljak Istenič. Podoba prašiča v slovenskem pregovornem izročilu na razkrižju vrednosti in vrednot [The Image of the Pig in Slovenian Proverbial Tradition at the Crossroads of Worth and Values]. Glasnik Slovenskega etnološkega društva 65 (2): 80–93. URL: https://cdn2.domdesign.com/users/SEDDrustvo/Site/sites/sed-drustvo.si/modules/Domino/Files/glasnik-slovenskega-etnoloskega-drustva-65-2-2025.pdf.
2024. Zaveze človeka s hudičem v slovenskem pripovednem izročilu: najvidnejši odrazi folklornega motiva [Human Pacts with the Devil in Slovenian Narrative Tradition: The Most Prominent Manifestations of a Folklore Motif]. In Jezik in književnost v spreminjanju, eds. Jožica Jožef Beg, Mia Hočevar, Neža Kočnik, 109–121. Ljubljana: Zveza društev Slavistično društvo Slovenije. URL: https://zdsds.si/tiski/kongresni_zborniki/#flipbook-df_7786/1.
2024. Co-author Matej Meterc. Cross-Genre Analysis of Paremiological Prolongations in Slovenian According to Permjakov’s Distinction Between Extension and Addition. Proverbium 41 (1): 22–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29162/pv.41.1.566.
2024. Co-author Matej Meterc. Zgradbene in pomenske značilnosti slovenskih velerizmov iz zbirke Pregovori [Structural and Semantic Features of Slovenian Wellerisms in the Largest Slovenian Proverb Collection]. Slavistična revija 72 (2): 113–129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.57589/srl.v72i2.4183.
2024. Besedne zaveze v slovenskem folklornem sistemu: semiotični oris žanrskega okvira [Verbal Bonds in the Slovenian Folklore System: A Semiotic Outline of the Genre Framework]. Studia mythologica Slavica 27: 101–124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/SMS20242708.
2024. Co-editors Saša Babič, Nataša Jakop. Paremiologija med tradicijo in sodobnostjo / Paremiology between tradition and innovation. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/9789610508861.
2024. Slovensko pregovorno izročilo o besednih zavezah: pregled kontekstualnih dejavnikov v izbranih paremioloških enotah [Slovene proverbial lore on verbal bonds: An overview of contextual factors in selected paremiological units]. V Paremiologija med tradicijo in sodobnostjo, ur. Saša Babič, Nataša Jakop, Rok Mrvič, 107–122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/9789610508861_07.
2022. Co-editors Barbara Ivančič Kutin, Monika Kropej Telban. Folklorno gradivo iz Tera – 1940. Terenski zapisi Milka Matičetovega [Folklore Material from Ter/Torre – 1940. Field Research Notes by Milko Matičetov]. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/9789610506416.
2022. Materinščina kot dediščina? Problematika jezikovne dediščine na primeru vpisov v Register nesnovne kulturne dediščine [Mother Language as Intangible Cultural Heritage? The Problem of Linguistic Heritage on the Example of Inscriptions in the Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage]. Traditiones 51 (1): 69–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/Traditio2022510104.
2021. Co-author Špela Zupančič. 2021. Tri spletne aplikacije o slovenskih narečjih [Three Online Applications on Slovenian Dialects]. Slovenščina 2.0 9 (1): 236–261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4312/slo2.0.2021.1.236-261.
- Culturality: CULTUral heritage in RurAL remote areas for creative tourism and sustainabiliTY (fundamental research project • April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2028)
- Language, culture and values: economic images of everyday life in folklore forms (October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2026)
- Humorous Folklore in everyday life (bilateral project • January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2026)
- AlpTextyles - Collaborative solutions for a heritage & consumer sensitive relocalization of sustainable, circular, and innovative Alpine textile value chains (applied project • November 1, 2022 - October 31, 2025)
- Traditional Paremiological Units in Dialogue with Contemporary Use (research project • September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2023)
- Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Association of Slovenian Slavistic Societies (2026)
- editorial and technical work: Traditiones and Slavistična revija (Slavic Review Ljubljana)
- coordinator of the international Working Group on Short Folklore Forms at the ISFNR (Short Folklore Forms Working Group)
- president of the Posavje Slavistic Society (SDP)
- member of the Executive Board of the Association of Slovenian Slavistic Societies (ZSSD)
- member of Société Internationale d´Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF)
- member of International Association for Semiotic Studies (AISS-IAS)
- member of International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR)
- member of Associação Internacional de Paremiologia (AIP-IAP)