Saša Babič is a researcher at the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, ZRC SAZU. After studying Slovene language and literature and Russian language and literature at the University of Ljubljana, she obtained her PhD in Slovenian folklore studies within the field of older Slovene literature at the University of Ljubljana. She further trained at international research institutions in Tartu and Dublin. She presents her scientific results at academic conferences, in scholarly journals and monographs, and connects them with her work in international scientific associations. Since 2023, she has been the Head of the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, ZRC SAZU. As an assistant professor in the fields of folklore studies and mythology, she teaches at the ZRC SAZU Postgraduate School and at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.
Saša Babič’s main research areas are folklore studies and ethnolinguistics. She primarily studies folklore forms, i.e. greetings, curses, proverbs, riddles, charms, prayers, etc., from the perspectives of use and cultural meaning, as well as within the framework of folklore events and communication. Her material is drawn from archives for diachronic comparative research and from fieldwork, mainly to obtain contemporary material and insight into its present-day integration into society for synchronic research. She is particularly interested in contemporary uses and adaptations of various folklore forms, their functions, temporal transformations, and intentional modifications.
Among her most important achievements are the monographs “Beseda ni konj. Estetska struktura slovenskih folklornih obrazcev” (“A Word Is Not a Horse: The Aesthetic Structure of Slovene Folklore Forms”) and “Uganke na Slovenskem” (“Riddles in Slovenia”), published by the academic publisher Založba ZRC.
Her research goals include analyses of the reflections and traces of society in language, especially in literary folklore, social worldviews and stereotypes, as well as folkloristic analyses of diachronically and synchronically collected material.
2025 soavtorica z VOOLAID, Piret. The elderly in proverbs: comparative analysis of Estonian and Slovene proverbs. V: KRŽIŠNIK, Erika (ur.), STANIČ, Daša (ur.), VALENČIČ ARH, Urška (ur.). Frazeologija v digitalni dobi: izzivi in priložnosti = Phraseology in the digital age: challenges and opportunities. Ljubljana: Založba Univerze, 2025. Letn. 65, št. 1, str. 11-25. Linguistica, 65, 1. DOI: 10.4312/linguistica.65.1.11-25.
2025 »Dobra jed se sama hvali« : konceptualni zemljevid slovenskih paremioloških enot s komponento poimenovanja jedi. Glasnik Slovenskega etnološkega društva. 2025, 65, št. 2, str. 94-101. https://cdn2.domdesign.com/users/SEDDrustvo/Site/sites/sed-drustvo.si/modules/Domino/Files/glasnik-slovenskega-etnoloskega-drustva-65-2-2025.pdf.
2025 soavtorica s CHOVANEC, Jan. Cartoons in memes : recycling popular art forms as a humorous response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Word & image : a journal of verbal/visual enquiry. 2025, vol. 41, issue 2, str. 171-184. DOI: 10.1080/02666286.2025.2463037.
2024 Dealing with fear : what dangers do incantations ward off?. Journal for cultural research. 2024, str. 1-12. DOI: 10.1080/14797585.2024.2373435.
2024 Animals as a stereotyping and characterising element in Slovenian name-callings. Traditiones: zbornik Inštituta za slovensko narodopisje. 2024, letn. 53, št. 1, str. 69-84. ISSN 0352-0447. DOI: 10.3986/Traditio2024530104.
2024 The naked truth for a good ending : the end in Slovenian paremiological units = Gola resnica za dober konec: konec v slovenskih paremioloških enotah. V: BABIČ, Saša (ur.), JAKOP, Nataša (ur.), MRVIČ, Rok (ur.). Paremiologija med tradicijo in sodobnostjo = Paremiology between tradition and innovation. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2024. Str. 125-136. DOI: 10.3986/9789610508861_08.
2021 Uganke na Slovenskem. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. https://omp.zrc-sazu.si/zalozba/catalog/view/1954/8075/1445-1.
2016 GRANBOM-HERRANEN, Liisa, BABIČ, Saša, VOOLAID, Piret. Proverbial expressions in newspapers: a study in Estonia, Finland, and Slovenia. Traditiones: zbornik Inštituta za slovensko narodopisje 44/3, str. 5-32.
2015 Beseda ni konj : estetska struktura slovenskih folklornih obrazcev (Ethnologica - Dissertationes, 6). Ljubljana, Založba ZRC. [COBISS.SI-ID 278195712]
2015 soavtorica z PODJED, Dan, Crossroads of anger: tensions and conflicts in traffic. Ethnologia Europaea : journal of european ethnology 45/2, str. 17-33
- 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)
- Traditional Paremiological Units in Dialogue with Contemporary Use (research project • September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2023)
- Slovenian and Estonian Contemporary School Lore (bilateral project • November 1, 2020 - October 31, 2022)
- DriveGreen: Development of an Ecodriving Application for a Transition to a Low-carbon Society (interdisciplinary project • July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2017)
- ETNOFOLK Ohranjanje in pospeševanje etnološke kulturne dediščine v Srednji Evropi (international project • May 1, 2011 - April 30, 2014)
- Slovenski pregovori kot kulturna dediščina: klasifikacija in redakcija korpusa (applied project • May 1, 2010 - April 30, 2013)
- Tradition and its re-producers (applied project • February 1, 2008 - January 31, 2011)
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, undergraduate programme Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology (teaching the course Introduction to Mythology)
- ZRC SAZU Postgraduate School, programme Comparative Studies of Ideas and Cultures, module Slovene Studies (course holder)
- Bojan Erhartič Scholarship for outstanding young researchers: field and archival research in Dublin (Ireland), 2016
- Member of the editorial boards of the scholarly journals Traditiones and Proverbium
- Member of the Scientific Council of ZRC SAZU, 2017–2019
- Member of the Slovenian Ethnological Society (SED)
- Member of AIP-IAP – International Association of Paremiology; Chair of the International Committee
- Member of ISFNR – International Society for Folk Narrative Research
- Member of the Commission for Folklore at the International Committee of Slavists
- Member of the Commission for Phraseology at the International Committee of Slavists