Ethnological Views and Images (from the 19th to 21st century)

The theme of the research project is ethnological research in Slovenia in a comparative European context, historically limited to the 20th century, which corresponds to the scholarly phase of the development of ethnological thought and research. Based on older comprehensive and conceptually quite diverse works –Narodopisje Slovencev (Ethnography of the Slovenians), 1944 and 1952; Vilko Novak's Slovenska ljudska kultura (Slovenian Folk Culture), 1960; Pogledi na etnologijo (Views on Ethnology), 1978; Slovensko ljudsko izročilo (Slovenian Folk Tradition), 1980) – and taking into account the themes that are the subject of traditional and current research by the associates of the ISE SRC SASA, as well as modern findings, the available empirical material (various collections), the changing research samples, and points of view, – the group’s ambition is on the one hand to present research on culture and lifestyle in Slovenia from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century by presenting examples from selected cultural themes that were comprehensively studied and illustrated with case studies. On the other hand, the group wishes to define the theoretical and methodological views and various perspectives of the researchers that left the strongest imprint on ethnological production during this period. These will be summed up in three interconnected sections:
- Views of the Researchers: time and places of identity, tradition, innovations, and intercultural and interethnic contacts; studies on selected cultural phenomena and processes at the intersections of the material, social, and symbolic, taking into account the differences between various time periods and transitions (the pre-communist era, the communist period, and transition), different social contexts and regions.
- Views of the Researched: time and places of memory, creativity, authenticity and belonging; the views of the researched and the language of their cultural horizon are the building blocks of findings in ethnology and folklore, bringing into these a totally different quality.
- Views on the Researchers: time and places of concepts and methods (topography of records, analyses, interpretations, and representations). The researcher’s principles and research strategies show theoretical and methodological shifts; they operationalize the relationship with the researched and substantiate the relationships between the objects and subjects in the research process.
The research carried out by the associates of the ISE is based on the study of domestic and foreign literature, the institute’s rich archives, visual and audiovisual collections, and field research. Within the selected themes, appropriate empirical and interpretative methods are used.