Projects / Programmes
Folklore and Ethnological Research on Slovenian Folk Culture
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.04.00 |
Humanities |
Ethnology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H400 |
Humanities |
Folklore |
Folk culture, folklore, folk, tradition, folk music, folk dance, folk song, folk instrument, folk singer, life stories, customs and feasts, cultural heritage, history of ethnology, genres of everyday communication, audio records, digitalization, preservation.
Researchers (15)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Folkloristic and ethnological research on Slovenian folk spiritual culture are addressing main issues of both creative (involving also individuals with their life stories) and functional (involvement in customs and feasts) communication of folk song, music and dance, and at the same time also refering to social elements of spiritual culture and its diversity in structure, functionality, poetics, life and historical context also in relationship with high art. Folk spiritual culture is fundamental for research of originality of Slovenes and their cultural diversity in context of neighbouring ethnicities or nations, it determines and identifies us more than universal or high culture, with its research considering general cultural aspects and concrete ways of living, showing specific methodology of research of syncretic phenomenon. All aspects of research: functional, artistic, creative and social can emerge as interacting oposition or as mutual study of life of different layers of population. The research, in its core, systematicaly investigates the widest area of folk spiritual culture by field research, gathering and critical processing of sources and material, systematization, cataloging and digitization of field and archive material for preservation and increase of value of folk spiritual culture, creative transformations of folklore, customs and fiests, life stories. The main goal of research programme, which involves interdisciplinary approach, is to present gathered material as specific creativity with its own internal logic and specific life, integrated in social scope and emphasized with aspects of those who continue to carry these elements in future. Individual goals are: publishing of fundamental collection of Slovenian Folk Songs (Corpus SLP - 12 books); publishing of all individual thematicaly edited collections, publishing of research on dance tradition and influence of new aspects of folklorism on dance tradition, publishing of ethnomusicological material, vocal and instrumental tradition, preservation and digitization of all audio and manuscript collections, so called ethnical legitimation of Slovenians, which serve as a base for work and library as a source for research.
Individual thematic complex of research of the programme are: Digitization of OSNP archive and other collections, Transformation of Slovene folk songs in popular music after 1990, Folk music of Istria, Dance tradition in Slovenia and influence of folklorism on Slovenian dance tradition, Issues of social problematics in song tradition of Tuhinja valley, Folklore and literature - relationships, corelations, oppositions in novels and short stories, Animal images in Slovenian folk songs, Relationships between slavistics and folkloristics, Electroacustic research of ethnomusicological material and special aspects of their preservation and digitization, History and theory of folkloristics - selected articles, etc.
Significance for science
Research on Slovenian folk culture in folklore studies and ethnology deals with the basic issues of the creative and functional communication of folk songs, music, and dance, and through individual aspects also touches upon the social elements of folk culture. The program’s special features include the following: Fieldwork, the archiving and preservation of the original material of Slovenian cultural heritage (over 50,000 units of song, music, and dance tradition), the digitization and creation of meta-databases, the publication of critical collections, and the release of audio recordings of sung and instrumental music form the core of this program, which no one else in Slovenia is addressing. The research achievements of the PG represent findings about folk culture that include a cluster of traditions, principles, findings, and changes in civilization, and as such form the basis for ethnic identity and independence. The researchers select current issues in ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, and textology as well as general folklore and ethnology of Slovenian music, song, and dance tradition from Slovenian ethnic territories (those already studied or those that still need to be studied), and link them to contemporary European and international issues, findings, theories, methodologies, and concepts. In individual areas, they are becoming leading experts in European folklore studies. On the basis of modern field research and the digitization of collected or archived material, databases are being established to present and reconstruct the cultural elements that the Slovenian nation created in its own cultural-historical and linguistic environment and used to build its identity. In addition, suitable protection of material guarantees that this valuable part of Slovenian cultural heritage will also be preserved for future generations. The new technological systems give access to databases of folk material and thus also enable the establishment of a broad thematic network among the widest possible circle of users, which reflects the wealth and importance of Slovenian folk tradition; in addition, they enable researchers from abroad to conduct parallel comparative studies. The subject matter of the research on folk culture requires various interconnected methodological approaches: field-research methods; the method of processing, systemizing, cataloguing, digitizing, indexing, and interpreting material and comparative analyses of this material; and the structuralist and cybernetic approach to material through elements of Lacanian, psychoanalytic, intertextual methods. Also important are new methods of digitizing and preserving material, such as the use of special meta-databases, testing audio media, and so on. The PG received an especially wide response by testing audio media, in which it connected knowledge of digitization with new research approaches and concepts or, in other words, it connected the empirical and research concepts at all the levels of the studies. The studies are interdisciplinary already in terms of their basic outlines because they open new perspectives on knowledge about folk culture whereby the findings of other disciplines can be incorporated as well. In addition to findings in folklore and ethnology, findings in geography, dialectology, law, sociology, and history have been included in the studies of ballads. In archiving, cataloguing, and digitizing folk material and in producing meta-database and information systems we also use electroacoustic aspects as well as findings from mathematics and computer science; in this, we enjoy fruitful cooperation with the Faculty of Computer and Information Science and with other institutions from the areas listed above.
Significance for the country
The program represents a series of studies that are of key importance to establishing Slovenia’s image within European and global integration because they represent the part of the Slovenian nation’s cultural heritage that is the most unique and independent, as it originates in folk culture. In the past and even today, folk culture has shed light on the most essential elements of Slovenian national and cultural identity. In addition, individual partial aspects of studies enrich the theory and history of the humanities in Slovenia. The program’s material and analyses could thus serve as the basis for greatly needed comparative studies in other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences in Slovenia and abroad; in addition, our analyses will contribute to a more up-to-date and different view of the origin, development, and course of cultural events in simultaneous European and global contexts, as well as provide new findings about the bearers of elements of folk culture. The program combines both basic scholarly findings and their application because the applicability of research is vital for disseminating knowledge about folk culture as widely as possible. In their applications, theoretical bases and concepts transform into popular findings that researchers spread among people in the form of radio and TV broadcasts, lectures, seminars, workshops, and concerts; the use of findings is also enhanced through the publication of popular thematic collections of song and music tradition, and, last but not least, through the release of CDs. In addition, applicability is increased through systematic digitization of material, which provides users with easier access to this material. If technological development also comprises innovations in the intellectual sphere, the RP provides several new achievements, especially in electroacoustic research on folk culture material, as well as in the digitization of collections, which also includes new methods of digital preservation and meta-data descriptions as well as enabling the use of analytical classification tools – that is, uniform coding, which is especially important in individual methods of systemizing data and transferring data to the Internet; such transfer provides easy access to a wide circle of users.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
