Belief Narratives

Удружење фолклориста Србије, обновљено након дужег прекида
2014, сваке године одржава међународну научну конференцију
под називом Савремена српска фолклористика, на којој
окупља угледне домаће и европске фолклористе из релевантних
академских институција, у циљу праћења савремених токова српске и европске фолклористике, подстицања интердисциплинарне сарадње и размене идеја. До сада је организовано осам међународних научних конференција у различитим центрима српске културе (Нови
Сад 2013, Београд–Тршић 2014, Ниш 2015, Источно Сарајево –
Пале 2016, Призрен – Велика Хоча 2017, Београд–Тршић 2018,
Крушевац 2019, Београд–Тршић 2019), о чијим резултатима сведоче
запажени зборници научних радова.
Међународна научна конференција Савремена српска
фолклористика VIII – Словенски фолклор и књижевна фантастика
одржана је у Тршићу од 27. до 29. септембра 2019. у сарадњи
Удружења фолклориста Србије са Универзитетском библиотеком
„Светозар Марковић“, Комисијом за фолклористику Међународног
комитета слависта, Центром за културу ,,Вук Караџић“ у Лозници и
Образовно-културним центром „Вук Караџић“ у Тршићу. Зборник
који је пред читаоцима представља један део научних радова
изложених на поменутом скупу. Радови су подељени у три целине
(1) на рубу фолклора и књижевности, (2) фолклор и фантастика
у српској књижевности, (3) словенски фолклор и фантастика у
словенским и другим књижевностима. У оквиру наведених целина
радови су поређани према ауторима, по азбучном реду.
Удружење фолклориста Србије свесрдно захваљује Центру
за културу ,,Вук Караџић“ у Лозници и Образовно-културном
центру „Вук Караџић“ у Тршићу на одличној организацији скупа и
штампању зборника, као и Универзитетској библиотеци „Светозар
Марковић“ у Београду на техничкој припреми зборника за штампу.

In this essay I try to argue a broader and deeper notion of fairy tale, beginning from an overview of some of the key terminologies and classifications devised and employed by folk-narrative research, passing through an etymological and semantic scrutiny of the word 'fairy', and developing, eventually, a structural analysis purposely framed within the historical-cultural context of the Irish tradition. What I attempt to let emerge – challenging to some extent the established concepts and theories – is a more comprehensive narrative category, characterised by a specific epistemological and ontological value, through which a sort of intermediate, neutral space is modelled, where boundaries are crossed and elements more or less heterogeneous are connected. Thus, the fairy tale can express a multi-dimensional worldview and the potential for a more complex idea of reality.

The paper focuses on the difficulties surrounding the definition of gossip. The main reason for raising this topic is gossip being a frequent speech situation for speaking about beliefs and belief events. By analysing the works of British and American cultural and social anthropologists, sociologists or so- ciolinguists, along with the few existing Hungarian gossip-definitions, the paper tries to show what peculiar features were pointed out as distinctive characteristics for gossip. Although arriving at a clear cut and general definition seems impossible, analysing various attempts at definition takes us closer to a deeper understanding of gossip.

The Sikkimese are a multi-ethnic community in a Himalayan sub-region in India. Even though the majority of the population is Hindu and Nepalese, the minority Buddhist and Bhutia/Lepcha communities are very strong. Death by poisoning is a common occurrence among the Sikkimese, and it is often ambiguous and subject to suspicion. Narrated initially as traditional cautionary tales, these belief narratives have been used against the multi-ethnic communities that reside in Sikkim, leading to real-world accusations. The article explores how belief in, and narratives related to, poison, poisoning, poison keepers and the poison deity are used to justify the demonisation and othering of a community.

The article sets the goal of describing the Ukrainian ritual of the sealed grave and its relation to revenants, or the unquiet dead, based both on the author's fieldwork and ethnographic collections of the turn of the 20th century. The meaning of the ritual and its variants are delineated through folk beliefs and institutionalised Orthodoxy and are defined as one of the main reasons for becoming revenants. Depending on a proper or failed funeral, the dead have different possibilities and time boundaries to visit the living. Together with biological reasons, the ritual of sealing a grave allows a seven-year period of return prior to the grave being finally sealed.

A communicative act that involves the presence of two or more persons always involves a nonverbal aspect. The focus of the article is on nonverbal situations as a basis for the evolution of belief narratives. This pre-narrative aspect has not received much attention in narrative research as most analyses are based on texts that already exist in verbalised form. However, on many occasions the basis for a belief narrative is a nonverbal act that has triggered its witness or re-narrator(s) to interpret it within the framework of vernacular belief. Hence, texts that contain a nonverbal part consist of two components: 1) description of a nonverbal occurrence; 2) its meaning/interpretation that is verbalised by the narrator within the framework of a topical belief tradition. By bringing examples from Estonian belief narratives, the author points out some models and patterns that leap to the eye in texts narrating about nonverbal occurrences (e.g. the context of described situations, the types and results of activities described, etc.). As a theoretical basis, works on communication theory and vernacular belief research are used.

Under pressure from PFA, the Nagaland state government enacted a ban on the consumption of dog meat. In their haste, have they disregarded their duty to protect the cultural, religious and social practices of indigenous tribes? Talilula explores the role of dog meat in Naga culture, and the latent hypocrisy of the ban.

The article* sets the goal of describing the Ukrainian ritual of the sealed grave and its relation to revenants, or the unquiet dead, based both on the author’s fieldwork and ethnographic collections of the turn of the 20th century. The meaning of the ritual and its variants are delineated through folk beliefs and institutionalised Orthodoxy and are defined as one of the main reasons for becoming revenants. Depending on a proper or failed funeral, the dead have different possibilities and time boundaries to visit the living. Together with biological reasons, the ritual of sealing a grave allows a seven-year period of return prior to the grave being finally sealed.

A group of couriers work in a particular city to deliver food from restaurant to the client's address. Compared with waiter and waitresses, this group leads a dynamic life at work place and members (or couriers) interact in different locations such as restaurant, while going to deliver food, etc. This interaction among them helps evolve different form of jargons. This short article highlights on this prospect.