Issue 1, Vol. 101 (2014)

The article discusses the theoretical and methodological considerations as well as the practical application of two incarnations of the rhetorical turn in socio-cultural anthropology. Rhetorical turn is understood as a linguistic and constructivist turn, which marks a substantial part of contemporary thinking in the social sciences and humanities. Reflection about the relation between anthropology and rhetoric shows that the rhetorical turn is oriented on analyzing the rhetoric of anthropological texts, in their persuasive and figurative dimension. On the other hand, rhetorical turn refers to the research perspective in anthropology which is focused on the interpretation of society and culture in which an important role is played by the tools and concepts of rhetoric.

In this paper, we build on the ongoing disciplinary debate in cultural anthropology concerning changing understanding of contemporary ethnographic practice and consider our pedagogical work with students as a form of what Kim Fortun recently defined as “ethnographic experiment” for the contemporary. We describe our methodology in which we are inspired especially by the tradition of educational anthropology and participatory action research to create spaces of collaborative encounters that we call urban laboratories. We give examples of our ethnographic and pedagogical work with students that generate new ways of framing representations of the city’s past contained through the process of neoliberal urban transformations.

The article aims to present and analyse the current situation of visual anthropology in Slovenia. In the first part the author is discussing ethnographic filming, as it is the most established area of visual anthropology in Slovenia. This is particularly so in terms of documentation by organised visual material and uses of video in museum presentations. The author exposes focus on “our own” culture as their common trait. The second part outlines other dispersed and newer trends. The diachronic perspective on uses of photography is analysed as well as inventive new approaches, and student works are recognised as opening up thematic and methodological spectrum. In the conclusion, on the basis of characteristics and trends, possible future directions of visual anthropology in Slovenia are proposed.

The aim of this comparative research was to map the emergence of folk dance groups, and to assess the role of folk dance in preserving Estonianism among Estonians in exile. For Estonians, their national format became the politically correct form of self-expression. For long decades this form, comprising folk costumes, songs and dance festivals in a national romantic spirit, and originating from the period of national awakening, has suited Estonians. Such self-expression took over the role of specific self-definition and selfempowerment during several politically critical periods. Folk songs, dances and costumes, were like roots from Estonian soil for Estonian refugees after World War II, and helped them to cope in their new environments. The hobby activities of Estonians in post-war refugee centers may be viewed as essential ground for self-restoration and self-preservation. A special focus was made on the activities of Estonian refugees in Sweden and Germany. For data collection, unstructured interviews and conversations were used. According to the eco-cultural model of intergenerational relations by Trommsdorff (2009) the maintenance of the Estonian folk dance tradition is analysed through three themes describing 1) categories, related to the folk dance practices – process, direction and outcome; 2) factors affecting the practices – persons who were involved in the transmission process, their respective relationships, the contents that were transmitted, and the wider context in which transmission took place; 3) perspective – the current state and possible fostering and inhibiting factors of the maintenance of the Estonian folk dance tradition in Germany and Sweden.

Most of the inhabitants of Krkonoše made their living by agriculture, brought by the colonists from the Alps in the second half of the 16th century. A demanding climate and low fertility of the soils did not make possible a cultivation of many products in higher altitudes. The local inhabitants were dependent on animal husbandry, and the animals fed mostly on hay. This commodity was of crucial importance for the inhabitants of Krkonoše and influenced, among others, their economic activities, the way of management of grasslands, and also the landscape. The timing of the haymaking period in Krkonoše oscillated in dependence to the altitude, the type of the grassland and its location. In the period between the beginning of July and the end of September most of the inhabitants of the mountains dedicated to the making of hay. Inseparable part of haymaking was also the transportation of hay, in which several traditional means of transport were used: sledges, frame backpacks, wheelbarrows, canvases or, in lower altitudes, wagons. The decline of this specific type of agriculture came with the expulsion of German-speaking inhabitants after the World War II and the decision of the state to give priority to the water management role of mountain landscape. At present, however, the hay-production returns partially to the higher altitudes of the mountains. Therefore, the importance of hay for people and for animals is being preserved even today.