Issue 4, Vol. 101 (2014)

Penyamun is a central fi gure of rumors of public construction sacrifi cerumors and head-hunting rumors that have been recorded in Southeastern Asia since the beginning of the 20th century (Haddon 1901; Drake 1989; Erb 1991; Barnes 1993; Forth 1991; Hoskins 2002). The aim of the present article is to analyze the present-day form of such rumors on the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia. All rumors discussed herein focus on the fi gure of penyamun, a foreigner yearning for body parts or blood of the inhabitants of Sumba. In the Loli region of western Sumba these rumors were in the past directed especially at the Dutch colonizers and missionaries, but they have continually absorb new features and at present are directed especially at tourists, immigrants and representatives of the state. All variants of rumors about penyamun have one common feature: the principal negative protagonist is foreigner, often non-Sumbanese. Therefore, we can interpret these rumors also as a way of defi ning oneself in opposition to foreign infl uences and strengthening the cohesion of the group disseminating the rumor.

The article entitled „Ghaributhyun: the exile as one of central themes of Armenian ethnicity“ deals with the notion of exile and its signifi cance in the Armenian historical and literary discourse. The exile represents in the Armenian context one of the cornerstones of Armenian ethnicity construction and it could be said without exaggeration, that Armenian history (both medieval and modern) is pervaded by this dominant or more precisely “key” theme. The exile symbolizes primarily the
concept of uprootedness (exile from the country as well as the alienation from the society), which is conceived in close connection with the search for identity itself. In other words, the exile can be considered as a kind of “rite de passage” – the position on the border or „threshold“ between two cultures, languages and worlds. The notion of exile is closely linked with Armenian historical experience of aghet: catastroph (persecutions, deportations, massacres). It could be interpreted in association with the idea of homeland, the myth of the chosen people persecuted for its sins, the concept of irrevocably lost Golden Age and the myth of national regeneration and return to promised land. Gharib motif was infl uenced by different aspects - among others it shall be mentioned the inspiration by Jewish tradition and texts of the Old Testament, as well as the effect of the so-called “siege mentality”, which refl ects the situation of an isolated religious minority condemned to
play a role of mediators, standing on border between two cultures.

The transformation of spatial structures due to the migration fl ows is refl ected not only in forms of interactions between representatives of a majority and minorities, but also in forms of implementation of integration strategies. The study shows that the implementation of integration strategies towards non-EU immigrants is strongly contextually conditioned: the demand (within the limits of available fi nancial and human resources) determines the offer. The study evaluated integration measures applied by public and private stakeholders in selected areas with the aim to promote the integration of non-EU immigrants into the local labour market during the current economic crisis (since 2008). The analysis was elaborated on the basis of four e-mail surveys with representatives of the Labour Offi ce, employees of the local and regional departments of social affairs, representatives of regional Centres for integration of foreigners, and members of Nongovernmental organisations. E-mail surveys took place in spring 2012.

The article discusses the possibility of a symmetrical approach in the anthropological study of the materiality of home. After an overview of the development in material culture studies and anthropological research of home, the author discusses two examples of anthropological writing about home: a description of home from Margaret Mead´s autobiography and Inge Daniels´ contemporary anthropological study from Japan. The analysed examples show, that the symmetrical approach in anthropology may be one of the possible ways we are able to deepen our understanding of human and nonhuman actors, how we could bridge the dichotomies between nature and culture, or as in this case between people and places and things, and thus understand more fully to multi-layered life-world(s).

The study focuses on analysis of the collection of historical graffi ti preserved in the cave Býčí skála (Moravian Karst). Epigraphic relics preserved here, started to be produced around 1796, when the cave was an integral part of the Lichtenstein
romantic landscape park. The research proved several touristic “waves of colonization” that manifested themselves in different character of the graffi ti and their varied spatial distribution in the cave. The fi rst wave of touristic presence
in the place is connected with German elites, often affi liated to the Lichtenstein court. The authors call it the Swiss-Alpine period of tourism development in “Moravian Switzerland”, as the region was called in this period. The second wave of tourism was associated with Czech population, which appears in the course of the second half of the 19th century, according to graffi ti. At the end of this century the Czech patriots renamed the area “Moravian Karst”. The model of “Arcadia” is found again, but no more in the Alpine mountains, but in the North America – land of the Indians and pioneers. This change found its expression in the specifi c graffi - ti of this period. During the fi rst half of the 20th century both phases developed in parallel. After the displacement of Germans after the World War II the fi rst stage ended defi nitively, while the second one continues almost until today.