The Metamorphosis of Festivals in a Socialist Country
in Ethnologia Europaea
Author:
Dunja Rihtman-Auguštin
Dunja Rihtman-Auguštin
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research Zagreb
Search for other papers by Dunja Rihtman-Auguštin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Dunja Rihtman-Auguštin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
All currencies in US Dollar
In the analysis of the system of Yugoslav socialist festivals and rituals, the hypothesis of the French historian Michel Vovelle about the metamorphosis of revolutionary festivals has been followed. Socialist festivals rhythmize the year in ways that do not disrupt the traditional cycle of annual rituals, still they postpone or anticipate it's peaks. Besides, Yugoslav official socialist ritual neglects crucial moments in individual life cycle. Cultural historic ethnology in Croatia and in Yugoslavia did not consider socialist festivals and rituals as a part of popular culture and was not interested in the research of these phenomena. The present author sketches an outline of the ethnology of socialist ritual.