This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points... more This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points of view: of the content and storing of archived information. The material encompasses two distinct, but complementary, methodological settings: the first is an anthropological study and the second one is a technical approach on the digital archive. This research is an application on the archive of the Folklore Club of the
Narcisa Știucă, Adrian Stoicescu (Eds.), Terenuri noi, metode noi. Mihai Pop 110 ani de la naștere, 2017
From Contemporary Performances to Ancient Customs. ... more From Contemporary Performances to Ancient Customs. This study analyses a cultural object („Dansul socăcițelor" , The Cook's Dance) that is considered to be traditional and specific to a given community (a village from Sălaj county, Romania) and is promoted as a local cultural emblem within the framework of contemporary folklore performances. The aim of this research is to reconstruct the stages through which this ethnographic dance, created (relative) recently (during the Communist era), was projected into the past and interpreted as an inherited, ancient custom, functioning as a symbolic anchor, capable of localizing the people in this community. The case chosen for analysis is not a singular one. It is, in fact, symptomatic of contemporary attempts at reconstructing tradition, undertaken from the present towards the past. Using the concepts of inverted lineage (Pouillon 1975: 160), heritage and heritagesation (Harrison 2013: 69), this study approaches The Cook's Dance within the context of the social process that led to its creation.
This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in... more This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in a series of mythological narratives and beliefs recorded by ethnographers in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The concept of chronotope is used as an analytical tool for understanding the imaginary universe of Romanian folklore. The analysed narratives encapsulate a set of ideas and representations regarding the social norms of the peasant communities in which the figures of weekly time – Saint Wednesday, Saint Friday, Marțolea (Tuesday-Evening), Joimărița (Thursday-Night), etc. – play a central role. Analysing these figures of time, the study reveals their function as guardians of compliance with traditional norms referring to conduct, work and food. The study also highlights the fact that chronotopes perform the role of cognitive schemes of the Romanian folklore imaginary.
Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, 2021
The article proposes an analysis of family cookbooks from the perspective of memory studies. Its ... more The article proposes an analysis of family cookbooks from the perspective of memory studies. Its main goal is to show that these are objects that shape family memory, helping to preserve and transmit it from one generation to the next. The first section outlines the theoretical framework, discussing the multiple layers of content and meaning in homemade cookbooks, the similarities between them and scrapbooks, as objects that can elicit voluntary (or involuntary) memories. Other theoretical issues that are essential for the problem in question are also examined: the complex relationships between individual memory and family memory, the layers that make up family memory, how family meals shape family memory, and recipe books seen as Proustian devices. The second part proposes a case study that explores the particular way in which the aspects discussed in the theoretical section are illustrated by two recipes notebooks belonging to a woman who was born in a Romanian town in 1944. As re...
Revista de etnografie și folclor/ Journal of Ethnography and Folklore, 2017
This study proposes a rereading of the folklore archives in Romania, starting from an analysis of... more This study proposes a rereading of the folklore archives in Romania, starting from an analysis of the documentary fund preserved in the Archive of the Folklore Society from the Faculty of Letters, “Babes-Bolyai” University, in Cluj. The study shows that, in addition to being realms of memory (Pierre Nora ) or collections of traditions (in the terms of classical folklore studies), these archives actually document the research methodology, serving as witnesses to the history of the discipline – ethnology, in this case.
Keywords: folklore archive, methodology, fieldwork, archiving, history of Romanian ethnology.
This study presents the manner in which traditional Romanian communities tend to perceive crisis ... more This study presents the manner in which traditional Romanian communities tend to perceive crisis situations triggered by theft or murder, and the way in which individuals respond to these situations, through symbolical acts and representations of intra-community social balance adjustment. This material explores one of the most widespread folk rituals, which has been updated and adapted to criminal contexts: searching for culprits by way of "bucket divination" (drawing lots by means of a water-filled basin). The mechanisms for regulating intra-community crises analysed in this paper were identified during field research conducted in Transylvania, especially in its rural areas. The interpretation proposed here relies on the grid Mary Douglas develops in her classical study of cultural anthropology, entitled Purity and Danger.
This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in... more This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in a series of mythological narratives and beliefs recorded by ethnographers in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The concept of chronotope is used as an analytical tool for understanding the imaginary universe of Romanian folklore. The analysed narratives encapsulate a set of ideas and representations regarding the social norms of the peasant communities in which the figures of weekly time-Saint Wednesday, Saint Friday, Marțolea (Tuesday-Evening), Joimărița (Thursday-Night), etc.-play a central role. Analysing these figures of time, the study reveals their function as guardians of compliance with traditional norms referring to conduct, work and food. The study also highlights the fact that chronotopes perform the role of cognitive schemes of the Romanian folklore imaginary.
This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points... more This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points of view: of the content and storing of archived information. The material encompasses two distinct, but complementary, methodological settings: the first is an anthropological study and the second one is a technical approach on the digital archive. This research is an application on the archive of the Folklore Club of the Faculty of Letters, Babe-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points... more This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points of view: of the content and storing of archived information. The material encompasses two distinct, but complementary, methodological settings: the first is an anthropological study and the second one is a technical approach on the digital archive. This research is an application on the archive of the Folklore Club of the
Narcisa Știucă, Adrian Stoicescu (Eds.), Terenuri noi, metode noi. Mihai Pop 110 ani de la naștere, 2017
From Contemporary Performances to Ancient Customs. ... more From Contemporary Performances to Ancient Customs. This study analyses a cultural object („Dansul socăcițelor" , The Cook's Dance) that is considered to be traditional and specific to a given community (a village from Sălaj county, Romania) and is promoted as a local cultural emblem within the framework of contemporary folklore performances. The aim of this research is to reconstruct the stages through which this ethnographic dance, created (relative) recently (during the Communist era), was projected into the past and interpreted as an inherited, ancient custom, functioning as a symbolic anchor, capable of localizing the people in this community. The case chosen for analysis is not a singular one. It is, in fact, symptomatic of contemporary attempts at reconstructing tradition, undertaken from the present towards the past. Using the concepts of inverted lineage (Pouillon 1975: 160), heritage and heritagesation (Harrison 2013: 69), this study approaches The Cook's Dance within the context of the social process that led to its creation.
This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in... more This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in a series of mythological narratives and beliefs recorded by ethnographers in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The concept of chronotope is used as an analytical tool for understanding the imaginary universe of Romanian folklore. The analysed narratives encapsulate a set of ideas and representations regarding the social norms of the peasant communities in which the figures of weekly time – Saint Wednesday, Saint Friday, Marțolea (Tuesday-Evening), Joimărița (Thursday-Night), etc. – play a central role. Analysing these figures of time, the study reveals their function as guardians of compliance with traditional norms referring to conduct, work and food. The study also highlights the fact that chronotopes perform the role of cognitive schemes of the Romanian folklore imaginary.
Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, 2021
The article proposes an analysis of family cookbooks from the perspective of memory studies. Its ... more The article proposes an analysis of family cookbooks from the perspective of memory studies. Its main goal is to show that these are objects that shape family memory, helping to preserve and transmit it from one generation to the next. The first section outlines the theoretical framework, discussing the multiple layers of content and meaning in homemade cookbooks, the similarities between them and scrapbooks, as objects that can elicit voluntary (or involuntary) memories. Other theoretical issues that are essential for the problem in question are also examined: the complex relationships between individual memory and family memory, the layers that make up family memory, how family meals shape family memory, and recipe books seen as Proustian devices. The second part proposes a case study that explores the particular way in which the aspects discussed in the theoretical section are illustrated by two recipes notebooks belonging to a woman who was born in a Romanian town in 1944. As re...
Revista de etnografie și folclor/ Journal of Ethnography and Folklore, 2017
This study proposes a rereading of the folklore archives in Romania, starting from an analysis of... more This study proposes a rereading of the folklore archives in Romania, starting from an analysis of the documentary fund preserved in the Archive of the Folklore Society from the Faculty of Letters, “Babes-Bolyai” University, in Cluj. The study shows that, in addition to being realms of memory (Pierre Nora ) or collections of traditions (in the terms of classical folklore studies), these archives actually document the research methodology, serving as witnesses to the history of the discipline – ethnology, in this case.
Keywords: folklore archive, methodology, fieldwork, archiving, history of Romanian ethnology.
This study presents the manner in which traditional Romanian communities tend to perceive crisis ... more This study presents the manner in which traditional Romanian communities tend to perceive crisis situations triggered by theft or murder, and the way in which individuals respond to these situations, through symbolical acts and representations of intra-community social balance adjustment. This material explores one of the most widespread folk rituals, which has been updated and adapted to criminal contexts: searching for culprits by way of "bucket divination" (drawing lots by means of a water-filled basin). The mechanisms for regulating intra-community crises analysed in this paper were identified during field research conducted in Transylvania, especially in its rural areas. The interpretation proposed here relies on the grid Mary Douglas develops in her classical study of cultural anthropology, entitled Purity and Danger.
This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in... more This study proposes an analysis of the imagery of time in Romanian folklore, as it is outlined in a series of mythological narratives and beliefs recorded by ethnographers in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The concept of chronotope is used as an analytical tool for understanding the imaginary universe of Romanian folklore. The analysed narratives encapsulate a set of ideas and representations regarding the social norms of the peasant communities in which the figures of weekly time-Saint Wednesday, Saint Friday, Marțolea (Tuesday-Evening), Joimărița (Thursday-Night), etc.-play a central role. Analysing these figures of time, the study reveals their function as guardians of compliance with traditional norms referring to conduct, work and food. The study also highlights the fact that chronotopes perform the role of cognitive schemes of the Romanian folklore imaginary.
This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points... more This paper presents an analysis of the ethnological archive, in relation to time, from two points of view: of the content and storing of archived information. The material encompasses two distinct, but complementary, methodological settings: the first is an anthropological study and the second one is a technical approach on the digital archive. This research is an application on the archive of the Folklore Club of the Faculty of Letters, Babe-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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Keywords: folklore archive, methodology, fieldwork, archiving, history of Romanian ethnology.
Articles by Eleonora Sava
Keywords: folklore archive, methodology, fieldwork, archiving, history of Romanian ethnology.