#ethnology

[babyfoxcollectionthings]

[songs-of-the-east]

Postcard from Kalocsa, Hungary

[useless-catalanfacts]

A new cartoon has been released called Valentina de Montblanc, it's based on the graphic novel of the same name by Míriam Bonastre Tur (if you like comics you might know her because she's the author of Hooky).

This comic/cartoon is based on Catalan legends and it has THE CUTEST companion! Look at him, it's a Tió/Soca de Nadal (the Catalan Christmas tradition of a log that poops presents for kids)!

Check out his little purse-thing: it's a toilet paper roll! 😭 I haven't watched it yet and I love him already.

[thatshowthingstarted]

Brass plaque from the Kingdom of Benin, 16th-17th century,

Lost-wax casting,

Exhibited in the Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Germany.

[gorskivijenac]

When talking about ethnographic groups in the Balkans, it is important to understand that they often represent regional cultural communities within a broader nation rather than isolated or ancient populations. These groups could have distinctive customs, dialects, traditions, and traditional costumes, yet they share many elements with the wider national culture they belong to.

People who moved into a village, town, or region (whether from another area or ethn. group, another part of the country, or even different ethnicity) were often expected to adopt local traditional costumes and customs. Women who married into a community, as well as entire families who settled there, were required to abandon their previous regional traditions and immediately adopt new local ones. Those who did not would face social exclusion, ridicule, or being viewed as outsiders. In many communities, proper dress was tied to social respectability and belonging.

Result of this was cultural assimilation, over time, people of different origins often came to share the same customs and even identical traditional costumes. In some cases, the population preserving a particular regional culture was not descended from the area’s earlier inhabitants at all, rather, they had adopted the local traditions after the previous population (whether of the same ethnicity or another) was assimilated into the new majority, migrated away or died out. This of course doesnt reffer to the nomad communities, such as Sarakatsani.

This is one reason why traditional costumes should not be treated as definitive evidence of ancient population continuity or used to construct theories about a people having inhabited a region for thousands of years. Older population does have an influence on the culture of the new population, but very often community is consisted of newcomers, rather than people who live there for thousands of years. Traditional costume is shaped by available materials, climate, geography, local crafts, and occupation of the population, whether they were herding, farming, doing crafts or trading. When settlers move to the new region, they start using the resources and materials that are available. Ethnographic groups could be a relatively new or very old group, it really depends.

[doubtspirit]

Edward Sheriff Curtis, 1908 - An Apsáalooke mother and her child.

Apsáalooké or Absaroka, means "children of the large-beaked bird" and was given to them by the Hidatsa, a neighboring and related Siouan-speaking tribe. French interpreters translated the name as gens du corbeau ("people of the crow"), and they became known in English as the Crow. Other tribes also refer to the Apsáalooke as "crow" or "raven" in their own languages.

[tinyuglyworld]

Domaris in Palestine. Photographed by Elia Kahvedjian, 1935

When they left India, the people called Roma spread throughout Europe, whereas the others, called Dom, migrated to the Middle East. They now live in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt.Two stories recount how the Dom migrated to Palestine 400 years ago. According to the first, they reached Jerusalem with Saladin whom they served as servants, blacksmiths, and soldiers. During the Saladin era, the Dom were famous blacksmiths who produced spears and horseshoes. They were also well-known as horse breeders. These two crafts earned Dom society its important status in the eyes of the world. Another account claims that the Dom migrated to Palestine during the Ottoman era and were welcomed for their skills in horse breeding and valued as able blacksmiths. They merged with the local people, adopted the Muslim faith, and began to speak Arabic. Even though accurate statistics are lacking, it is believed that more than 2,000,000 Dom live in the Middle East. They identify themselves as Dom, which means “man” in Domari, while the local Arab population in Jerusalem calls them nawar. Approximately 200 Dom families reside near Lion’s Gate, behind the ancient walls of the Old City, and in Shu’fat Refugee Camp. Fifty percent of their families are headed by women. While larger populations live in Gaza and the West Bank, many Dom families from Jerusalem now live in Jordan, having fled during and after the Six-Day War of 1967. While prior generations of Dom were nomadic, holding occupations such as blacksmiths, horse dealers, musicians, dancers, and animal healers, other Dom people have lived a sedentary lifestyle for more than 100 years.

[mpchev]

Dissertation on Fanfiction Bookbinding — Looking for participants! [EDIT: Thank you so much, participants found!!!]

[Edit continued: I'm still sorting through emails and setting up meetings, will reply to everyone very soon, I can't even begin to thank everyone enough for the visibility that's been given to this 💜 I'll keep the updates coming as I work on the dissertation (and learn how to bookbind), in case anyone would like to follow along. For any questions about the research or comments/suggestions/resources about ficbinding, my asks are wide open. Thank you thank you thank you!!!]

Hi! My name is Marie Chevrier, I’m currently doing my postgraduate dissertation on fanfiction bookbinding, and I’m looking for people to talk to about it!

If you’ve ever taken a fanfic from somewhere online and turned it into a physical copy, either for yourself or as a gift, I’d love to know more. From printer paper stapled together to typesetting and painted edges, nothing is too simple or too complex — I’m interested in the whole process, what motivates readers or authors to bring the story to a different format, and how it’s one more way to interact with stories actively and creatively. This will be the final project of my MLitt in Folklore and Ethnology with the Elphinstone Institute (University of Aberdeen, Scotland).

What to Expect

To participate, you must be 18 or older and speak English. I’ll give you more details and answer any questions you might have via email, and will then set up individual video calls with participants (if you happen to be in North-East Scotland, we could also meet at an agreed public location). I’ll tell you more about the dissertation and explain how what you share will be used, which depends entirely on what you agree to, including if you would prefer your contribution to be credited or anonymised. I will ask you about your experience with fanfiction bookbinding and if you have some examples to show me, I would love to see them! Meetings will last approximately 45–90 minutes and take place in June 2024. You have the right to withdraw your participation at any time.

Contact Information

If you’d like to participate or have any questions, please send me an email at [email protected]

To know more about the Elphinstone Institute, please visit https://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/

To know more about me, here's an intro post for you.

If for any reason you don’t wish to participate but still have comments/suggestions/resources/musings you’d like to send my way, please do!