The objective of the submitted study is to point out the fact that examples of unusually mature protoethnological texts, which focus on the urban environment in a surprisingly modern way, could be found as early as in the mid-19th century. As an example for the aforementioned statement, a study from the year 1841 is analysed, which was written by Johann Georg Kohl (1808–1878), a German ethnographer and traveller. Kohl’s text deals with Odessa, a town which – due to its special features – drew attention of many Russian and foreign observers immediately after it had been found. Kohl’s hitherto unusual sensibility for the perception of the town as a specific social space resulted in an unusually modern synthesis. The texts of Kohl’s type can be viewed as valuable sources for ethnographically directed information which is relevant even today due to the diachronic analysis of populations thematised in them; in addition, those texts are important sources usable for the study of the history of European ethnology.
This paper informs about an interdisciplinary project conDENSE. It deals with urban research, geographical, socio-spatial and cultural tranformations of Brno, namely of its inner city in the period of postsocialism. It traces transformations in the neighbourhood relations as well as changes in the relationship to dwellings, houses and their environs within the frame of the property changes. It also deals with newly established student households.
This article analyses the processes of creating the township on the example of Borne Sulinowo, one of the youngest cities in Poland. The collapse of the communism in the Centre and Eastern Europe caused, that Poland had made efforts for the revitalization of areas occupied by Soviet armies. Borne Sulinowo, a small city located in the north-western Poland, suffered the same fate as desolation of its areas after the departure of the Soviet Army and anew settlement by the civil settlers. Issues brought up in the article are focusing on problems of the adaptation of the settlers to the new cultural environment, on shaping local bonds and on the degree of the identification with the new place of residence.
The paper brings an overview of the development of urbanethnological research in Slovakia with a special focus on the first two decades of the 21st century. It also briefly defines key milestones, thematic areas and methodical approaches in the older periods, which are necessary for the understanding of further developments. It introduces key personalities who formed urban ethnology and who influenced the establishment of the subdiscipline within the ethnology and social anthropology development in Slovakia. The main objective is to focus on changes in the approach to the urban ethnological/anthropological research in Slovakia in the 21st century, particularly on changes in topics, theoretical concepts, and methodical approaches, and to propose new visions and opportunities in line with the global trends in urban anthropology.
The study focuses on the socio-professional group of foresters in Zvolen, with the emphasis on the interaction between the group and the town. It works on the assumption that the group is involved in creating the image of the town image in a specific way. The introduction to the study focuses on the transformation in professions within the social and urban context, which had happened in connection with the changes in the nature of work, the changing socio-political climate, and the introduction of modern technologies and innovative processes. The main section highlights the geographical, natural, historical, cultural and social determinants, state and political decisions, as well as support initiatives of town´s representatives, which affected the formation of the researched group. The group presents itself by means of an established network of forestry institutions, buildings and specific spaces, which complete the overall architectural and urban image of the town. The research illustrated that the socioprofessional group influences the educational as well as the employment structure of inhabitants and by means of educational, cultural and social activities it is becoming a creator and co-shaper of town´s/municipal specifics. The interaction between the group and the town also includes the creation of policy and development projects, which resulted in fulfilling the visions and image of the town of Zvolen as a forestry town.
In the submitted study we tried to point out the generally shared stereotypes and prejudices associated with the perception of the life of housing estate inhabitants in the Czech Republic; we focused on the Lesná housing estate in Brno. The research was conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews with informants and own observations of the life of local inhabitants. We have come to the conclusion that a housing estate is not necessarily a place of anonymity; on the contrary - where conditions are suitable (for example inhabitants ́life period, length of staying, architectural form of a concrete panel building), neighbour relations are often entered in. We also found out that housing estates do not have to serve just as a place to stay overnight, but they can become adequate residential city districts. The aim of the study also was to explain the above-mentioned topic and to clear the way for subsequent comparing research.
Bus drivers are a peculiar socio-professional group that is associated with certain social position, professional tongue, working habits, nutrition habits and way of clothing. However, a specific form of cohesion, which can be perceived in greetings, verbal and non-verbal communication and way of behaviour not only in the road traffic, is an interesting phenomenon despite the mutual anonymity of the members of that group. We could encounter that socio-professional group in Prague in 1908 for the first time, when the first bus line in the area of Lesser-Town Square and Pohořelec was put into operation. Currently, the urban bus transport services in the territory of the City of Prague are provided by the Prague Public Transit Company, Inc. as well as by several private transit companies with different number of employees. The way of organizing the driver’s shifts, the individual demands of particular employers, the look of uniforms and partially the work performance are different in many aspects and they influence the everyday way of life of bus drivers. The ethnological research on the theme is based mainly on the emic view by an ethnologist – driver; the author of the study has worked as an auxiliary driver in the territory of Prague since mid-2013 until now. His emic view is confronted with literature and interviews conducted with respondents of different age, who worked or still work as bus drivers in Prague urban territory.
The paper deals with the activities of the writer Božena Němcová in Slovakia in the years 1851-1855. She visited Slovakia four times in this period (three times she visited her husband who worked here in civil service, her last stay was intended as a cure, while most of the time Němcová devoted to ethnographic research). All her stays resulted in contributions based on active observation, ethnographic and folkloristic research, consultations with a number of Slovak intellectuals dealing with both humanities and natural sciences. The results of the individual stays differ both in form and quality. They proceed from journalistic „causerie“ towards serious attempts of monographic elaboration of natural background, history, demography, sociological, ethnographical and gen-der facts of a given region. The contribution to folkloristic is outstanding. The writer used Slovak inspirations also in her fiction. Thanks to her activities, Bože-na Němcová belongs to the history of Slovak ethnology.
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