Kam zmizela etnografie dělnictva?

• Authors: Jiří Woitsch

Title variants

EN

WHITHER THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE WORKING CLASS?

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The ethnography of the working class represented one of the most remarkable research directions of contemporary ethnography and folkloristics undertaken by the Academy of Sciences and the institutions of higher learning in the second half of the 20th century. Undoubtedly, despite partial ideological manipulations, the ethnographic study of factory workers and miners, in particular, achieved a number of remarkable results, which stand the test of international comparison. Some research projects focused on the themes and also methods previously neglected by historians (every day life of the working class, the material culture of daily living, folklore, etc.). A whole range of research projects - including comprehensive works and those by teams of authors - remained totally unpublished or have until now remained “hidden” in practically inaccessible internal collections of works and monographs. After 1989 Czech ethnographers (ethnologists, socio-cultural anthropologists) have completely shifted away from the study of the working class, which is a situation which does not correspond with the topical interests of these disciplines, for example in Western Europe. This study defines the fundamental thematical and methodological trajectories of the ethnographic study of the working class and miners in terms of the development of the ethnographic discipline’s discourse. It also broadly outlines less well known or unpublished results, which could provide efficient starting points even for current research. At the same time, the author gives thought to current possibilities (non-existent, in fact) of the ethnography of the working class in the Czech Republic and the possibilities of cooperation between ethnographic institutions which have at their disposal very extensive and often unprocessed collections on these issues, and the historian community.

Keywords

EN

ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE WORKING CLASS; THEORY AND METHODOLOGY; HISTORY OF ETHNOLOGY; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; CZECH REPUBLIC

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Český časopis historický (The Czech Historical Review)
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 110
• Issue: 3-4
• Pages: 692-707

Contributors

author

Jiří Woitsch

• Etnologický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i., Na Florenci 3, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic