Book

Homemade world of Zagaj

Sosialantropologisk institutt (18) • Published In 1979 • Pages: xvii, 249

By: Minnich, Robert Gary.

Abstract
This is an ethnography on peasant-farmer households in the Haloze region of Slovenia. Using the concept of 'indigenous technology' the author describes the material and social relationships of a settlement of small farms. Farmsteads (domaca gruda) are passed down intact to selected heirs -- not necessarily the oldest son -- accounting for a rural landscape that has remained unchanged for the last two hundred years. Although the farmstead is the exclusive domain of a nuclear family, its operation depends on the exchange of goods and services among other households and 'guest workers.' Minnich shows how a Christmas time pigsticking ritual and feast (furez) makes explicit the dependence of the nuclear family on a wider 'peasant' society. According to Minnich, an egalitarian peasant culture is evoked in the common skill of butchering, and for the day at least, the transfer of authority from the household head to the visiting 'head butcher.'
Subjects
Cultural identity and pride
Domesticated animals
Inheritance
Mutual aid
Visiting and hospitality
Household
culture
Slovenes
HRAF PubDate
1997
Region
Europe
Sub Region
Southeastern Europe
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ; 1996
Field Date
2/1974-12/1975, summer 1977
Coverage Date
1945-1975
Coverage Place
Zagaj, West Haloze, Slovenia
Notes
Robert Gary Minnich
Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-246)
LCCN
sn88017044
LCSH
Slovenes