Stručni rad
DERURALISATION OF SOUTHERN VELEBIT – ASPECTS OF LIFE OF VELEBIT PIEDMONT DWELLERS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Anita Bušljeta
Sažetak
Until the first half of the 20th century the Croatian agricultural population often moved from the mountains to flatland areas, where the numbers of farmers has not markedly changed. However, for this the movement from mountainous parts to the Croatian coast work has a greater importance, which caused the decrease in the numbers of farmers and was a sign of the economic development of that time. The aim was to show, through a prism of the life Velebit’s piedmont dwellers, reasons for leaving southern Velebit and the reasons for the population’s relocation to the coastal area of today’s tourist resorts of Starigrad, Paklenica and surrounding places. Modernisation processes (characteristic of Croatian areas in the second half of the 20th century) – the development of goodsmoney relations, urbanisation and industrialisation and the development of tertiary and quaternary services activities related to tourism have affected the life of Velebit's piedmont area, allowing them to quickly leave their livestock and farming, whereat there is land reclamation and the deruralisation of these places. In this work the emphasis will be placed precisely on the difficult living conditions before moving, or before the modernisation processes (at least in rudimentary forms) began to penetrate into this area.
Through the work of the top Croatian ethnologist Vitomir Belaj, which will serve as a theoretical base and a secondary source of information, as well as through the works of other authors who have touched upon the issues concerning agricultural-livestock economy and the ways of life of the mountain farmers, in this text will be displayed everyday life of at least one part of Velebit's piedmont area – the difficult living conditions, which facilitated the departure from this rural area. Religious particularities, such as the ritual held after the celebration of the mass of Our Lady or the custom of placing the deceased at special places for resting purposes during the funeral procession to cemeteries known as mirilima, along with some reminiscences of family and interpersonal relationships of the inhabitants of southern Velebit are supported by interviews which were carried out on 7th May 2010 with Mrs. Kristina Bušljeta, who was born and lived in this area until 1958. This will also serve in the already described living conditions of the Velebit piedmont region. Velebit's piedmont dwellers lived without passable roads for animal-drawn carts and cars, without sufficient drinking water, with constant restrictions, especially related to working with livestock such as goats and chopping wood. One of the key reasons for the deruralisation as well as the subsequent land reclamation of this area was the construction of the Adriatic magistral (main coast road) which brought about the development of tourism and service industries, meanwhile, moving to the coast also represented a social prestige in the local inhabitants, who were primarily involved in the construction of residential buildings on the coast. All of this contributed to the final
decision on the abandonment of rural areas of southern Velebit. So that Velebit's piedmont dwellers, their occasional settlements, barns, hay barns, wells and pens are not left to complete oblivion it is necessary to write about the rural life that once inhabited the southern Velebit slopes, and hopefully this text contributes to that.
Ključne riječi
deruralisation; land reclamation; modernisation; Southern Velebit; Piedmont dwellers
Hrčak ID:
70378
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2010.
Posjeta: 4.756 *