Preliminary communication
WOMEN’S LIFE IN THE VILLAGES OF SENJ RIDGE
MARIJETA RAJKOVIĆ
Abstract
In the article ‘Women’s life in the villages of Senj ridge’ are presented documents collected through investigation held among coastal Bunjevci in the localities of: Donji Lopci and Sveti Križ in Senj Draga, Rončević Dolac, Stolac, Alan, Liskovac and Žukalj. The investigation was made by a questionnaire, which was created especially for the occasion and another questionnaire about pre-wedding and wedding customs. Further processing of the data, using methods as analysis, comparison and synthesis of sources was accomplished with existing literature about the same subject. Many Bunjevci said how they lived as well as adding stories passed down from their ancestors. The author summarises all those numerous stories in which were also included many individual destinies, especially events and individual explanations with addition of the author’s personal observation during the investigation when she tried to establish which were typical occurrences and behaviours significant to the life of Bunjevci women through 20th century. In this work the author tried to understand the essence of gender groups. The intention was to discover the size of gender roles and gender symbolism as well as find their meaning and how they managed to keep social order or start social changes. Another intention was to present the life of a Bunjevci woman form her birth to her death, social aspects and differences in her role in private and public sphere. This work starts with the presentation of family formation (number of members in a family, customs connected to giving birth, traditional beliefs about the baby’s gender prediction), girls up bringing and youth (study of gender’s roles, general study, and menstrual cycles). The subject of this work was also woman’s participation in some customs, dowry, inheritance rights as well as the
visible symbols of a woman’s position. More intention was given to the importance of marriage to a woman’s social position; the unusual way of marriage contraction, un-married couples living together and experimental marriages. The author also wanted to show: what was a position of newly married woman in a house, to describe a woman’s daily routine, her part and right to free use of property and her rights to participate in decision making within the family generally. This article finishes with descriptions of funeral customs. The author also tried to investigate about the lives of woman whose life was in some way unusual: sterile woman, a single mother, widow, lover, as well as relationships amongst women (i.e. mother and daughter, mother in law and daughter in law etc.). All the stories are related to the 20th century and most of the data collected was related to the period between 1940 and 1970. There is not so much data related to the beginning of the 20th century or related to the period of 70’s when most of the inhabitants left the hillsides of the Senj Ridge and moved to the towns. The collected material should be extended. It is a good base for further investigations about the tradition and culture of coastal Bunjevci (social life and subjects related to customs) but also for further comparison to some elements of other Bunjevci groups.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
17885
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2003.
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