Prethodno priopćenje
INVESTIGATION OF TRADITIONAL HERITAGE, IDENTITY AND ETHNO-GENESIS OF COASTAL BUNJEVCI
MILANA ČERNELIĆ
Sažetak
In the article are presented the results of the research on the cultural heritage of coastal Bunjevci and also explained here are the meaning and the goals of the scientifically researched project Identity and ethno-genesis of coastal Bunjevci. The article is conceived to bring more results into understanding their cultural heritage, and on the other side to establish the ethno genesis processes in the development of the Bunjevci ethnic group through comparative analysis. The holistic approach to this problem of the Bunjevci people could be achieved through the combination of research into their traditional and contemporaneous cultures. The research into their traditional farming and wedding customs already undertaken give some reason to presume that their cultural heritage was developed in an ancient layer on the south-east Adriatic-Dinaric border zone which leads all the way to the border between Montenegro and Albania. This zone also included the territory, which was described as ‘Red Croatia’ from Byzantine sources of the 11th and 12th centuries.
The author of this article considered a total area, where specific elements of wedding customs, confirmed through research held on the hillsides of the Senj ridge were spread: the wedding honour of best man; specific details about the engagement and engagement period; bride’s duty to kiss the wedding guests who would then give her gifts of money; the separate sitting of male and female wedding guests; the duty of bride and bridegroom to eat a halved apple together; and specific beliefs connected to the wedding procession. All these events and customs were found among the Bunjevci people in the coastal-Lika region as well as in the Danube region and they have characteristically spread into southeast Europe. The presence of specific elements among Bunjevci wedding customs in different regions show that the conglomeration of Slavic and native inhabitants took place in southeast Europe. In this way formulated cultural elements were gradually spread over the centuries along the Adriatic-Dinaric belt. This was possible because of Vlach nomadic migrations in that direction. The most southern part of the Adriatic-Dinaric zone (south Dalmatia and its hinterland, Boka Kotorska Bay, the coast of Montenegro and a part of its hinterland) could be considered as very important for the ethnic-cultural formation of the Croatian group known as Bunjevci. Some specific elements of wedding customs, which are common to all the Bunjevci peoples, can be found in this area. The second phase of their development happened during migrations caused by Ottoman invasions. Already formulated cultural elements were transferred to other parts of east Europe, to the west and the north. This can be confirmed by the presence of specific elements of the Bunjevci wedding customs. They can be found in the middle and northern parts of Bosnia and the east Pannonian areas. The furthest points where those elements can be found are the zones are in the west where the coastal-Lika Bunjevci live and on the north where live the Danube Bunjevci. Some traces of these elements can even be followed all the way to Istria. All these considered elements of wedding customs make a common heritage for all the relocated Bunjevci peoples, but they can also be traced back even to their original area. Their characteristic spread shows that their formulating processes took place on the Adriatic-Dinaric border belt, a little more to the south than initially believed, as it even includes the Red Croatia zone. A characteristic spread can be a starting point to establish the Bunjevci ethno-genesis. The new conclusions made from a part of the coastal Bunjevci are one more step closer to resolving the question of Bunjevci ethno-genesis.
Ključne riječi
TRADITIONAL HERITAGE; IDENTITY AND ETHNO-GENESIS OF COASTAL BUNJEVCI
Hrčak ID:
17882
URI
Datum izdavanja:
29.12.2003.
Posjeta: 2.498 *