Ethnologia Europea in Croatia and Slovenia: Branimir Bratanić (1910-1986) and Vilko Novak (1909-2003)

Abstract

The author deals with a chapter from the histories of Croatian and Slovenian ethnology, particularly the period of the 1950s, when both national ethnological disciplines were engaged with the issue of the relationship between general and regional/national ethnology. As far as concerns this relationship, Branimir Bratanić and Vilko Novak, both university professors at that time, followed the contemporary line of discussions in European ethnology (EE). They presented the "novelties" and advocated the integration of specific national traditions in EE, adapting them by respecting disciplinary legacies and current state of the discipline in their home countries as well as their educational agendas and broader research practices. For this reason, this study also includes a comparative presentation of some disciplinary convergences and divergences right before this particular period: the links between Croatian and Slovenian ethnology that come to light when emphasising the conceptualization of the research field, institutional history, and contacts among researchers.