Page 339 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 339
peasant “economic industriousness” in slovenian ethnology (19th–20th centuries)
sketch an image of the survival efforts and social denotation of the agrari-
an population of that time” (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 476).
In the last decades of the 20th century the ethnological research on
peasant economic activities was micro-regionally concentrated and direct-
ed towards the study of the way of life of different professional and social
groups (for instance in the project of Slovene ethnologic topography), which
were frequently regionally specific, for instance limited to sea salt produc-
ing on the Adriatic coast, dormice and bird’s hunt, rafts-men, forest work-
ers, Alpine herdsmen, shepherds, millers etc. The focus of these kinds of re-
searches was on skills and objects by documenting details. The main idea
was that the human’s work determines the individual and his or her group,
therefore the centre of interest was different occupational groups and their
activities (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 476). Some local studies of the peasant
economy were also made, such as Boris Kuhar (1965, 1972) on changes of the
folk culture in Škocjanski hribi and Anka Novak (1974) on peasant econo-
my in Poljanska dolina (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 476). By checking the work
of Anka Novak (1958) on the farming of peasants from Poljanska dolina it
can be noted again that the focus is on the description of the everyday peas-
ant activities such as farming, stock breeding and forestry. Therefore, the
study of economy in ethnology has been focused on two interrelated top-
ics: “the way of life” and “cultural elements” (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 477).
As Ivan Sedej notes, the object talks about techniques, the degree of
craft’s skill, about the difficulties of work, about life and intimate life – and
this includes folk art and consumption (Sedej 1988–1990, 13). It’s in this con-
text that an interesting concept was used for the first time in Slovenian
ethnology – “consumption” (konzum), referring to the house artistic ex-
pression and furniture in the so called de-privileged social classes (Sedej
1988–1990, 302, 317; Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 480).
What this methodology omits by focusing on the description of sepa-
rate economic activities, is the “way of life” in relation to peasant’s subsist-
ence. I have not noticed any research dedicated to the question of economic
subsistence, survival or even less of living standard improvement of an in-
dividual, family or village as a whole. The researches concentrate each time
on simple and single aspects without connecting them in an economic sys-
tem or comprehensive strategy.
The authors of one of the rare recent monographs on peasants, with a
focus on the relationship between generations and genders, Duška Knežević
Hočevar and Majda Černič Istenič (2010) noticed that in Slovenian research
337
sketch an image of the survival efforts and social denotation of the agrari-
an population of that time” (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 476).
In the last decades of the 20th century the ethnological research on
peasant economic activities was micro-regionally concentrated and direct-
ed towards the study of the way of life of different professional and social
groups (for instance in the project of Slovene ethnologic topography), which
were frequently regionally specific, for instance limited to sea salt produc-
ing on the Adriatic coast, dormice and bird’s hunt, rafts-men, forest work-
ers, Alpine herdsmen, shepherds, millers etc. The focus of these kinds of re-
searches was on skills and objects by documenting details. The main idea
was that the human’s work determines the individual and his or her group,
therefore the centre of interest was different occupational groups and their
activities (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 476). Some local studies of the peasant
economy were also made, such as Boris Kuhar (1965, 1972) on changes of the
folk culture in Škocjanski hribi and Anka Novak (1974) on peasant econo-
my in Poljanska dolina (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 476). By checking the work
of Anka Novak (1958) on the farming of peasants from Poljanska dolina it
can be noted again that the focus is on the description of the everyday peas-
ant activities such as farming, stock breeding and forestry. Therefore, the
study of economy in ethnology has been focused on two interrelated top-
ics: “the way of life” and “cultural elements” (Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 477).
As Ivan Sedej notes, the object talks about techniques, the degree of
craft’s skill, about the difficulties of work, about life and intimate life – and
this includes folk art and consumption (Sedej 1988–1990, 13). It’s in this con-
text that an interesting concept was used for the first time in Slovenian
ethnology – “consumption” (konzum), referring to the house artistic ex-
pression and furniture in the so called de-privileged social classes (Sedej
1988–1990, 302, 317; Slavec Gradišnik 2000, 480).
What this methodology omits by focusing on the description of sepa-
rate economic activities, is the “way of life” in relation to peasant’s subsist-
ence. I have not noticed any research dedicated to the question of economic
subsistence, survival or even less of living standard improvement of an in-
dividual, family or village as a whole. The researches concentrate each time
on simple and single aspects without connecting them in an economic sys-
tem or comprehensive strategy.
The authors of one of the rare recent monographs on peasants, with a
focus on the relationship between generations and genders, Duška Knežević
Hočevar and Majda Černič Istenič (2010) noticed that in Slovenian research
337
