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Minangkabau culture in the mirror of randai theatre plays
Pflegerová, Mariana ; Vrhel, František (advisor) ; Uherek, Zdeněk (referee) ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (referee)
The dissertation thesis is focused on the culture of the ethnic group Minangkabau, whose home territory is situated in the present-day Indonesian province of West Sumatra, yet whose diaspora, reaching its highest density in the islands of Sumatra and Java, recently covers the whole of the Indonesian archipelago, overlapping to the neighbouring countries of Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond. In the thesis, Minangkabau culture is viewed through the looking glass of the Minang folk theatre randai, which traces its origins to the iniciation of young Minang males, yet which has with time transformed into an important means of symbolic expression of the Minang identity. Selected randai plays recorded by the author in their authentic social context are used to provide examples for the explanation of some of the key concepts that form the core of Minang culture, while socio-historical conditions are considered for the influence they have had upon the shaping of these concepts to their present form. Topics that are subject to explanation include the following: the social position and the key social roles performed by women in the context of a system of social organization based on the principals of matrilineal kinship, relative to the position and roles of men; basic principals of Minang ethnopsychology as source of...
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Fiacres and cab carriages in Prague
Břečka, Josef ; Štěpánová, Irena (referee) ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (advisor)
This fmal thesis makes an attempt to give account of the development of fiacre and cab carriage transport in Prague. It concentrates on two maitl themes. Firstly, it deals with the development of this type of transport in the historical, cultural and industrial growth of the city, technical aspects and institutions. Secondly, the thesis attempts to capture the chann of old Prague dominated by this phenomenon of horse drawn public transport throughout the whole of the 19 century. Since horses were the main driving power in the city at that time, Prague absorbed them and made them part of its culture. Many sights and crafts remind of the specific horse culture in the city. There are not only various pieces of horse tack, fonner stables and riding halls, but also means of transport, such as horse-drawn wagons and cabs oftoday's tourist promenade transport. Part of the charm of the city was also linked with the typical men-abouttown coachers or cabmen who have been part of the atmosphere ofthe city until today, and the author also tries to show their everyday life. The thesis describes the overall development of the public transport in Prague from the flist punts and rafts, ferrying passengers across the Vltava River, and sedan chairs, carrying their customers along the streets of old Prague, via the first...
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Role of oak in the Slavonic societies
Mašek, Michal ; Sochorová, Ludmila (referee) ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (advisor)
Cílem této mé práce je ukázat, jak se podoby stromu a lidské bytosti v myšlení archaické společnosti vzájemně prolínají a ztotožňují, a to se zvláštním zřetelem na nekorunovaného evropského krále stromů - na dub. Rovněž se chci pokusit zobrazit, čím strom člověka a jeho společnost přesahuje, neboť nelze opominout význam stromu jako metafyzické struktury a stavby světa. Nejde mi o zachycení obecných tezí, jako spíš o uspořádání představ, které jsou dnes velmi matné či zcela zastřené. Je pochopitelné, že nelze hovořit jen o oslavě stromu, ale také o přeměnách a vývoji, včetně pozvolného upadání jeho významu na úroveň pouhé surovinové základny, dnes navíc nahraditelné. Tuto problematiku budu sledovat především ze zorného úhlu Evropana se slovanskými kořeny.
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Folk traditions and customs as a mirror of social relations. A comparison of three local communities in eastern Bohemia: Velký Vřešťov - Dubenec - Hustířany
Záškoda, Miloslav ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (referee) ; Pargač, Jan (advisor)
The subject of this thesis is the social and cultural life in three local communities in Eastern Bohemia (Velký Vřešťov, Dubenec, Hustířany). All three localities are situated about 20 km north of Hradec Králové. Their respective populations are 197, 659, and 174. The thesis gives a brief description of the past and the present of these villages, with special focus on institutions (e. g. school) and local organizations. World Wars One and Two and the emergence of the communist regime were the most important events in terms of the impact on the structure of social relations within the communities. The theoretical part of this thesis summarizes the methodological discussions within the Czech ethnography in the second half of the 20th century. The methodological problems of field research and the interpretation of the examined social reality were the primary objects of dispute between two groups of ethnologists. Karel Fojtík and Olga Skalníková were part of the first one; their idea was to use sociological concepts and other methods of social sciences and to promote interdisciplinary studies. The second group is connected with the likes of Ladislav Holý and Milan Stuchlík. This group emphasised research into the residues of social systems of communities, which represent relicts of the old-style village life....
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Jago and preman - controversial heroes of Indonesian history
Petrů, Tomáš ; Vrhel, František (advisor) ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (referee) ; Dubovská, Zorica (referee)
The dissertation deals with the historical development of banditry and gangsterism in Indonesia against the background of its relationship with the ruling elite. The author argues that bandits, called jago, or modern gangsters, known as preman, represented the basic pillar of power of all ruling regimes in Java from the classical Javanese kingdoms and the 163 Netherlands East Indies' colonial state to the Suharto's New Order. This pattern changed, however, with the onset of decentralisation and democratization of Indonesian politics - thugs for hire ceased to be agents of state and became a power tool of political parties and other competing interest groups. The author also shows that the regimes tried to eliminate the thugs' criminal activities by integrating them into their respective repressive systems. The general consequence of these intergrational attempts was criminalization of security forces and the state administration. The author further proves the existence of a direct historical and cultural connection between the jago and the preman. These controversial figures also share, despite a substantial time span, three essential features: cooperation with the patron on an ambivalent basis; criminal activities on the side outside this relationship, which secured profit for the elite in return for...
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Dialectcs of savagery and civilisation: ways of conceptualisation and representations of Indians in the work of Albert Vojtěch Frič
Hodač, Tomáš ; Korecká, Zuzana (referee) ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (advisor)
The thesis deals with approaches to and concepts of the otherness in the work of the Czech traveller Alberto Vojtěch Frič. It analyses a complexity of relationship between the European civilisation and its counterparts which are classified as other or different. The thesis focuses on the territory of the American continent treating it as an exotic locality, which attracts the attention of Europeans, and on the Native Americans, who stimulate the European imagination. The introductory chapters discuss European discourses on savages since the time of the first overseas expeditions until the end of the 19th century in order to describe main conceptual practices in the representations of American Indians. It also outlines the ways of representations of Indians in the Czech fiction and press in the 19th century concentrating on the work of Josef Václav Sládek. The main part of the thesis aims at methods of description, grasp and representation of Indians in textual outputs of A. V. Frič. It summarizes his career of traveller and botanist and briefly reconstructs particular expeditions into the South America. It attempts to identify the terms in which Frič grasps the other and define categories which he uses to interpret the otherness. A particular regard is paid to the terms civilisation and savagery which Frič...
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Nations and the future of Europe. Answers of nation-states to polyethnisation
Janicki, Marko ; Veselý, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Dvořáková, Vladimíra (referee) ; Říchová, Blanka (referee) ; Šalanda, Bohuslav (referee)
Dissertation deals with the problem of polyethnisation of Western European nation states, which is defined as the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity as a result of increasing immigration. This development poses a challenge for cohesion and continuity of the historical nation states, as well as for the stability of the current system of international relations. The dissertation deals with analyzing the specific responses of three countries - France, Germany and Great Britain - in a comparative perspective. Theoretical background represents allochthonous theory of ethnic minorities. The author explores different aspects of immigration policy (economic immigration, asylum, family immigration, illegal immigration) and integration policy (especially the granting of citizenship - by birth or naturalization - and civic integration policy). The results are placed within the theoretical scheme, working with 4 model approaches - exclusionism, segregationism, assimilationism and multiculturalism. The dissertation also gives the answer to the prospect of European integration and to question of the future of nation states in Europe.
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