Danijela Popovic Nikolic
This paper examines the celebration of Todor’s Saturday (Todorova subbota) in Mali Krčimir (Zaplanje, southeastern Serbia). After reviewing previous studies of relevant rituals in the Balkan context and reconstruction of the ritual based on available studies and ethnographic material, the authors provide a picture of this ritual practice within the traditional culture of Zaplanje. At the current moment the celebration of St. Theodore’s Day is positioned at the crossroads of the traditional and the institutionalized type of ritual.
The article analyzes transcripts of field conversations that illustrate emic polyphony. Their emic polylogue, which sometimes has a polemical character, centers on several themes: the interpretation of continuity and revival, the question of the right to tradition, nostalgic memories of the past and the relationship of past and present as a new problem. The article discusses ritual and customary practice related to the celebration of St. Theodore’s Day in the context of “negotiating authenticity” and the “new wave” of folklore, with attention to the specifics of Zaplanje. Finally, the article raises the question of the sustainability of St. Theodore’s Day practice, and the possibility and consequences of its eventual inclusion in the system of protecting the intangible cultural heritage.
Agapkina T. A. (2002) Mifopoeticheskie osnovy slavyanskogo narodnogo kalendarya. Vesenne-letnii tsikl [The Mythopoetic Bases of the Slavic Folk Calendar. The Spring–Summer Cycle]. Moscow: Indrik. In Russian.
Antoniјevic D. (1971) Aleksinachko Pomoravl,e. Srpski etnografski zbornik LXXXIII [The Serbian Ethnographical Journal LXXXIII]. 1971. No. 35. Pp. 1–270. In Serbian.
Bendix R. (1997) In Search of Authenticity. The Formation of Folklore Studies. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. In English.
Benovska-S’bkova М. (2001) Politicheski prekhod i vsekidnevna kultura [Political Transition and Everyday Culture]. Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov. In Bulgarian.
Borowik I., Marinovich Jerolimov D., Zrinshchak S. (2004) Religion and Patterns of Social Transformation — Or: How to Interpret Religious Changes in Post-Communism? In: Religion and Patterns of Social Transformation. Еd. by I. Borowik, D. Marinovich Jerolimov, S. Zrinshchak. Zagreb: Institute for Social Research. In English.
Ceribasic N. (2003) Hrvatsko, starinsko i domace: povjest seljachko, i etnografija javne prakse narodne glazbe u Hrvatskoj [Croatian, Peasant, Old and Local: History and Ethnography of the Public Practice of Folk Music in Croatia]. Zagreb: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku. In Croatian.
Ceribasic N. (2008) Folklor i folklorizam [Folklore and Folklorism]. In: Predstavljanje tradicijske kulture na sceni i u medijima [The Presentation of Traditional Culture on the Stage and in the Media]. Zagreb: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku. Pp. 259–270. In Croatian.
Dégh L. (1994) American Folklore and the Mass Media. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. In English
Djordjevic Belic S. (2018) Todorovtsi / todorontsi / tudorontsi: prilog prouchavan’u demonologiјe Srba u Dunavskoј klisuri [Todorovci / Todoronci / Tudoronci: A Contribution to the Study of the Demonology of the Serbs in the Danube Gorge]. Iskhodishta [Sources]. 2018. No. 4. Pp. 75–88. In Serbian.
Filipovic M. (1950) Trachki kon’anik u obichaјima i verovan’ima savremenikh balkanskikh naroda [Thracian Horseman in the Customs and Beliefs of the Modern Balkan Peoples]. Novi Sad: Matitsa srpska. In Serbian.
Hofman A. (2010) Staging Socialist Femininity: Gender Politics and Folklore Performance in Serbia. Leiden; Boston: Brill. In English.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett B. (2013) Svjetska bashtina i kulturna ekonomija [World Heritage and Cultural Economics]. In: Proizvodnja bashtine: kritichke studije o nematerijalnoj kulturi [Heritage Production: Critical Studies on Intangible Culture]. Zagreb: Institut za etnologiju
i folkloristiku. Pp. 65–117. In Croatian.
Krstic B. (2002) Narodni zhivot i obichaјi Klisuratsa i Pol’adiјatsa [The Life and Folk Customs of the Serbs from the Danube Gorge and Poliadia]. Temishvar: Savez Srba u Rumuniјi. In Serbian.
L,ubinkovic N. (2006) Svoј i tudj u interaktsiјi na balkanskim prostorima do pochetka 18 veka [Us and Them in Their Interaction in Balkan Space up to the Beginning of the 18th Century]. In: Slika drugog u balkanskim i sredn’oevropskim kn’izhevnostima [The Image of the Other in Balkan and Central European Literature]. Ed. M. Matitski. Belgrade: Institut za knizhevnost i umetnost. Pp. 77–84. In Serbian.
Lukic Krstanovic M. (2010) Spektakli XX veka: muzika i moch [Performances of the 20th Century: Music and Power]. Beograd: Etnografski institut SANU. In Serbian.
Mihăilescu V., Iliev I., Naumovic S. (eds.) (2008) Studying Peoples in the People’s Democracies II: Socialist Era Anthropology in South-East Europe. Berlin: Lit Verlag. In English. Murzyn M. A. (2008) Heritage Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. In: The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity. Hampshire: Boydell & Brewer: Boydell Press. Pp. 315–341. In English.
Naumovic S. (2009) Upotreba tradicije u politichkom i javnom zhivotu Srbije na kraju dvadesetog i pochetkom dvadeset prvog veka [The Use of Tradition in the Political and Public Life of Serbia at the End of the Twentieth and Beginning of the 21st Century]. Belgrade: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju. In Serbian.
Nedel,kovic M. (1990) Godishnji obichaji u Srba [Annual Customs Among the Serbs]. Beograd: Vuk Karatsich. In Serbian. Plotnikova A. A. (2012) Todorova subbota [Todor’s Saturday]. In: Slavyanskie drevnosti: etnolingvisticheskii slovar’ [Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary]. Vol. 5. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. Pp. 279–282. In Russian.
Popovic Nikolic D. (2018) Terenska istrazhivan’a usmenog stvaralashtva u Zaplan’u [Field Studies of Oral Creativity in Zaplanje]. Folkloristika [Folklore Studies]. 2018. No. 3/1. Pp. 173–183. In Serbian.
Radenkovic istrazhivaњa SANU i Univerziteta u Kraguјevtsu. Pp. 39–87. In Serbian.
Simonovic D. (1982) Zaplan’e [Zaplanje]. Nish; L. (2001a) Todorova subota [Todor’s Saturday]. In: Slovenska mitologiјa. Entsiklopediјski rechnik [Slavic Mythology: Encyclopedic Dictionary]. Belgrade: Zepter Book World. Pp. 530–533. In Serbian.
Radenkovic L. (2001b) Todortsi [Todorci]. In: Slovenska mitologiјa. Entsiklopediјski rechnik [Slavic Mythology: Encyclopedic Dictionary]. Beograd: Zepter Book World. Pp. 533–536. In Serbian.
Radic R. (2002) Drzhava i verske zaјednitse 1945–1970 [The State and Religious Communities 1945–1970]. Beograd: Institut za noviјu istoriјu Srbiјe. In Serbian.
Radulovic L. (2012) Religija ovde i sada: revitalizacija religije u Srbiji [Religion Here and Now: The Revival of Religion in Serbia]. Belgrade: Srpski genealoški centar. In Serbian. Sikimic B. (2001) Svetsi tsreva motaјu [The Saints Twist Entrails]. In: Kult svetikh na Balkanu: Litseum 5 [The Cult of Saints in the Balkans: Lyceum 5]. Kragujevats: Tsentar za nauchna
Gradina; Beograd: Narodna kn’iga: Etnografski institut SANU. In Serbian.
Tolstoј N. (1995) Jezik slovenske kulture [The Language of Slavic Culture]. Nish: Prosveta. In Serbian.
Zechevic S. (1974) Rusalke i todortsi u narodnom verovan’u istochne Srbiјe [“Rusalke” i “Todorci” in the Folk Beliefs of East Serbia]. Glasnik Etnografskog muzeјa [Bulletin of the Ethnographic Museum of Belgrade]. 1974. No. 37. Pp. 109–139. In Serbian.
Zechevic S. (1981) Mitska bica srpskikh predan’a [Mythical Creatures of Serbian Legend]. Belgrade: Vuk Karadzic: Etnografski muzeј. In Serbian.
Јakovlevic R. (2012) Traditsionalna muzika i anatomiјa mrezhe festivala izmedju јugoslovenske kulturne politike i vernakularnikh vrednosti [Traditional Music and the Anatomy of the Festival Network: Between Yugoslavian Cultural Politics and Vernacular Values]. Muzikologiјa [Musicology]. 2012. No. 12. Pp. 103–120. In Serbian.
Djordjevic Belic S., Popovic Nikolic D. Todor’s Saturday (St. Theodore’s Day) in Mali Krčimir: Tradition and Revival. Traditional Culture. 2021. Vol. 22. No. 1. Pp. 107–119. In Russian.