Slovenian Academy Research Articles

European Journal of Geography (Year 2023): Reviewer Appreciation & Publication Recap

European Journal of Geography (Year 2023): Reviewer Appreciation & Publication Recap

Writers vs censorship: Slovenian experience in the context of the 19th century

The review presents a collective monograph published in the scientific series “Studia literaria” of the Institute of Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which for the first time presents in a comprehensive, multidisciplinary manner the functioning of state censorship as an institution of official control over sociocultural life Slovenes in the territories of the Habsburg Empire, and then Austria-Hungary in the period from 1789 to 1918. Throughout the century under review, Slovenian writers, scientists, editors, publishers, critics, and journalists faced imperial censorship as the most important factor regulating their activities. The institution of censorship itself experienced a number of transformations during this period: from secularization and bureaucracy during the reign of Maria Theresa to the repressive aggressiveness of censorship practices under Franz Joseph. Based on a broad historical, cultural and literary context, the authors – literary scholars, historians, cultural scientists, museum workers, bibliographers – explore the influence of censorship on the process of national revival and the work of outstanding Slovenian authors A. T. Linhart, F. Prešeren, I. Cankar, publishing, periodicals, national theater. The monograph consists of a preface, an extensive introduction and two sections arranged in chronological order, the first of which covers the period from the Great French to the March Revolution, the second from the March Revolution to the First World War. Each section includes ten author’s chapters. The book is equipped with a name index, information about the authors and a detailed English-language summary, including article-by-article annotations. The exclusive archival illustrative material included in the book is very informative and useful: copies of documents, manuscripts, letters, newspaper pages, censorship reports, court decisions, geographical maps, extracts from library catalogs, etc., which not only serves as an evidence base, but also immerses the reader into the atmosphere of time.

Prof. dr. Miha Humar Associate Member of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Prof. dr. Miha Humar Associate Member of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts

THE SOUND ARCHIVE OF THE INSTITUTE OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH SCIENTIFIC CENTER OF THE SLOVENIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND ARTS

Since the end of February 2022, Ukrainian science experienced significant disruption caused by the full-scale war launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. As has often been the case in the history of armed conflicts, they have significantly affected various areas of culture, art and science, including ethnomusicology and its subject of research. The exodus of scholars within the country and abroad, the relocation and risk of destruction of archives, the more difficult condition for work in the field due to the martial law, the reduction of state funding in the fields of science and education, and, at the same time, the growing demand of society for traditional culture and the emergence of new initiatives to protect and preserve Ukrainian heritage — all these facts create new realities to which researchers have to adapt and within which they have to find new approaches to scientific activity. The experience of similar crises in other countries, as well as the experience of preserving archives in general, can be very useful for domestic science. Therefore, with the beginning of the war, institutions, foundations and associations from European countries, the USA and Canada began to actively offer their help in preserving Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
 The forced migration of researchers also brought a number of advantages, namely the strengthening of international contacts, the acquisition of work experience in foreign institutions by Ukrainian scientists, the presentation of domestic science to colleagues from other countries and thus the popularization of Ukrainian culture in the world. Throughout the war, Ukrainian researchers — musicologists and cultural activists — took part in the scientific and creative processes of various institutions in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Canada, the USA, and other countries.
 The author of the article examines the history and principles of the organization and preservation of the Sound archive of the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana), having the opportunity to work directly with this collection as a forcibly resettled researcher. The article gives a brief overview of the history of the Institute as the most important ethnomusicological center of Slovenia, examines the activities of key personalities of the Institute, their role in the history of the Institute and the archive, the approaches to collecting and studying the traditional music of Slovenes and outlines the current directions of work with the digital archive. Based on these facts, a comparison is made with traditional music archives in Ukraine and an assessment is given of the possibilities of incorporating the considered methods of organization and data storage into work with domestic collections of musical folklore, taking into account the urgency of such measures in times of increased risk of loss of cultural heritage due to the war.

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and its cooperation with Yugoslavian Academies of Sciences and Arts (1938–1992)

The paper presents a brief overlook of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and stance of Slovenian researchers towards Yugoslavian cultural policy. Slovenian scientists defended the independent status of their institutions, including the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and therefore opposed policies that would lead to the unification of Yugoslav institutions. In-depth cooperation between Yugoslav academies began after the Second World War, when the academies had their own research institutes. Initially, the cooperation was financed by the federal government, whereas with introduction of self-management financial burden was placed on academies themselves. In the late 1980s, the social crisis consumed the relations between the academies, which retained only formal contacts that were suspended after the breakup of Yugoslavia

Collecting Slovenian School Lore Via E-Questionnaire: Analysis of the Collected Material and Revision of the Questionnaire

Although folklorists recognise the active role of children in intangible heritage, collecting and analysing children’s lore and school lore has been a side issue in Slovenian folkloristics. Especially since the beginning of the new millennium, it seems that school lore has been put aside. In order to revive collecting of school lore, the Institute of Slovenian Ethology at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) organised riddle collecting in schools in 2015 and an e-collection during the 2018/2019 school year. The first collection was organised as part of interviews while the other collection was based on an e-questionnaire. This was sent to Slovenian elementary and high schools as well as to acquaintances in order to get as many responses as possible, i.e., using the snowball method. The article gives both an overview and a sketch of the results.

Šest let arhiva podatkov Sentinel-2 za Slovenijo

The Sentinel-2 is a high resolution optical satellite mission, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the European Commission. Currently the mission has two satellites in orbit: Sentinel-2A from 23rd June 2015, and Sentinel-2B from 7th March 2017. Revisit time for this twin constellation is five days. The twin satellites represent a very stable data source, but for the first six operational months (i.e. the second half of the 2015). From the very start of the mission, the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) is collecting its own archive of Sentinel-2 data for the extent of the Republic of Slovenia. The data is saved in its original processing state (Level-1C) and in four levels of processing. The archive has now been operating for six full years, which is a good milestone for a statistical overview. We analyse the archive of Sentinel-2 data of Slovenia from several aspects at the country level. A special focus is placed on cloud cover, as only cloud-free data can give an impression of the actual spatial and temporal usability of optical data.

In memoriam to Professor Jean Nicod (1923-2021)

With pain and sadness, we have received news about the death of Prof. Jean Nicod. Prof. Jean Nicod was Dr. Litt., retired Professor Emeritus of Physical Geography at the University Aix-Marseille, Institute of Geography, Aix-en-Provence, honorary doctor of the University of Silesia (1994), and Corresponding member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (2003). Prof. Nicod was an outstanding geographer, geomorphologist, researcher of karst phenomena and Mediterranean geomorphology, the founder of the French school of karst geomorphology, and of Association Française de Karstologie (French Association of Karstology), its first president (1977-1986), later its honorary president. Additionally, he was president of Commision de Phenomène Karstique du Comité National de Géographie (Commission of karst phenomena at the National Geographic Committee), and the founder and editor of the journals Karstologia and Méditerranée.

Before Copernicus and Copernicus

A discussion of Before Copernicus: The Cultures and Contexts of Scientific Learning in the Fifteenth Century edited by Rivka Feldhay and F. Jamil Ragep. Published Online (2021-04-30)Copyright © 2021 by Matjaž Vesel Article PDF Link: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/aestimatio/article/view/37603/28608 Corresponding Author: Matjaž Vesel, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and ArtsE-Mail: matjaz.vesel@zrc-sazu.si

Improving Female Researchers’ Careers through Gender Equality Plan actions: Experiences from a Slovenian Research Institution

This article draws on experiences in implementing the Gender Equality Plan adopted at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in early 2019. It discusses the careers of female researchers, their prospects for career advancement, and how their excellence is construed, negotiated, and promoted in the Slovenian academic sphere. The article proposes a contextualised understanding of female academic careers and excellence. This understanding is sensitive to the structural variables that define researchers’ academic prospects, as these prospects result from the intersection of various personal and structural factors. It argues that in order to plan appropriate strategies for improving career prospects for female researchers in a Gender Equality Plan, it is necessary not only to consider the national context, the legislation and demographic and other “objective data”, but also to take seriously the institutional culture and the fact that individual researchers are affected by neoliberal academia in different ways that depend on their structural position within the institution.

The Dynamics of Research of Instrumental Traditional Music at the Institute of Ethnomusicology at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Past and Present

The article presents the research of instrumental traditional music in the Slovenian space carried out by associates of the ZRC SAZU Institute of Ethnomusicology. It examines the audio resources available for the research of instrumental traditional music practices, as well as the orientations that have had an impact on the interpretation of the collected and analysed material.

Editorial

In May 2018, the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts hosted the first conference in the series A Glimpse into Greek Linguistics. Its purpose was to shed light on aspects of synchronic and diachronic research on Greek and to promote the study of this language in Slovenia. The second conference was included in the program of festival “On Mt. Olympus” — a nine-month series of cultural and research events dedicated to Ancient Greek ideas and technological achievements — and was one of the main events of the festival. A result of the efforts for the in-depth study of Greek in Slovenia is also the present international issue of the journal Keria: Studia Latina et Graeca, which contains contributions by six participants from the second conference.

Introduction to Music and the Politics of Memory: Resounding Antifascism across Borders

The idea for this special issue of Popular Music and Society was born out of a joint fieldwork project between the University of Cologne, Germany, and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in ...

Okrogla miza "Jezik in spol"

Filozofska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani in Komisija za slovenski jezik v javnosti pri Slovenski akademiji znanosti in umetnosti sta v torek, 23. oktobra 2018, organizirali okroglo mizo »Jezik in spol«, ki je potekala na Filozofski fakulteti v Ljubljani. Izhodišče razprave je bil sklep Senata Filozofske fakultete o izmenični rabi moške in ženske slovnične oblike za vse spole v pravilnikih Filozofske fakultete, s sogovornicami in sogovorniki pa sta organizatorja želela razpravo razširiti na vprašanja, kakšne možnosti ponuja slovenski jezik za uporabo spolno občutljivega jezika in kako v slovenskem jeziku zagotavljati vključujoč jezik v različnih družbenih situacijah. Objavljamo zapis je po posnetku dogodka, ki je na voljo na YouTubu.

Relevance of interdisciplinary approach in humanities: The Thing. Conceptual and Cultural Aspects (2018) as an example of cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural research

The purpose of this article is to discuss the merits of interdisciplinary research in the humanities. The discussion is conducted on the example of the volume entitled The Thing. Conceptual and Cultural Aspects, edited by Teresa Dobrzyńskaand Raya Kuncheva (2018). The volume approaches the issues of perception and presence of material objects in the linguistic picture of the world, viewed from the perspective of various humanistic disciplines, such as philosophy, semiotics, linguistics and literature. This interdisciplinary research is also cross-cultural in character, being the result of the studies of Bulgarian, Polish and Slovenian scholars from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the New Bulgarian University, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. This effective mode of research provides a common ground for discussion and opens the space for dialogue between respective scholars, the disciplines they represent and the readers, going beyond the limitations of specific research areas and producing an overall picture of the object.

Exposition in Stone Forest National Park: international cooperation between Slovenia and China in research and development of Stone Forest UNESCO Global Geopark

Informal cooperation between Slovenian and Chinese karstologists started as early as 1980's, but the main boost was initiated after 1995 in the frame of several national and international projects. Fruitful long-term cooperation between the Karst Research Institute, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and Yunnan Institute of Geography, Yunnan University, successfully culminated in many joint research efforts, among which the research in Stone Forest (Shilin) in South China Karst was the most apparent one.

Gregorian Chant in Medieval Manuscripts in the Slovenian Lands

As an astute researcher of the musical heritage in medieval codices, the Slovenian musicologist Jurij Snoj condensed in one book his life’s work, which he pursued both professionally (as well as privately) at the Institute for Musicology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ljubljana, between 1980 and 2018. Eight years after commencing his research, in 1988, he received his doctorate in the field of Gregorian chant with a discussion of partially preserved medieval codices in Ljubljana. He remained faithful to this field of expertise until today, but has deepened his knowledge consistently through codicological analyses of sources within the Slovenian national and cultural space, yet simultaneously looking for answers and connections to the musical traditions of neighbouring countries, especially those of Italian and Germanic origin. It is of no small importance that the author has been attending the symposia of the group Cantus Planus for more than twenty years: a study group of the International Musicological Society that concentrates on specialist questions about medieval Latin monody.

Maks Samec and his adapting to academic standards after World War II

The paper at hand deals with the academic career of Maks Samec (1881-1964) after World War II. Samec lost his habilitation upon the »purge« at the University of Ljubljana in August of 1945, but was offered a second chance as an irreplaceable scientist – he became the founder of the newly established Institute of Chemistry at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA). He has earned numerous recognitions and state decorations for his work. At the institute, he strived to apply his academic standards, but was not entirely successful, which was also a consequence of administrative reforms and changes to research policy in the 1950s.

Jezikoslovni zapiski 11–20 (2005–2014): Bibliography

The bibliography cites 297 articles that appeared in Jezikoslovni zapiski (JZ), the journal of the Institute of the Slovenian Language at the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, during its second decade of publication. This follows the first part of the bibliography, as conceived and published in 2005 by Janez Keber, the journal editor at the time (JZ 11(1), 2005, 153–164).

Exploring Alpine Landscapes as Potential Sites of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme

Traditional agricultural landscapes give a distinct character to the European Alps and are considered part of their heritage due to their distinctive natural and sociocultural features. At a workshop jointly organized by the Swiss Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies (ICAS), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), and the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Ljubljana, experts from different European countries discussed current trends in traditional Alpine agricultural landscapes in September 2017 in Tolmin, Slovenia. The objective of the workshop was to develop options for proposing these landscapes as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (www.fao.org/giahs/en).