|
|
||
|
Traditional Customs of Caucasus
The course aims to introduce students to the research field of Caucasus studies or Caucasology and to discuss some selected topics within the frame of anthropology, ethnology, history of the Caucasus region; an area that is widely known today mainly because of conflicts in Chechnya, Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the Caucasus always was and it is still considered one of the main crossroads of cultures and civilizations, where different traditions, ethnicities, identities, languages and religions have been in contact, often rivalizing, often cooperating in the longue durée. According to Arab cartographers, Caucasus was “the mountain of languages” - on the one hand the rare mosaic of settled nations, their ancient empires and complex pantheons, on the other hand the mountains, valleys and steppes of nomadic ethnic groups professing shamanism; an area where Zoroastrianism and Judaism met with early Christianity, Islam, and the indigenous religion of highlanders and their shrines (xati, djvari). Armenia and Georgia represent the treasuries of Eastern Christianity, through their churches, monasteries, “sacred” languages a number of important ecclesiastical and historical sources which have been preserved. Azerbaijan could be seen a sort of reflection of mysterious and mystical Persia together with its Turkic language and the mountains of the Greater Caucasus range are a distinctive region with its specific mixture of traditions, concept of honor, hospitality, blood feuds, defensive towers and sword dances. This geopolitical area situated on the border of the Middle East, Asia Minor, Black Sea, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is undoubtedly interesting for historians, linguists, ethnologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, comparative philologists, folklorists, musicologists any many others. Last update: Vlainić Sandra, Mgr. (14.04.2024)
|
|
||
|
Learning objectives: abilities, skills Getting the general knowledge concerningCaucasusand neighbouring regions, its ethnolinguistic composition, a brief overview of religions and historical background Understand the concept of so-called traditional society of highlanders and their customary law, kinship relations, matrimonial strategies, rituals etc. Last update: Košťálová Petra, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (23.01.2024)
|
|
||
|
Final exams: activity during lessons or essay on the chosen topic Attestations – final exams covering topics discussed during lectures In the case of online lectures - general knowledge of discussed topics or semestral work In the case of long-term absence – discussion on the chosen topic or semestral work Last update: Košťálová Petra, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (23.01.2024)
|
|
||
|
Literature Allen, W. E. D. A History of the Georgian People. Kegan Paul, London 1932. Aslanian, Sepuh. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean: The Global Trade Networks of Armenian Merchants from New Julfa, University of California Press 2011. Colarusso, John. Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: myths and legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs. Princeton University Press 2002. Cornell, Svante E. Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, 2001. Dink, Hrant. Deux peuples proches, deux voisins lointains. Actes Sud 2009. Charachidzé, Georges (1968). Le Système religieux de la Géorgie païenne: analyse structurale d'une civilisation (in French). Paris: Maspéro. (Dali Godess on Wikipedia) Charachidzé, Georges (1993) [Originally published in French in 1981]. "The Religion and Myths of the Georgians of the Mountains". In Bonnefoy, Yves (ed.). American, African, and Old European Mythologies. Translated by Doniger, Wendy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 254–262. Chaudhri, Anna (2002-09-11). "The Caucasian Hunting-Divinity, Male and Female: Traces of the Hunting Goddess in Ossestic Folklore". In Billington, Sandra; Green, Miranda (eds.). The Concept of the Goddess. London: Routledge. pp. 166–177 Chirikba, Viacheslav A. (2015). "Between Christianity and Islam: Heathen Heritage in the Caucasus". In Bläsing, Uwe; Arakelova, Victoria; Weinreich, Matthias (eds.). Studies on Iran and The Caucasus: In Honour of Garnik Asatrian. Leiden: Brill. pp. 145–191. Dumézil, George. Le Livre des héros. Paris: Gallimard 1965 Horn, Cornelia B. (1998-01-01). "St. Nino and the Christianization of Pagan Georgia". Medieval Encounters. Brill. 4 (3): 242–264. Grigolia, Alexander. Custom and Justice in the Caucasus: the Georgian Highlanders. New York, Philadelphia: AmsPress 1939. Lord, Albert B.. The Singer of Tales. Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2003. Rayfied, Donald. The Literature of Georgia: A History, Curzon Press 2000. Suny, Ronald Grigor. The Making of the Georgian Nation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press 1994. Suny, Ronald Grigor: Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History. Bloomington, Indiana University Press 1993. Tuite, Kevin, ed. (2004b) [Originally published in 1995 as Anthology of Georgian folk poetry]. Violet on the Mountain: An Anthology of Georgian Folk Poetry (revised ed.). Tbilisi: Amirani. Tuite, Kevin (2007). "Achilles and the Caucasus" (PDF). Journal of Indo-European Studies. Institute for the Study of Man. 26 (3): 289–344. (accessible through Academia.edu, Dali Godess wikipedia Tuite, Kevin (2018). "The institutional and vernacular cults of the military saints in the western Caucasus: Image-mediated diffusion and body shift in the cult of St Eustace in the western Caucasus" (PDF). In Bealcovschi, Simona (ed.). Le Corps Et Le Lieu: Nouveaux Terrains. pp. 141–154. Tuite, Kevin (2006). "The meaning of Dæl. Symbolic and spatial associations of the south Caucasian goddess of game animals." (PDF). In O'Neil, Catherine; Scoggin, Mary; Tuite, Kevin (eds.). Language, Culture and the Individual. A Tribute to Paul Friedrich. pp. 165–188 Tuite, Kevin (2004a). "Lightning, Sacrifice, and Possession in the Traditional Religions of the Caucasus" (PDF). Anthropos. Anthropos-Institut. 99 (1): 143–159. de Waal, Thomas 2003. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaidjan through Peace and War, NYU Press 2003. Last update: Košťálová Petra, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (23.01.2024)
|
|
||
|
Final exams: activity during lessons or essay on the chosen topic Attestations – final exams covering topics discussed during lectures In the case of online lectures - general knowledge of discussed topics or semestral work In the case of long-term absence – discussion on the chosen topic or semestral work Last update: Košťálová Petra, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (23.01.2024)
|
|
||
|
1.Caucasuswithin in the frame of Antiquity
2. The image of theCaucasusthrough the eyes of travellers and chroniclers: from Middle Ages to the Period of Enlightenment
3. Caucasology as an academic discipline
4. Ethnolinguistic diversity of theCaucasus
5. Geopolitical area of the North andSouth Caucasus
6.Caucasusas cross-border region: mythology, demonology, religions: Zoroastrism, Christianity, Islam, Mountain Jews, Yazidis, Djvari cult etc.
7. Ethnomusicology
8. Material culture
9. Adats: customary laws
10. Traditional roles in society: family, clan, laws of blood feuds, hospitality, sworn brothers, sworn virgins etc.
11. Birth rituals, Rituals of initiation
12. Wedding rituals
13. Funeral Rituals
Last update: Košťálová Petra, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (23.01.2024)
|
|
||
|
Music Djivan Gasparyan, traditional Armenian music, duduk (flute) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nah2mkkHg0
Jenny Wren, McCarthy and duduk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wubCa3JZdEk
Charles Aznavour : Yis khiz ghimet chim gidi (song of Armenian „troubadour“ or ashiq Sayat Nova, 18th century from Tbilisi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZdf3CTPcus
Kardeş türküler group, song Sari gelin/Golden Hair Bride (Armenian version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=897AbBF2jak
Sami Yusuf singing in English Sari gelin (Azerbadjani version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QZ2IWlB9NQ
Kanchum em ari ari: Armenian folk song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8WmXN_NVWo
Georgian polyphony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M7YAfc1-BU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4rx8NF67vY&list=RD3M7YAfc1-BU&index=5
Corsica@Georgia music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xMbMxiMuJc
Ottoman mehter music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAvm2pIC-Ig
Church Georgian Orthodox Church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=locW-9S00VU Armenian Church (about the healing power of manuscripts) https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/illustrated-story-of-armenian-religious-practice
Films Sergei Paradjanov, Color of Pomegranates (life of Armenian poet, Sayat-Nova, from 18th Century Tbilisi), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lqr7I-oISo
Serge Avédikian, Nouze avons bu même eau, documentary (Armenian genocide trauma, French version), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqhSGe9hCRg&t=1137s
Tengiz Abuladze, Repentance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdiZCRH9Vj4
Levan Akin, And Then We Danced, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n25XEhQ6764
Last update: Košťálová Petra, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (23.01.2024)
|