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- Convenors:
-
Tamara Dragadze
(RAI)
Lia Melikishvili (Georgian Academy of Sciences)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Monday 6 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Countries such as Georgia with strong traditions when isolated within the Soviet Union now have access to uncensored media of all sorts and access to the internet and increasingly so in rural areas.
Long Abstract:
Some Georgian traditions, among the young generation, have been presented and discussed on social media. Do they just choose song and dance or other “traditional matters” reinforcing some aspects and discarding others? Will they inevitably in the future be transformed and refashioned or might there be, on the contrary, an active retrenchment into elements seen as being from the past. This applies some of the interests and concerns of traditional anthropology to a futuristic context.
We are calling for papers on the interaction between national traditions and how, once they are showcased on the internet, they are either reinforced and refined or else turned into a parody of what they had been defined as originally. To indulge in futurology, what if as AI develops, programmers wish to make some activities ‘cultural sensitive’ and conform to ‘cultural traditions’ what would such societies provide to them?
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Monday 6 June, 2022, -Makka Албогачиева (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera))
Paper short abstract:
Paper short abstract: On the example of the lifestyle of Ingush women living in various cities and villages of the republic and beyond, the article examines the processes of transformation of the traditional system in Ingushetia and their consequences.
Paper long abstract:
It is difficult to imagine any modern country without the active participation of women in the socio-political, economic and cultural life of society. Its role in all spheres of society is steadily increasing, and the struggle for equal rights for women is underway. At the same time, it should be noted that each ethno-cultural group has its own gender model, which has both its own characteristics and features similar to other cultures, which are also subject to modifications. Historically, the gender model of each ethnos was formed based on biological differences in the distribution of social roles of men and women and reinforced by their religious and domestic beliefs.
The socio-political and economic transformations that have taken place in the country in recent decades have also had an enormous impact on the living style of Ingush society, on the structure of the population, largely altering the old model.
Recently this issue has become more relevant due to social media. Documentaries, videos, disseminated through social media are accessible to the general public. The Internet and the virtual world have become a means of accessing a variety of gender-specific questions in traditional culture. The increasing diversity associated with the status of women in the new reality is becoming evident.
In connection with the above, the study of ethnic processes from a gender perspective is particularly relevant if considering that the Ingush people have retained to this day many elements of traditional culture and a traditional worldview.
In the article, on the example of the lifestyle of Ingush women living in various cities and villages of the republic and beyond, with help of cyberethnography it is considered how intense the processes of transformation of the traditional system are and what are their consequences. The author managed to identify general trends and fix some stable transformations in the ethnic culture of the Ingush people.
Petr Skalník
Paper short abstract:
My research in Slovakia, Czechia, Poland showed that various actions such as annual walks, cycle competitions, memorials, football tournaments become traditional even though they may be artificially created. The same happens with renewals of previously suppressed activities such as religious customs
Paper long abstract:
My research in northern Slovakia (1970-1991), east Bohemia of Czechia (2002-2004) and the Silesian part of Poland (2006-2019) showed that various actions such as annual walks, cycle competitions, memorials, football tournaments and many more become "traditional" even though they may be artificially created. The same happens with renewals of previously suppressed activities such as some religiously inspired customs. In Poland, even an artificially created administrative unit became, after some years of existence, so internally cohesive that once it was decided by a nearby city government that it would lose part of its territory and the industrial asset in it, the previously disparate villages united under the banner of their traditional social unit and organized vigorous protest actions. The meaning of tradition is to strengthen units of people who otherwise would hardly find common interest.
Hiya Mukherjee (Indira Gandhi National Open University)
Paper short abstract:
The aim of this paper is to examine how certain Japanese traditional rituals and customs related to childbirth are changing and surviving in modern times by the influence of Internet websites and social media. It is to be remembered that even if the lifestyle of Japanese people has been westernized by the influence of America and Europe, still Japanese people are well known all over the world in preserving their rich cultural heritage, age-old traditional values, etiquette and customs that have been handed down from one generation to another. However, rapid modernization, urbanization, advancement of scientific knowledge and technology and most importantly the heavy influence of social media as well as various Internet websites have brought so many changes in the practice of age-old traditional childbirth rituals in Japan.
Paper long abstract:
In particular, this paper will try to address some key questions like what kind of changes are observed in the childbirth rites like Anzankigan and Haraobi in Japan, how these rituals are showcased on the internet websites, how much Japanese women are influenced by social media, mobile application and internet websites in regard to collect information on traditional childbirth rites, what kind of food taboos, food suggestion for the would-be mother are often mentioned on the internet websites, how differently the information related to traditional childbirth rituals is described on the internet websites. For the in-depth analysis, this paper will mainly rely on the primary data gathered directly from Japanese pregnant women and young mothers between 2018 and 2021. Finally, this paper will conclude that most women in Japan nowadays during their pregnancy very much depend on the internet source for gathering information related to pregnancy and even for the traditional childbirth rites instead of gathering from their own parents and grandparents.
Francine Barone (HRAF at Yale University)
Paper short abstract:
Is the Internet responsible for eroding cultural traditions, or is it just a red herring? A comparison of an endangered urban ritual and new social media activity in Catalonia, Spain, reveals that the lifespan of a tradition is surprisingly not platform-dependent, which bodes well for the future.
Paper long abstract:
The irrepressible expansion of social media continues to inspire fear over losses of distinctive local culture. The more digitally connected humans become – the well-worn dystopian argument goes – the weaker our ties to our geographic and cultural surroundings; our immediate friends and neighbors; and, by extension, the inclination to preserve traditions. Geography and history are certainly key to conceptualizing culture and tradition, but so, too, are those facets central to understanding the digital. How one engages digitally is largely shaped by offline culture, norms, behaviors, and expectations. Thus, any transformative power of the web is best understood situated within specific socio-cultural contexts of offline life.
This paper will focus on the Catalan social drama known as the passeig. This urban ritual, emblematic of public sociality throughout Catalonia, is at risk of extinction. At the time of my ethnographic fieldwork (2007-2009), the activity was depicted by locals of all ages as on the wane, with its central stage deemed by youths as the outdated domain of their grandparents. However, a particular type of interaction on social media shares many similarities with the custom of the passeig, despite youth insistence that such a practice is irrelevant to their lives. Is the power of social media to erode traditions the culprit of such a demise, or merely a red herring? A case study of the most popular social media site among young Catalans during this period will reveal that the lifespan of a tradition is surprisingly not platform-dependent.