Paper short abstract:

Ethnographic and freak shows (staged otherness) at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries — a topic without assessment in Latvian science and society. Re-discovery of those events requires a re-telling and a re-cognition of the causes led to their collective forgetting.

Paper long abstract:

Staging otherness events (exhibited people with different ethnic and racial descent or people with physical disabilities) widespread in Western Europe and the USA also took place in the territory of the Russian Empire. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Latvia, as part of this non-typical colonial state, had hosted, as we currently know, more than 18 ethnographic and freak shows and anatomical exhibitions.

Some years ago, Polish ethnologists began the study of this phenomenon within Eastern Europe, including Latvia, indicating a vacuum of information on this topic in Latvian society, literature and social sciences and humanities. Answers to the question — did no such events really take place in the territory of Latvia? - led to the next question — Why do we not know about them?

Re-discovering those events was an amazing process itself. Posters, advertisements (mostly in the local German press) and police registers are evidence of the variety and intensity of this kind of entertainment in Riga and other cities. Re-telling these facts of the cultural history of Latvia need to talk about the 19th century public's entertainment habits, the development of new knowledge and perceptions towards the otherness, and that is challenging in the frame of the political correctness of modern science and the world. The issue of collective forgetting in this context must be seen from the perspective of the 19th century Latvian society's social strata, the availability of venues, and Latvia's historical events caused by the Second World War.

Paper short abstract:

A comparative narrative analysis of two legends relating to the poet Guðmundur Bergþórsson‘s (c. 1657-1705) attempts to halt or reverse the progression of his disability by supernatural means.

Paper long abstract:

This paper offers a close reading of two narratives which tell of folk or magical cures sought out by the disabled poet Guðmundur Bergþórsson. In the first instance, he is submerged in a hot spring to halt the progression of his disability while the second legend recounts an unsuccessful quest to a dwarf in an attempt to return to his pre-disabled state by acquisition of a healing balm. In this analysis, the methods Guðmundur Bergþórsson is purported to have used to obtain or maintain physical abilities are viewed in their respective narrative and folk belief contexts. A comparative approach is applied in order to trace the development of the legends, with versions appearing in 19th century manuscripts (Gísli Konráðsson c. 1860; Jón Árnason 1850-65), published folklore collections, tape recorded interviews and late 20th century literature inspired by oral tradition. Drawing on the work of other folklorists who have studied marginalisation processes in narratives about disability (Schoon-Eberley 1988; Lindow 2008), this study traces the manifestation of certain negative cultural ideas about disability within the two legends studied. These include the notion of disability as personal tragedy (Swain & French 2000) and of disabled people as having an enhanced connection to nature (Shakespeare 1994). Furthermore, this study applies approaches from historical critical disability studies in order to assess the extent of Guðmundur Bergþórsson‘s own agency in the narrative making process, as well as ascertain the applicability of the notion of supression of historical identity (O‘Toole 2010) in a folk narrative context.

Paper short abstract:

Hijab is the most visible religious symbol. Does it protect or expose their bearers? How they negotiate their identity and what is the meaning of hijab for them? I aim to explore the practice and importance of wearing a headscarf in the Czech Republic for Muslim women who were already born there.

Paper long abstract:

A headscarf, hijab or other form of veiling is the most visible sign of religious identity. It situates its bearers in the space of belongings, natural solidarity and collectivity, group membership; it should protect them from the eyes of men. In Western societies, however, the headscarf does not fulfill such a function; on the contrary, it confronts them with their otherness. In Western perceptions was hijab transformed into a negative stereotype. (Busnioc, Buzoianu, Buzoianu, 2015) According to Abu Lughod (2013), Muslim women are thus portrayed as victims or as terrorists. Veiling makes them visible and puts Muslim women under double pressure. They are under pressure from their own community to "protect their bodies" and at the same time are perceived as oppressed by Western society. The reasons for wearing the headscarf of Muslim women are different from those evoked by the West, i.e. submission to the male dominant society. My goal is to spread the range of meanings that young Muslim women attach to the headscarf in the Czech Republic, how they construct their identities and what consequences the practice of wearing hijab in the religious community and in Czech society has. I created the data based on semi-structured interviews.

Paper short abstract:

How were shows, games and competitions of Icelandic sportsman in front of their king, his representatives or at the Olympics, used to underpin the notion of Iceland as an independent nation? How were sports in schools and fisherman's hut's used for cosmopolitanisation of the Icelanders?

Paper long abstract:

This research paper is based on the authors masters theses bearing the same name and is based on a collection of written sources on the history of sports in Iceland and a historical overview of Iceland´s struggle for independence from the second half of the 19th century to the establishment of the republic of Iceland in 1944. Furthermore, those

sources are examined in the light of academic writings related to the subject.

The history of sports among Icelanders and within Nordic mythology is traced. The main historical sites of Glíma and power trials are introduced, the effects of urbanization in Reykjavík and the emergence of new educational institutions are explained, as well as the first steps towards organized sports in the country. Furthermore, it deals with the impact of the Icelander´s promotion on to the world stage at the Olympics on the nation's identity and its future hopes for its own

sovereignty and independence. The major events of the independence struggle and the involvement of sports in large gatherings in the years of 1874, 1930 and 1944 are detailed.

The research question focuses on examining the role of sports and competition in the creation of Iceland´s self-image and national identity in the struggle for independence.

The masters thesis was divided into two parts, the academic written as described above and in an exhibition section based on photographs from the collection of the Icelandic Museum of Photography, which is displayed on the website www.gunnaroli.is/.