Ethnologia Europaea

“European Ethnology” was proposed as a name of our discipline in Arnhem in 1955. Although it is now used in several European countries, it is still unclear what the name really denotes and what distinguishes it from “Folklore”, “Ethnography”, “Cultural Anthropology” or “Ethnology”. The article attempts to determine the position of European Ethnology and to outline some of its goals and tasks: While folklorists largely focus on the study of their own, national folk cultures, and ethnologists on the study of alien, exotic cultures, European Ethnologists should concern themselves with the study of both “own” and “alien” European cultures and their interrelations and interactions, both from the emic and the etic perspectives. Thus, on the macro-level, comparative and interethnic studies should be a main concern, while on the micro-level, face-to-face inter cultural communication should become an integral object of European Ethnology. It is argued that the problems resulting from increased culture contact caused by migrations, by the European Union, by globalization etc. make the application of ethnological knowledge to the solution of these social problems indispensable – and make new demands on European Ethnologists.

Polish immigrants to Alberta, Canada, have, since their arrival 100 years ago, established shrines and initiated pilgrimages as a way to re-establish a cultural and religious rhythm which had been temporarily interrupted by their journey. In this paper, the pilgrimage to the Lourdes Grotto at Skaro, Alberta, is explored against the background of the Polish immigrant history in Alberta, and of a changing pilgrimage tradition in the Western world. The phases of pilgrimage as discussed by Victor and Edith Turner are also the key phases of immigration. While its old heritage anchors the Albertan pilgrimage firmly in the European tradition, the immigrant journey which is shared by the Polish pilgrims adds a dimension to the Albertan pilgrimage which is uniquely Canadian.

In Sweden, as elsewhere, people’s lives and physical bodies have become part of an advanced medical care apparatus. The present article is about this technologization of everyday life and the integration of medical high technology in the biological process. The empirical foundation is the creation of life with the aid of artificial reproduction and the investigation of dead human bodies for the purposes of autopsy and transplantation. Life and death are undeniably two focal points where the encounter of medicine, biology, and culture is made visible. By looking closely at the techniques that make it possible to stretch these fundamental principles, we want to reason about changes in people’s cultural identity.1

This article examines several mimetic manifestations of excessive ‘wildness’ in Western societies and cultures. It focuses on their appearance in novels, (horror)films, theatrical plays, ballets, operas, pop music, videogames, digital highways and the metaphysical funfair attraction Virtual Reality. The hypothesis is launched that one cannot properly understand the outburst of ‘wildness’ in these different genres without paying attention to the tabooization of touching others whom one wants to love or redress. Through the consumption of ‘wild’ products one remains in con-tact with an essential dimension of the self. Finally, it is argued one should systematically study the relation between ‘wild’ and‘civilized’ phenomena in order to avoid an overemphasis on our degree of civilization.

Collecting is a pastime that has become immensely popular, especially during the last two or three decades. It is estimated that one in three persons in the adult population in western industrialized countries is or has been a collector. As a pastime collecting easily turns into an engrossing passion or even addiction, with immoderation and sometimes transgression of moral and legal rules in its wake. In popular opinion collecting, even in its moderate and normal forms, is surprisingly often referred to in terms of passion and love compared to eroticism. So is also the case on fiction, where the collector character abounds. The aim of the article is to discuss the systematic character of rhetorical figures in this discourse on collecting. These figures, most often comparisons and metaphors, are investigated as a symbolic way of understanding the ambiguous phenomena of collecting and possessiveness. As the use of concepts like symbol and symbolism are rather unclear in the ethnological tradition, the author argues for a pragmatic use of some structuralist ideas to grasp their systematic character. This article concentrates upon symbolic perspectives on collecting, whereas the author’s research project on collecting comprises topics like gender, consumption, socialization, etc., as well as the history of collecting.