Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology SAS
Topic
Contemporary folklorism in the context of living heritage concepts
PhD. program
World Cultures and Religions, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University
Year of admission
2026
Name of the supervisor
prof. PhDr. Zuzana Beňušková, CSc.
Contact:
Receiving school
Filozofická fakulta UK
Annotation
Previous professional treatises on folklore and folklorism treat folklore as an artistic system. However, there is a growing body of work that analyses manifestations of folklorism as complex phenomena of contemporary living culture, considered among the many alternatives for the self-realisation of an individual or group. This is related to the relatively new concept of intangible cultural/living heritage. The dynamic development of understanding of living heritage has reshaped paradigms for viewing traditional folk culture, including folklorism, which were used in practice until the beginning of the 21st century. The work should identify these changes, reassess and update the current contents of new or even old established concepts (bearers of traditions, communities, participation, commodification, traditional folk culture versus living heritage), the expansion of the social and political range of living heritage and the shifts in meaning of contemporary phenomena in the defined part of culture under study.