Speculum 2011/2 by Katarína Böhmová

Contents

Speculum 2011/2

CONTENTS EDITORIAL material study

YOUTH MATE PREFERENCES (TESTING THE THEORIES OF SEXUAL AND CULTURAL SELECTION) PETER MAŇO

material study

“CRUSH THE HAMLET!”: THEATRICAL PRAXES IN AMATEUR THEATRE AS MULTIPLE FORMS OF THEATRICAL REALITY SONJA ZLOBKO

theoretical study

CREATING OF NEW IDENTITY LIKE ECONOMICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONAL STRATEGY OF LIVING AND WORKING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES OF SLOVAKIAN TEMPORAL LABOUR MIGRANTS MICHALA JAJCAYOVÁ

essay

NAPOLEON CHAGNON: THE YANOMANÖ (THEORY, METHOD AND CONCLUSION) ROSELLA TOMA

photographic addition

SNAPSHOT MEMORIES OF INDIA LUKÁŠ TEREN, DENISA UHLIAROVÁ

photographic addition

5 6 19

SIGHT OF ITALY PIERO MALVESTIO

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Speculum 2011/2

{en}Speculum Published by: Slovenská asociácia sociálnych antropológov (SASA) Vol. 3., 2011, issue 2 ISSN 1337-9461 Editorial Board:

Táňa Grauzelová Monika Böhmová Daša Bombjaková

Graphic Design: Katarína Böhmová

www.antropologia.sk

Editorial

Speculum 2011/2

EDITORIAL

Dear readers, Welcome to special english issue of Speculum magazine. Originally, it rise thanks to (mainly) member of our redaction, Dáša, without whom, foreign students may not be interested in publishing in Speculum. In this issue you´ll find two empirical studies - Youth mate preferences - by Slovakian author, and also very interesting study, which empirical part takes place in Slovak town Trnava, named Crush the Hamlet. Theroretical study is about creating new identities of Slovakian labour migrants in foreign countries. In this issue you´ll also find two kinds of photographic additions. The firts addition are pictures of India taken by student of video-camera and potography and a student of antropology, and the second addition offers (in my opinion) very personal sight on Italian country. This is the first, and I believe that not last english issue of our magazine and here I like to thank to all authors and whole redaction. Hope you´ll enjoy it  Táňa Grauzelová

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

YOUTH MATE PREFERENCES (TESTING THE THEORIES OF SEXUAL AND CULTURAL SELECTION) Peter Maňo FSES UK I was born in 1987 in Bratislava where I have been living and studying - on the Fakulty of Social and Economic Sciences, UK. Concretely, I am at the Department of Social Anthropology, but my bachelor dissertation has led me to the theory of evolution and evolutionary approach in social sciences. This is because I was dealing with sexual and cultural selection, which are topics originating mainly in evolutionary psychology and dual inheritance theory (culture-gene co-evolution). These are indeed themes that interested me the most in our lectures, whether in London at UEL, or in Bratislava. Therefore, I decided to study at the Queens University Belfast, which is devoted exactly to such issues. In the future, I am hoping to touch the problematic of cultural evolution and dual inheritance system.

YOUTH MATE PREFERENCES:

Testing the theories of sexual and cultural selection

Abstract In my dissertation, I am focusing on the functioning of mating intelligence (MI) in a concrete group of scouts – whom do they prefer as a partner and why. As an outcome of a long evolution shaped by natural, sexual and later on cultural selection, this functional module works according to a couple of general, panhuman principles. On the other hand, concrete life experience and maturing in particular cultural environment gives a specific, unique shape to this universal human predisposition. I am combining several theoretical approaches for explaining both proximate and ultimate mechanisms that have a direct impact on the mechanism under question. These concepts come from the fields of evolutionary and cognitive psychology, anthropology and memetics. 6

Importantly for my research, processes of “acquiring culture” are crucial for the developing mating intelligence in a maturing adolescent. To explore the mechanics of adopting concrete cultural representations leading to special mating strategies and preferences, I am using participant observation on a summer scout camp, supplementing it with prepared interviews a month later after the data analyses. Towards the end of the camp, I am making use of a budget-allocation method that tests the preferences of scouts. The final analysis of the data proves that mating tactics and preferences of the scouts are a result of adolescence in the scout patrol among peers and scout leaders, serving as models. Conclusively, MI is a good example of the importance of genes, culture and environment in shaping both ultimately and proximately our behavior and can be further used in studies of the dynamic processes directing human existence.

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

Key words: sexual and cultural selection, gene-culture co-evolution, costly signalling, mating intelligence, ontogeny

Theory To be able to explore human mating strategies, we need to understand the underlying processes from which these strategies are resulting. One of the forces in these causal mechanisms is the ongoing sexual selection. Sexual selection pays attention to costly signals as means of honest communication, because they serve as a kind of handicap for the signaller. By signalling, individuals show their underlying genetic fitness. Among the members of our species, these signals are both of indexical as well as non-indexical nature. Indexical signalization is making use of direct inference, whereas non-indexical signals refer to symbolic referring. These signals are used for competition in intrasexual and intersexual encounters. Furthermore, they are used to detect possible short- or long-term partners and to signal by one self simultaneously. Symbolic reference, which is often used in human signalling, needs some capacity that is able to deal with it, and some system of meanings, where it is grasped. The first condition is met by a special evolved cognitive device, known as Mating Intelligence (MI). This functional capacity governs our mating psychology and resulting proximate outcomes (decisions), whether consciously or not. The second condition is accomplished through our culture, which is a system of collectively shared and individually learned information that affects behaviour. This affection operates on two levels. On a phylogenetical level, through the

Speculum 2011/2

long lasting process of gene-culture coevolution, our culture and our bodies (including brains, further including cognitive abilities and psychological equipment) were shaping each others design and form. Culture itself was, in addition, evolving via cultural group selection processes. Our mental predispositions, of which the MI is a part, are thus an outcome of the long-term ultimate pressures of this kind. On the other side, there is an ontogenetical process of individual learning, in the form of biased imitation of majority and of successful individuals, and acquiring experiences. Ontogenetical processes in a way proximately influence the immediate shape of our MI. Human adolescence is the crucial period evolved for the purposes of social learning and practising before reproducing. In this period, our developing psychology is modified through environmental (cultural) inputs, so the MI is also a product of adolescent enculturation. Both, the phylogenetical and the ontogenetical level are parts of a unique system of transmission, that we call dual inheritance. Last, but not least, religion and rituals are crucial for the operating MI in particular groups. On one hand, collectively performed ritualised actions are crucial for signalling the belonging to the group and its ideology, on the other, this ideology can be enriched by religious concepts that can have a direct effect on mating preferences.

Problem The operation of the MI on a daily basis is thus influenced by growing up in a particular environment. The environmental inputs are filling the predispositions that are genetically coded with specific content and sometimes

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

modify, or suppress them. To be more concrete, our ontogeny in a social surrounding results in adopting particular mating tactic and preferences. Hence, if we are naturally predisposed to pay attention to some signals, this tendency is further advanced by enculturation that also decides which signals are important and how do they concretely look like (what is their content). Culture, together with our genetic equipment, thus decides what is worth of attention – which information is adaptive in the context of mating. In my dissertation, I want to explore exactly the role of the (ontogenetical) cultural input to the functioning of the MI. Specifically, how culture shapes the type of signals preferred and their concrete image – what is the meaning of fitness in the cultural settings of my research group. As a result, I expect to uncover environmental-specific mating strategies.

Hypothesis The MI tries to look for adaptive information, which includes fitness signalling. The type of signalling used by an individual is the reflection and effect of prevailing representations in the group. Thus, to be adaptive in concrete environmental settings, mating preferences and mating strategies must fit the cultural code of a particular group. (My group: religious beliefs resulting in long-term preference) H. general: There is a causal connection between group’s representations and the shape of MI. H. specific: 1. Thanks to cultural learning processes and adolescence in concrete environment, individuals adopt specific mating tactic and mating preferences.

2. The type and image (content) of signals preferred is prescribed by the cultural input. 3. Individuals that do learn the adaptive information (develop an adaptive MI), are more successful in this concrete environment than those that do not (and simultaneously, their MI is more adaptive in the environment they grew up than in other environments).

Methods The centroidal method I used in my survey is the classical anthropological research tool - participant observation. If we want to investigate any cultural system, this method enables us to get in touch with it through experiencing it. It is a unique quality of this method, for it can provide us with a naïve perspective, thus projecting the object’s understandings and emotions. On the other hand, we have to be aware of the danger of possible misinterpretation and thus we must handle the situation carefully. So the naïve perspectives can not be used for interpretation of facts, these perspectives are themselves facts that must be analysed and interpreted. Besides participant observation, I used several other methods to obtain the data. Firstly, I applied a modification of the Ultimate Game to get a concrete overview of the desired traits of a possible mate. According to Henrich, the performance in such game is both a result of innate psychological machinery as well as of socially transmitted, culturally specific behavioural rules. Thus, this experiment is a good indicator of group’s preferences. Concretely, I borrowed a modification from Norman P. Li, called the “budgetallocation” method. “Under the budgetallocation method, men and women have budgets of “mate dollars” with which they can “buy” different levels of different

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

traits in a hypothetical long-term mate” (Li, 2007, p.109). The test took place at the very end of the summer camp. Its version is attached to additions. I also used prepared, half-structured interviews after return from the field. I utilized them to get more information about specific topics. These interviews were crucial for further data analyses, since they provided me with additional information from the naive perspective.

Research Sample After I had chosen the topic for my dissertation, a second step must have been taken. Concretely, I had to decide where to do my research. Theory says that every sample is a good sample, yet I was looking for a quasi homogenous group of adolescents that grew up together and spent most of their time together, with the resulting effect of relative opinion and preference similarity. In such a group, I expected to reveal some general tendencies in the work of MI that could be described as “group-typical”. Further, some strong ideological source professed in the group was also welcomed as influencing the “grouptypicality” and causing specific, longterm mating preferences. I chose to focus on long-term preferences, mostly because of the ethical dimension of my research. I didn’t want to cause some conflict in the research group. While seeking for such an ideal field for my investigation, I suddenly remembered a friend of mine, who was being a scout leader in one patrol at that time. As a former scout, I was aware of the high reputation of this patrol that fulfilled my desired criteria almost ideally. After discussion and permission of my friend, I decided to take part on their summer scout camp. My focus group was a patrol from

Speculum 2011/2

Bratislava, named Falcons. Falcons are well-known among other scouts for their large membership base, their high quality program and devoted fellows, so the reputation of the patrol is relatively high. This reputation is also reflected in quality measurements, provided by the central scout office. Falcons were grounded after revolution and have been functioning since then without any abortion, hence disposing with a long tradition of scouting, which is not an implicit case in Slovakia, due to fissions, membership demography, loss of motivation and so on. The patrol consists of one children division, one girl-scout division and two boy-scout divisions, one of which is registered under the girls section (due to their few members, they do not fulfil the required conditions for a division – these are the Birds). Unofficially, there are around 17 people in a rover age, but they haven’t yet formatted any division of their own in the time of my research work, although they were already discussing it. Besides the scout activities, there is a formation called Cross – it is a catholic fellowship devoted to religious activities whose members are all from Falcons, but which acts separately from the patrol. During the year, the Falcons spent most of their time in their own units performing activities joint to the program of each unit. Sometimes, though, they prepare common events for all members. Usually, they gather in clubroom for scouting, which is a kind of home base. They have too such clubrooms, one of which is a form of flat and the other a hut (also called a “hut”). The highlight of all-year occupancy is presented by the summercamp. Summer-camp is situated every year on another place, usually lasting for three weeks. It is a reward for all members and those who do not fulfil the

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

required conditions (those who didn’t receive enough points for their year-long activity) can not participate. Last year, the camp was situated on the borders of Malá Fatra National Park, around fifteen to twenty minutes walk from the last village. It lasted from 1-21. of August, not including the period for setting up the camp by the “vanguard”. I was present in the period from 10-21., after the children divisions left. Besides the scout camp, I visited with the Falcons Scout Days in Bratislava, an event organised for all scouts in the forests of Malé Karpaty.

Data The data are probably the most important part of any research. Maybe we can even say that they are the reason for doing research – they can prove or disprove our hypothesis and they can uncover us the reality, if we interpret them correctly. In the case of my dissertation, however, I consider the data collection and analyses as the weakest part of the piece. But before turning myself to critique and self-reflection, let me first show you what I found out in the field. My most important prediction was that a person’s ontogeny and directional biases have the greatest impact on its personality – its beliefs, ideas etc. This is because people are trying to achieve the highest possible ranking in their social group, and by doing this, they are directing themselves to prestigious individuals and adaptive information. More than this, in the case of young people – children and adolescents, it is mostly one’s peers who define one’s social group. Of course any person may be a member of several social groupings playing several different, sometimes even contradictive, social roles in each of them. But I was interested in the roles the Falcons play

in their scout milieu, as I was taking part in their summer camp. By discovering the prevailing representations in the group and detecting which individuals are highest in ranking, I was expecting to come closer to answering my questions about the preferred mating strategies in the group, in connection with the group-specific type of signalling. So what answers did I come to? As it turned out, the Rovers – the group of scouts I was focusing on, were a coherent group of peers spending much of their time together. Besides scouting, most of them were classmates, or at least schoolmates. More than this, almost all of them (with the exception of some 3-4 people) were members of a Christian fellowship called the Cross. This fellowship was not part of the scout organisation, but in fact, it was a part of Falcon’s activities. So even outside the scouting patrol, there were several places were these people were meeting – school, Cross, church, sports, parties, scouting on a broader level (above the patrol – including other members). Hence, these rovers were moving between several milieus as a group. But still, the “scouting frame” was the main clue and “covering label”. Now I will focus on the live in the camp as such, for this was the environment I was investigating. The camp was very well organised. There was a stable schedule for each day describing a program for every person. In this way, the living of every person was very routinely ritualised. There were recurring activities on the timetable every day. So for example, every day at 7.00 there were some body exercises and than morning hygiene, followed by breakfast and morning muster. Such stable, fixed time-schedule is characteristic of most of the scout-camps, recalling very much a military-camp.

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

On the other hand, there were some particularly outstanding rituals, which were considered by the Falcons as something special. Here we can count several ceremonies, often tied with a special camp-fire, contests, and challenges and so on. All of these were clearly striking because of some of their features that were making them so important. Under these features we can recognise their costliness in terms of invested energy, time and risk, and thus making them very prestigious because of these qualities. To be more concrete, we can mention personal challenges like morning bath in a mountain stream, which had to be done every morning whatever the weather. Another, more ceremonial example is getting some kind of honours by the camp-fire. Another extraordinary feature of the patrol was the way the order was maintained. Besides the undisputable role of both kinds of rituals, there was a strict system of rewards and punishments guarding the order. I felt the strong and watchful control of an individual by the public. For every sin, there was an immediate response by the others. If someone was swearing for example, another one made him to do push-ups. Interestingly, if it was not too serious, the official status (in terms of the common hierarchy system in the organisation) of a punisher didn’t play a big role. In more serious cases, however, usually the leaders and the elders were in charge in solving the problem. On the other side, there was also a lot of positive motivation and encourage. Especially the elders tended to motivate the younger ones in their enterprises. If the enterprises were part of some personal challenge, than the reward could have been a public and ceremonial acknowledgement,

Speculum 2011/2

otherwise compliments were often used as a motivational factor. Such camp arrangement, with its system of routine practises, rituals, ceremonies and programme, was part of a quasilong tradition, set up in the early 90´s. I discovered this when asking for the genesis and background of many things and practises. Usually, the most common answer was that the former members used to do it this way and passed their knowledge onto the next generation. Several names were repeatedly mentioned and with little exaggeration one can say there was a kind of Falcon´s mythology at play. In fact, every social group has its gossip that every member must know to be identified as a member. In the case of Falcons, the gossip included knowledge of the Patrol’s past, connected to concrete important, outstanding members. These members were considered idols and were very prestigious. We can say that looking for such gossip meant looking for adaptive information and more than this, prestige bias was at play by copying them and the tradition they had set up. Among others, these members founded the Cross as well. Here, the participants talk about divine matters and reflect their experiences and expectations. Importantly, the impact of this fellowship, together with the patrol as such, was very visible also in terms of intimate partnership. The mostly recalled prestigious members had been all former members of cross as well and they had married each other, showing thus a tendency to group endogamy. Such tradition was visible also in the summer camp, where there were some 4 couples formed among the rovers. None of the rovers had a partner outside this group. Importantly, their belief was favouring a long-term relationship, ideally resulting

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

in marriage. Now, coming here naturally to my survey questions, did I prove or disprove my hypotheses? What does the data tell us about Falcon rover’s mating strategies and decisions? The data presented thus far showed us some important characteristics of the Falcons and the rovers in question. The longevity and cohesiveness of the group achieved through ritualised behaviour and ritual ceremonies, continuing of a tradition, maintaining order through a system of reward and punishment, and this altogether having the effect of spreading and fostering of particular representations in the group. Now, this information can be considered important and trivial at the same time. Important, because it shows us both the dynamics and the stability of the social group. Trivial, because by saying this we are not uncovering anything new and not answering the questions we were asking at the beginning. In the next place, we can still consider these facts as crucial to answering those questions, because even trivial knowledge is needed in explaining stuff, and by wise application in a concrete case that knowledge can overcome its triviality. In short, we can take these facts as the first step in a two-fold process of investigating the mating preferences. Firstly, we make a prior-study, to get a picture of the research sample, and than we can turn to the second step – to focus on our research questions. I think I succeeded in the first step, but failed in the second one.

Reflections I don’t want to devote myself to a shameless critique of my work, I just want to critically revise it for the purpose of picking up its deficiencies and showing, what could have been than better and 12

how. Only by such revision can we improve ourselves and inspire the others, so let me do this. I have to admit that there are some crucial hints in the data that head toward our hypothesis – the most prominent among them being strong influence of particular beliefs resulting in endogamy and longterm mating preference. The data showed clearly that also costly signalling plays an important role in the community life. So far so good, but not good enough. This data answer the questions I asked at the beginning only partially – there seem to be some connection between the shape of MI and the group´s representations and the endogamy in the group indicated the importance of adaptive information in the mating strategies. But the hypotheses can not be dis/proven with such vague, scattered information that lacks concreteness. Let me know present you my opinion (resulting partially from the opinion of my opponents as well) of what I did wrong, what could have been done better, and what was indeed good. First of all, it is crucial to clearly define what are you going to investigate and how. You must be able to exactly define your problem and how to work with it, and avoid any vague formulations and unspecific terms. In my case, I had a clear vision of the topic I wanted to deal with, but the central issue, the concept of MI, was not sufficiently defined. Therefore my problem of what to focus on in the field was only a logical outcome of such lack of exactness. The need for exactness must be maintained all over the work. Avoid any terms that don’t have clear meaning or explain what you mean by them. In some places I used terms as “homogenous group” or formulations like “many of them”. In a scientific paper, such statements are

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

considered as mere speculations and can not be accepted as relevant data. In my case, I should have defined what I mean by homogenous and how many is many of them. On the other hand, the wider theoretical background was quite detailed, maybe even too detailed for a bachelor dissertation, yet missing again the emphasis on the concept of MI. But I think there is no problem with a good theoretical background if the central issue is explained sufficiently. I took the wrong direction and focused on the big picture. In fact, the shorter your research is the narrower must be the scope. Otherwise it is not manageable for one researcher to deal with a broad theme. Therefore, the problem must be well defined and constitute only a small segment of a wider phenomena to be available for one researcher to be puzzled out in a short time. If there are any inconsistencies or weaknesses in the theory under question, they have to be presented and discussed. Only by showing both the explanatory power on one side and possible shortcomings on the other we can get a full, near-objective picture of a phenomenon. What is more, our research can subsequently approve or disapprove such concerns. The theory of the Mating Mind has such weaknesses in the disputable distinction between longand short-term mating strategies, in the notion concerning traits heritability, etc. Clearly, it was not my intention and not in my competence to test such concerns, but it would have been useful to mention them at least. Further, it would be plausible to broaden the perspective and complement it with studies dealing with the role of hormones, emotions etc., as I mentioned in my dissertation. But in such case it would require a multidisciplinary

Speculum 2011/2

approach far beyond the limits of my “expertise” and the limits of a bachelor dissertation. Now were approaching the second crucial condition of a good research – the methodological question of how to do it. Again, only after we succeed in asking the right questions and forming hypothesis we can think about the right way how to design the research. Not surprisingly, the field work thus meant another big issue for me. But not only in connection with the hypothesis, also the methodology and research practise as such were novelties for me and I wasn’t very confident how to do the job. I have to confess, although theoretical knowledge is very important, it is only with practise that we can learn things. Out in the field, the things we had learned start making sense. I think that the greatest mastery of a scientist lies in his ability to process a theory and design a research where it can be tested. So the researchers should be trained in all steps of such process – to gain the theoretical knowledge, to design a research and to master the practical techniques of a research collection, analyses and interpretation of data. I have already pointed out the importance of a for-research. In these phase of a research we get a first-hand experience and notion of our research sample (a community for example) and further use it to rethink and rework our theory and research design. I think that what I did was a good for-research, but then I would need to come back and focus on my topic more exclusively. What happened to me, after I came back from the field, by the data analyses I discovered many things I would like to change. Therefore it is plausible to return back to the field for a longer period of time after such revision.

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

Another complication in my survey was presented by weak preparation of the research design. Good and precise planning is essential for a successful research. I appreciate having a schedule for each day – estimate concrete goals for each day and resume and analyse their fulfilment at the end of the day. Such personal feedback is a necessary requisition for a scientific work. It is impossible to succeed in this task without discipline. A researcher must be very liable and follow the “guidelines” and principles of a reliable field research. Field notes must be written regularly, distance from the examined must be kept all the time and attention maintained. What I sensed most demanding was to keep the status of a researcher and not to head towards the position of a mere participant. I think it requires a lot of practise to overcome these challenges. Last, but not least, at the very end of the research, it is crucial to present the results truthfully and comprehensibly. A good peace of scientific work must dispose of relevant data as the final outcome of research, and these data have to be all included in the analyses and interpretation. This was another big challenge for me to prepare and work with the collected material from the field and to revise it for publication. In sum, I cannot boast about some epochal contribution of my research to an overall puzzle of human social and cultural existence, but it nevertheless touched an interesting topic. More than this, it tried to look for some answers to some puzzling questions, although they were not answered satisfactory. But for me personally, this research represents a very precious experience in the first place, an experience that is crucial as a good lesson, as a good start for further activity in the field. I hope I learned from

my mistakes along the way and caught the interface between the theory and the praxis. For me, this is the main purpose of a bachelor research – not to cause a scientific breakthrough, but to get a first hand experience, to acquire skills and to practice. I am very thankful to all those who offered me such great opportunity – my teachers, my mentor Peter Hlohinec, the Falcons, and to all those who supported me, especially my parents.

References 1. Alcorta, C. S., & Sosis, R. (2006). Ritual, Emotion, and Sacred Symbols: The Evolution of Religion as an Adaptive Complex. Human Nature, 16 (4), 323-359. 2. Botha, R., & Knight, Ch. (Eds.). (2009). The Cradle of Language: Studies in the Evolution of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009 3. Buss, D. M. (1994). The Strategies of Human Mating. American scientists, 82, 238-249. 4. Dawkins, R. (1997). The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 5. Diamond, J. (1997). Why is sex fun? New York: Basic Books. 6. Geher, G., & Miller, G. (Eds.). (2008). The Mating Intelligence: Sex, Relationships and the Mind’s Reproductive System. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 7. Henrich, N., & Henrich, J. (2007). Why Humans Cooperate: A Cultural and Evolutionary Explanation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 8. Knight, Ch., & Dunbar, R., & Power, C. (1999). The Evolution of Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

9. Linn, M. C., & Songer, N. B. (1991). Cognitive and Conceptual Change in Adolescence. American Journal of Education, 99 (4), 379-414. 10. Miller, G. (2001). The Mating Mind: How Sexual Selection Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature. New York: Anchor Books. 11. Miller, G. (2007). Sexual Selection for Moral Virtues. The quarterly review of biology, 82 (2), 97 - 125. 12. Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2006). Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 13. Ridley, M. (1995). The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. Middlesex: Penguin Books. 14. Sosis, R., & Alcorta, C. (2003). Signaling, Solidarity, and the Sacred. The Evolution of Religious Behaviour. Evolutionary anthropology, 12, 264-274. 15. Tomasello, M., & and col. (2009). Why we cooperate. Cambridge: The Mit Press. 16. Vollebergh, W. A. M., & Iedema, J., & Raaijmakers, Q. A. (2001). Intergenerational Transmission and the Formation of Cultural Orientations in Adolescence and Young Adulthood. Journal of marriage and Family, 2001, 63 (4), 1185-1198. 17. Zahavi, A. (1997). The Handicap Principle. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Speculum 2011/2

Additions A Test (Budget-Allocation Survey) In this test, you will try to describe the ideal characteristcs of your ideal mate, with the help of percentage scale. This percentage scale responds to the position of the possible mate comparing to others, who may be found in your surroundings. The highest percentile, that can be reached, is 100% - if your hypothetical mate achieves this level, for example in the category of “height”, he/ she is the tallest in a given population. If he/she achieves 50%, he/she is exactly in the middle – half of the individuals of the same gender are taller and the other half is lower. The lowest individual is characterised by 0%. In the test there will be 7 characteristics used, with which you will describe your ideal mate. To every characteristic there will be a short description with example, how is an average (50%), and maximally below average (0%), person with such characteristic like. Please, read carefully these descriptions. All of your answers are anonymous, so please answer fair and honestly (don’t care about the political or social (moral) correctness of your decisions). Don’t hurry, reconsider all of your decisions. Your hypothetical partner everyone you meet.

can

Social level Social aspect, condition of the person, or his/her social status – what is his/her actual or planned job (if any), his/her education and nurture, how is his/her life arranged, how does he/she dress, car…

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

• 50th percentile (average) = average student, with a part-time job, may posses an old car, lives in with parents, on campus or in a rented flat... • 0th percentile = person with the lowest social level – no job, not even in the offing, without education and maintenance and supply… Creativity Originality and artistic talent of the person – how inovative can he/she be • 50th percentile (average) = occasionally demonstrates creativity, can play some musical instrument, innovatively deals with a given situation … • 0th percentile = no creativity and artistic talent at all Kindness Benignancy and helpfulness • 50th percentile (average) = usually willing to help friends and family, especially when there is enough time • 0th percentile = totally unkind person, not willing to help at all Liveliness How actively does the person make oneself felt, how sociable he/she is… • 50th percentile (average) = mediumly active person, sometimes vigorous • 0th percentile = least lively person you can meet, introvert Physical attractiveness Physical appearance (e.g. body, face, hair…). Does not include clothing! • 50th percentile (average) = comfortably looking person, a few good-looking lines, not very striking • 0th percentile = least attractive person you may encounter

Intelligence How intelligent is he person – IQ • 50th percentile (average) = middling intelligent person, able to resolve current situations, average student • 0 th percentile = person with least possible IQ you may encounter Faith How deeply Christian is the person • 50th percentile (average) = „normally“ Christian – goes to church more or less, celebrates Christian seasons, took the sacraments • 0 th percentile = absolute atheist Please design your ideal long-term mate by circling a percentile level for each of the following 7 characteristics. Assume that this is someone who you will date for several years, possibly marry and start family. To prevent you from choosing a “10” for everything, you will have to “pay” a pound for each level of your selection. You have 14 pounds to spend. If you do not circle a level for a characteristic, it will be assumed that the bottom level is chosen for that characteristic!

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

(m / f) (sex) Percentile the top 100th 90th

80 70th 60th 50th th

40th 30th 20th 10th 0th

above 90% above 80% above 70% above 60% middle above 40% above 30% above 20% Above 10% The bottom

Social

Speculum 2011/2

Physical

level

Creativity Kindness Liveliness Attractiveness IQ 10

Faith

9 8 7 6 5

4 3 2 1 0

ď&#x201A;§ Add up the value of your selections (must equal 14): _____

B - Photos B1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Morning muster

Speculum 2011/2

Youth mate preferences (Testing the theories of sexual and cultural seletion)

B2 - Campfire (ceremony)

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

Speculum 2011/2

“CRUSH THE HAMLET!”: THEATRICAL PRAXES IN AMATEUR THEATRE AS MULTIPLE FORMS OF THEATRICAL REALITY Sonja Zlobko Abstract Amateur theaters are usually with no particular reason paralleled with folklore theaters, while we do not give them the same importance as professional ones have it. In the wide range of quality of amateur theatres this is at the same time understandable and entirely unacceptable. I try to highlight how theatrical praxes of amateur theatre can be understood from the position of nowadays different theoretical (theatrical) doctrine. Some analytical categories such as body techniques, space, relation between actor and spectator serves me as vantage point for explanation of theatrical praxes of amateur theatre. Key words: amateur theatres, theatrical praxes, body and space, actor and spectator

What About? (Introduction) Theater is in social sciences usually highlighted as an artistic activity through the prism of ‘good earthly’ cultural materialism, which followers are claiming that art in practice is specific but it cannot be separated from the general social process. Relation between creation of art work and its social acknowledgement is always active and subjected to the conventions, which are forms of social organization and relations. Therefore manifestations of art are just the cases of general truth (Williams, 2005, p. 246).

I must fully agree with them; however in the article I would like to emphasize the theater praxes between the walls of the theater, i.e. the performative praxes of people in theatre that make the work of art. Also in anthropological researches one can find studies about theater praxes (ex. Turner, Hastrup), but such approach is in generally wider recognize in theatrology (Artaud, Grotowski, Barba, Brook, Pavis etc.). It is interesting; anthropology of theatre and theatrology has the same ‘object’ to deal with, but still they do not encounter often with each other. Theatre praxes can enrich our understanding of daily social praxes (Giacchè, 1999) and also carry forward anthropology and fieldwork praxes (see Zlobko & Pernarčič, 2010). While with an anthropological knowledge one can contribute to the researches (about theatre) by contextualizing the theatre in the broader picture of social dynamics. Combination of mentioned approaches reveals what theatre is ‘between the walls’; the process of making a theatrical piece and contextualize theater group and their work. To capture the ‘picture’ of how actor’s (theatrical) praxes and social dynamics of theatre group mutually influence the process of making the theatrical piece I did intensive fieldwork in amateur theatre in Slovakia named Disk. Since some space will be dedicated to my fieldwork

Speculum 2011/2

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

notes, I will briefly explain the borders and borderlines of my ethnography.

Me and Them i.e. Us (Ethnography) I arrived in Bratislava (Slovakia) in October 2009 and left it in the beginning of March 2010. Since the end of November I was visiting the amateur theatre Disk in Trnava. This is a small cellar place filled with strong presence of very different ‘real life’ characters. In the moment that those characters between the walls collide1, the play, the theater is formatted. Once, when we were driving back from Trnava to Bratislava, Blahoslav Uhlár (theatre director in Disk) asked me why I am so persistently coming back to Disk, I answered that I am coming back to find that out. But actually I did not find the ‘right’ answer. Contemplation about this question leaded me back to people, to the people that with their own ‘luggage’ make the theatre - to the actors, spectators, directors, and (in the prism of cultural materialism) all others who are not even there. So the question that derivates from the latest is how lost, donated or given away pieces of one’s luggage are influencing each other in theatre? The idea that I would step into firm dynamics of collective ( just) as anthropologist (not as Sonja), and expect their collaboration whit me for my research, can 1 Mostly they create the play whit specific method used in authorial theatre. With their own contribution of ‘plot’, ‘content’ with situations that are topical for them they construct the play with open form (- this reminds on omnibus of different stories that throughout the process connect or stay separated). Which is why they are the authors of the play and also the reason why I used specific phrase - ‘the characters collide’. 20

be paralleled with the work of tax collector – you come into one’s home, you take what seems valuable, and leave. That can hardly (maybe with a lot of imagination) reveal the burbling, tensions or creative moments between the people. But the dilemmas at fieldwork are not just about our relationships with interlocutors, but also with an established and rooted ‘rules’ of fieldwork. Textbooks for anthropology are equipped with hints on how to do effective fieldwork2. They are, as Drašler ťunderstands them, “maps with a precise plan of fieldwork experience, which are constantly reminding us where we are or where we should be” (2009, p. 132). Therefore, concerning textbooks, one might conclude that the experience of fieldwork should be re-produced and inserted into designed patent of fieldwork, and as such it would represent substitution of fieldwork with a simulation of fieldwork, which makes anthropologist a product of ideology. They guide us through the fieldwork experience, maybe just preparing us for it, or serve as a manner of verification, but all the same, the experience of fieldwork is usually in contrast with guidelines of academic world (Okely, 1996,p. 41). Experience of the ethnographic research is a “total experience” (Okely, 1992, p. 8) that always incorporate the whole self; political, physical, intuitive and emotional aspect of oneself. To summarize all together: methodological basis serves in qualitative studies as a pillar of research, but the expedition has its starting point in our subjective. Going back to the first part of last para2 For example we can take Bernard’s phases of fieldwork. He recommends specific phases of participant observation: initial contact, culture shock, discovering the obvious, the break, focusing, exhaustion and second break, frantic activity, and leaving (Bernard, 2006, pp. 378 – 384).

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

graph; I have tried to become the active agent in the group dynamics (more with constant evaluation of my position in group, than with concrete theatrical praxes). The process of integration and continuous attempt to establish relationships with potential interlocutors occupied me so much that during the process of fieldwork I could not really consider the theatre itself, but post-notions of fieldwork leaded me to the Foucault concept of the space (Foucault, 1986). Latest is not understand just as place, but rather as a place designated with, or has the potential to be designated with, the dynamics of relationships. Further he distinguishes between utopias and heterotopias. Utopias are spaces without the place in reality; they exist as ideas (topoi3) of impeccable or shattered image of society, and since those ideas represents the perceptions of social reality they directly or discreetly do affect our life. On the other hand are heterotopias, existing spaces in reality, usually excluded out of the ‘common spaces’, but as such (asylum, prisons etc.) include and clarify the image of common spaces. They have two opposite functions; creating the illusion, which expose the space (like in the mirror we see the surroundings behind us), or creating the ‘accurate’ substitute of the existing spaces (author lists here as an example the colonies, colonialist invasions of land). Both functions of heterotopias are unavoidably connected with a feature of utopias. Theater space is one of the heterotopias; it exposes the image of society, and reveals the possible substitute of existing situation. It can therefore be seen as active mapping of society or as generator of 3 Topoi in the most commonly percept sense, that is to say as treasury or assembly of thoughts, that creates the spoken, written world (Curtius 1990[1953]: 7).

Speculum 2011/2

social changes. Throughout that lens the actuality and the timelessness of theatre simultaneously exist. It incorporates the present memory; the everlasting present of fun, information, and consumption cycles, in which the post-historical human is trapped, collides with the other time that binds up the elements of individual past and those of the collective past (Lehmann, 2003, p. 232). Meaning, at the same time we are remembering mentally re-created spaces and awaiting the outcome of inseparable expectation; in some strange sense the ubiquity of memory is denying the process of history. Multiple forms of theatrical reality are making it difficult for anthropologist to break into the theatre. With this text I will try to show some vantage points of possible entrances into the topic.

What is There to See? (Theatre as Artistic Activity) It is necessary to explain that Theatre Disk is a theatre of amateur actors, while most of the theatre directors4 that worked in Disk are trained in that profession. Today Blahoslav Uhlar (pioneer of authorial theatre (avtorské divadlo, sk.) in Slovakia) is working with collective Disk. Since it would be off the topic, and would not have any potential to develop into something valuable for this particular discussion, I am going to left the history of Disk out. However, some remarks about amateur theaters are necessary. Amateur theatre is usually paralleled with professional theatre, and ever since such theaters interweave it is highlighted that amateur theatre cannot compete with the professional one. It is comprehended that amateur production lacks the aes4 For more references about Disk you can search their website http://divadlodisk. sk/ 21

Speculum 2011/2

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

thetic sense. As Schoell argues, more often amateur theaters are compared with folklore activity in opposition to the professional theaters which performers supposed to reveal the transgressive substance of art (1963, p.152). Schoell’s observations do deserve reevaluation concerning the publication time, but how strangely - one can not reveal very different picture nowadays (specifically in postmodernistic theatre). Pia Strickler (2009) was researching the media’s attention to different types of theaters in Switzerland5; she divided them in two already mentioned groups. She thinks that the reason for low level of attention dedicated to amateur theaters lies in spectator’s motives of the visit and lack of PR organization. She believes that amateur theaters attract only people who are looking for fun and company in places that are not provided with wide range of activities. To her it seems that aesthetic experience is ruled out as motivation element. This explanation and the fact that amateur theaters are lacking a good PR mechanism, she claims, is the cause for the low level of media’s interest. When occasionally in media critics, journalists do write reviews accompanied with ratings they do not evaluate production with the same criterion as they do with the professional one. Rather they are evaluating the ‘life style’ of the theatre and not strictly the theater praxes itself6. 5 Everywhere in EU is prety much the same, and Switzerland is not an exception. 6 I think that Strickler’s insight can be challenged. Even in the amateur section one can find wide range of quality and spectators with diverse motives. Quite specific situation is with PR mechanisms. Lack of quality of such mechanisms can be ascribed to the fact that amateur theaters have very limited financial resources (so the option for a poster designer, a PR employee etc. is out of question). Same can be presumed for the independent theaters. 22

So, the question is how to think the theatrical praxes of amateur theatre? Body and space in amateur theatre Eugenio Barba leaned on Mausses concept of body techniques and defined daily and extra-daily body techniques (Barba, 2005, p. 37). Beginning with Mauss, he understands body techniques as “the ways in which from society to society man know how to use their body” (Mauss, 2007, p. 53). Barba saw distinction in usages of the body in daily life and performative activity, therefore he deduced that people’s way of body activity can be divided in daily and extra-daily body techniques, but daily techniques, and here he follows Mauss again, are determined by culture. He conclude that since performers do not use their body unconsciously (techniques as a habit), but with strong attention, they are negating such daily techniques and the only way to explain such body activity is with the term extradaily body techniques. But in amateur theatre Disk they would not agree. All the theatrical pieces have its base in their real life, meaning that they construct the play with slight variations on their situations from the ‘real life’. Two writings from my fieldwork diary will illustrate the procedure and question the extra-daily techniques in Disk.

/…/ constructing the play: stage was empty, except few chairs were decorating it. One of the actresses was rehearsing the scene confession of the breasts-cancer patient in which she is naked above her waist; the static body and her whispers. During the pause one of the collective told me that this must be her experience, or rather of someone

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

who is close to her. She imagined this scene and realized it. Could someone else do it? Possibly it could, but not with such intensity of emotions. I cannot step out of the felling that this is the theatre of themselves.

/…/ two of them wanted to play the seduction game; arrogant, cold man is expecting that women will be crawling all over him. Uhlár suggested doing it in exact way. Let her concretely crawl over him, while he is quietly observing it. They could not do it. Actor was claiming that it is too hard for him and actress slipped of his frozen body few times. They abandoned that idea, since it was obviously impossible to carry it out. Quite understandable; they do not have to do it. Performing body, as Barba sees it, has special characteristics for which to achieve one must use bigger amounts of energy for the result – stage presence7 (2005, p. 38). But presence, referring to Barba, as product of extra-daily body technique, can hardly be observed in theatrical praxes of actors in Disk, but neither can I claim that their perfor7 Stage presence is ‘something indeterminate’ that attracts spectator’s attention, is something that gives spectator the possibility to identify with performer and opens the entrance into the time of permanent present (I was writing above about present memory). This is what it is understood by intensive presence of performer, even if the performer’s task is to represent ‘nothing’ (Pavis, 1997, p. 586).

Speculum 2011/2

mance gives impression of daily praxes. It would be sloppy if I would mark their theatrical praxes just as such. Division of performative praxes is not really holding things together; understanding stays on the surface. As Pavis (1997, p. 257) said: “Why would we secretly hide the presence solely for the stage: aren’t we more or less present in our life?” Actors of Disk might not transform their presence into ‘stage presence’ as Barba defines it, or they do not possess the holiness of actor as Grotovski (1973) calls it, or emanating energy after the Ryngaert (in Pavis, 1997), but still it would be fallaciously to believe that performative presence does not exist in amateur theatre. By the way this is exactly the reason for underestimation of amateur theaters, as I already showed. And what the importance is; they consciously avoid such presence, since they are working by particular method of authorial theatre. This also is one point of view. But let’s go back to the former debate of presence. If it is possible to ‘save’ it, one can do so with explanation. On the stage of Disk psychosomatic techniques for achieving the holiness of actor are substituted by embodiment of social status, moral values and individual believes. Body techniques that are simultaneously cooperating with mind and emotions, generate the cultural and social structures, i.e. spectator can observe their habitus (Bourdieu, 1990, p. 53, and after Low & Lawrence-Zúňiga 2003, p. 3). Which does not mean that they do not transform into the dramatic character, and what we see are just ‘what they are’, quite on contrary, their bodies become, as the schooled actor’s body does, the juncture of relation between stage, process of performance, psychological and gestural characterization of characters, information, and spectator (Pavis,1997, p. 342). In that sense their performance result in something called stage pres-

Speculum 2011/2

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

ence. It is not “pure presence that can presents actors absence” (Barba in Pavis, 1997, p. 586), or striping down the actor to its prime factor, which would spiritually enrich actor and spectator (Grotowski, 1973, p. 23), actually it is the continuation of characters creating process, as they imagined them. Actors do not have the sacral presence, but we cannot overlook the habitus. Such presence is not static and always the same, it is not final, it is almost like alive organism that “is in constant process of creation and transformation” (Fisher-Lichte, 2008, p. 150). Through the praxes also the space transforms. Productivity of the body in relation to space leads to the “existential and phenomenological reality of the space” (Low in Lawrence-Zúňiga, 2003,p. 5), to the embodied space. All the projections of performance exist in the space (creating it, transforming it etc.) and at the same time productivity of the space is forced back (in)to the participants. Lefebvre (1991, p. 13) says that space without energy is like space without reality, and what he is trying to say is that the space would be ‘just’ the place without the ‘energy of embodiment’. The next paragraph is an example of ‘space creation’ taken from my fieldwork diary. /…/ Right before the start of the play: everybody are on stage, they are walking around the space, as they would want to permeate into it. During that time they gently kick each other’s asses – someone suggested it ‘its for luck!’ When they finish with kicking they do the circle, put hands together on Uhlar’s head (he is stooped inside the circle) and scream: “Zlomte ves! [Crush the Hamlet!]” In that moment everything transforms into the

performance. After that spectators invade the auditorium. Actor and spectator In theatre people are usually divided in two groups, one that makes the ‘show’ and the spectators. Exceptions might be specific performative forms (exp. happenings) that sip the potential spectator in the performative action so deep that it is not really possible to divide it. However, the relation between actor and spectator is essential in theatre. Ways of watching, viewing, examining that are taking place during the ‘show time’ trigger the process in which visitors of the theater become the spectators (Rokem, 2003, p. 9). The pathfinders of the look are dramatic characters, who are persuading each other, and by that also the spectator, how to watch. /…/ Scene: He is staring without embarrassment and quite indifferent at her breasts. She is challenging him ‘Watch me in the eye instead!’ He replies that we are all primitive; she does not know his eye color either. She does not know how to reply. Here the repetition steps in, challenging starts again. /…/ Thus, when in the play such principle is monitored meta-theatrical dimensions are activated. The spectator is being addressed how he should watch, observe, and understand, one becomes the direct reference for ideological and psychological codes of social group, which is transferred from actor to the spectator. Collective Disk does not offer you in advance determined image of the world that spectator is invited in; rather it gives you an open space of creativity with different ‘visual elements’. By latest I do not refer to the visual theatre, which is based

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

in the knowledge about perception and cognition of optical elements and its manipulation. These visual elements seem more like a procedure or scene in performative praxes. Example follows bellow. /…/ Scene is made out of chairs that are symmetrically disposed. Actors are sitting on them, so the whole atmosphere can be compared to some burgeois family picture. Their faces are frozen in some moment each of them has its own impression. Boringness, dismay, seriousness, cheesiness, stupor etc. – those are the moments captured on the picture. When you finally realize what their facial expressions are, you dig into the strange adversity, suddenly it hits you: I am being watched. Visual elements are during the play expressed fragmentary, they create the diffusion of spectator’s perception. Diffusion that leads individuals to emotional chaos, that one cannot fully understand it. Now the spectator is at the same time observed and a voyeur. Exactly the same process is happening with actors. Through the process of theatre roleblending art work finally gets the opportunity to reveal principles of art work itself, because in that moment of revelation the identification with nameless you8 emerge and fill the space.

Finale For this article case study is the amateur theatre Disk, with very specific situation, namely it has been working with a lot of professional directors (exp. Blahoslav Uhlar, Dušan Vicen) that initiated 8 Nameless you present a juncture of multiple references that are exchanging between actor, spectator, and space.

Speculum 2011/2

the postmodernistic elements (reflexive loops, visual elements, multiple references, improvisation etc.) into the (Slovak) theatre, therefore I could also observe it through that lens; it means that transformations in theatres are happening whit radical repositioning of actor, spectator and space. Embodied space in theatre could not exist without the presence of different agents, and creation of new relations among them. New postmodernistic performative politics dictates new politics of perception; relationships including actors, spectators, space, and cultural politics became one of the essential focuses. Performative praxes of theaters confronted audience with the new semiotics of “post-dramatic theatre” (Lehmman 2003). And how are amateur theaters stigmatize with such observations? I showed how important it is to understand theater praxes (excluding the financial politics) of (some) amateur theatres in the same manner as we do the professional. Importance of amateur theatres would be even more obvious if I would extend this article into historical continuity of amateur theatres. They were quite important for the twist of theatrical praxes from the beginning of the 80’; socialistic realism sometimes mixed with modernistic principles was replaced by postmodernistic approach. And postmodernism showed the raw skeleton of the theatre; Anne Ubersfeld (1996) said that theatres are the nicest means of infraction, wonderful and not (too) dangerous; everyone thinks about pleasure and in theatre you have two faces of it – voyeurism and catharsis. (I think that exactly this ambiguity of gratification and dissatisfaction, enjoyment and frustration is the driving force for spending our time in there.)

Speculum 2011/2

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

References Barba, E. (2005). Papirnati kanu. [Paper Canoe]. Ljubljana: Mestno gledališče ljubljansko. Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Curtius, E. R. (1990). [1953] European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Drašler, J. (2009). Na robu mesta, v središču sveta: knjiga o cirkus. [On the Edge of the Town, in the Center of the World: Book about Circus]. Ljubljna: Založba *cf. Fischer-Lichte, E. (2008). Estetika performativnega. [Ästhetik des Performativen]. Ljubljana: Študentska založba. Foucault, M. (1986). Of Other Spaces. Diacritics 16(1): 22–27. Giacchè, P. & Burrel, J. (1999). At the Margins of the Theatre: On the Connection Between Theatre and Anthropology. Diogenes 47(186): 83–92. Grotowski, J. (1973) Revno gledališče. [Thowards a Poor Theatre]. Ljubljana: Mestno gledališče ljubljansko. Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Oregon, New Jersy, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Lehmann, H.T. (2003). Postdramsko gledališče. [Postdramatic theatre]. Ljubljana: Maska. Low, S. M. & Lawrence- Zuniga, D. (2003). Locating Culture. V: The Anthropology of Place and Space: Locating Culture. Setha M. Low in Denise Lawrence-Zúňiga, ur. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Str. 1–48. Mauss, M. (2007). Techniques of the Body.

V: Beyond the Body Proper: Reading the Anthropology of Material Life. Margaret M. Lock in Judith Farquhar, ur. Durham: Duke University Press. Str. 50–68. Okely, J. (1992) Anthropology and Autobiography: Participatory Expirience and Embodied Knowlede.‘ V: Anthropology and Autobiography. Judith Okely In Helen Callaway, ur. London, New York: Routledge. Str. 1–28. Pavis, P. (1997). Gledališki slovar. [Dictionaire du Theatre]. Ljubljana: Mestno gledališče ljubljansko. Rokem, F. (2003). Kako gledamo?: Konstrukcije gledalca v sodobnem gledališču. [How are We Watching?: Constructions of the Spectator in Contemporary Theatre]. Maska: časopis za scenske umetnosti 18(2-3): 7–23 Schoell, E. R. (1963). The Amateur Theatre in Great Britain. Educational Theatre Journal 15(2): 151–157. Strickler, P. (2009). From Review to Preview: A Process of Rationalization of Mediating Theatre? V: Global Changes - Local Stages: How Theatre Functions in Smaller European Countries. Hans van Maanen, Andreas Kotte in Anneli Saro, ur. Amsterdam: International Fedaration for Theatre Research. Str. 361–388. Ubersfeld, A. (1996). Gledalčev užitek. [Spectator‘s Delight] V: Prisotnost, predstavljanje, teatralnost: razprave iz sodobnih teorij gledališča. Emil Hrvatin, ur. Ljubljana: Maska. Str. 205–220. Williams, R. (2005). Navadna kultura: Izbrani spisi. [Common Culture: Selected Writings]. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis. Zlobko, S. & Radharani, P. (2010). Delavnica Performativnost in ritual: stičišča.

“Crush the Hamlet”: Theatrical praxes in amateur theatre as multiple forms of theatrical reality

Speculum 2011/2

Srečevanja antropologije in sodobnega plesa: Kako sporoča sodobni ples in kaj prakticira sodobna antropologija?. [Workshop Performativity and Rituals: Crossroads. Encounters of Anthropology and Contemporary dance: How Communicates Contemporary Dance and What Practices Contemporary Anthropology?]. Portal of the Embasy of the Republic of Slovenia, 31.3.2010. Available at: http://www.bratislava.embassy.si/index.php?id=1330&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=4259&tx_ttnews[backPid]=24&cHash=62b99122d8

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

CREATING OF NEW IDENTITY LIKE ECONOMICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONAL STRATEGY OF LIVING AND WORKING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES OF SLOVAKIAN TEMPORAL LABOUR MIGRANTS Michala Jajcayovรก FSES UK michala.jajcayova@gmail.com Michala Jajcayovรก studies second year of MA on Department of Social Anthropology on FSEV UK. Now she is working like special assistant of autistic child. She is concerned in political and economical anthropology. Focus on: Middle - East Europe, ethnicity, nationalism, borders regimes, transformational strategies in Postsocialism. Comes from Pezinok. Introduction In my work I would like to talk about and describe situation of Slovak temporal labour migrant, who most often comes from eastern part of Slovakia. Their target countries mostly are Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and USA. I will focus on migrants whom target countries are Germany and U.K. These people are mostly young, or mid-ages men and women, who have problems to find good or any other job. They have desires, dreams and needs, and go for a work to the foreign country seems for them like reason, or solution for these urges. Like in every new condition, people creates new models of behaviour, or adapts their common behaviour on the new conditions, which

includes different mentality, language, system of day and work and so on. This natural process of creating new ways of acting in new conditions I will call, in this paper, creating of new identity in foreign condition, which is for temporal labour workers from Slovakia their own transformational strategy how to survive and handle with new conditions. My aim is show on examples how works creation of new identities of temporal labour migrant and also between them each other. I purpose that they have to act different if they want to be successful and also, they are obligate to adapt their habits of life if they plan to be accepted in new society, environment, simply conditions. And also I purpose, that new conditions, people which they meets,

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants new style of work, that every of these influence their behaviour on new place, which eventuate in necessary creating of new identity of everyday life of these workers. This new identity can, or cannot dramatically differ from their behaviour at home, but however it is natural process of adaptation in new, foreign and different condition. I will show my opinions on the cases of Slovak temporal, or not, labour migrants of Slovakian girl Nadja, from eastern Slovakia, who worked like au – pair in Germany. And foreign labour migrant in South-eastern Germany (Munich) who works in big company which developed and distribute lightning systems for movie makers or photographers. Structure of issues Labour and also, study migration, people choose to achieve new life experience, earn money, change the life and when people are in new, foreign country it is very common, that they starts and tries to adapt on new situation, environment, people around themselves and naturally they creating new identities during their own adapting process, or modulate their own personal behaviour according to new environment and life condition. I would like to discuss the transformational strategy – creating new identity in economy and psychology way of meaning. I will use literature overview enriched with my own experiences and observations like methods in my final

Speculum 2011/2

paper. My plan in this final paper is talk about migration only in terms of voluntary labour migration of Slovakian au – pair, private nurses, specialists, which we can add to the category of “braindrain” workers and sportsmen. I do not talk about forced migration due to religion, governmental or regime pursuit. And also adaptation and creating of new identity, however temporal it is, in new country is very unique personal process. But we are able to talk about similar process of creating of new identity of labour temporal migrants in foreign country. Which are based on what they carry from their home countries and what are expecting from them in new country. Exactly, how they are creating their new identities in their new workplace, or in case of au – pair, or private nurse workers, in new household of employer´s family. Here is question, if they really creates pretty new identities, or if they only modulate their own and natural ways of acting or typical, everyday behaviours. And also, here is question about how they create their new identities, or what everything shapes this process. On every these question, aims, purposes and problems, I will try to answer in following chapter. With cross-border labour migration of Slovaks I mean migration to the neighbour countries with common border, for example to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Austria.

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

And with transnational labour migration I mean migration to the distanced countries in Europe or to the U.S.A, to the countries with which Slovakia does not have common border. History and facts of labour migrations in European context Migration was there from immemorial and also temporal aimed migration by reason of work is nothing new also. Migration goes along through whole evolution of humankind, from first human beings to the birth of first civilisation. Migration was part of geographical and economical expansions of Great Powers, but also it was consequence of poverty and conflicts. All the times migration was and also will be natural strategy of people to handle with their quality of life, or strategy to achieve better conditions for living, or achieve new experiences for their personal life. Migration is characteristic of nowadays, people leaving their homes, countries and travelling because they want to see and get know something new, they want to earn more, or simply they want better life than before. But not always is migration voluntary. Hunger, wars, natural disasters, changes of regimes or pursuit due to religion and all of these are very serious causes why they have to leave their homes forever. My plan is, discuss migration only in terms of labour, not forced migration due to religion, governmental or regime pursuit. Here we have plenty of countries, which

are targets of migration for dozens of years, for example: USA, Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany and many else. At this time of migration, these countries adapt to system of migration of people from different cultures. Slovakia, in past, has an experience rather with emigration than with immigration. Every human is very unique, like every migration is very unique process of adaptation, and also it has many reasons. Culture values, which migrants carrying into the new homes, temporal or not, express their patterns of behaviour, ways of communication, and ways of wearing, ways of greeting, how they do everything which is natural and essential for their cultural origin. Culture is entire system of values and social rules and these are very important for every member of certain culture. Culture makes us unique. And we have to have it in our minds when we thinking about migration in many ways and forms. And also when we talking about how immigrants, temporal or not, adapting on new conditions in new countries where they came. Like I said before, this process of adapting on new reality I will call creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants. From 1800 to 1945, in case of U.K. and France, and to 1960, in case of other European countries we can talk about times, which was times of â&#x20AC;&#x153;samenessâ&#x20AC;?, or about feeling of â&#x20AC;&#x153;be one step behind together from other people from same

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants continent”. And this feeling very crucially formed understanding of migration in Europe. Because emigration from eastern parts of Europe till then was normal and immigration was mainly within Europe borders. But we know from history and popular literature from these years about temporal “working migration“ to the USA. Change came after II.WW, firstly in U.K., then in France like confrontation of two mother countries with inhabitants form former colonies, and later it was in rest of European countries. However the fact, those patterns of migration was changed, the view on migration was not automatically and quickly changed in minds of people in many European countries where immigrants started to come. More than 40 millions of Europeans left in 1800 – 1930 mainly to the USA, less to the Africa and Asia. Not even these high numbers not caused better acceptance of migration in Europe. Europe was not continent of immigrants. But here was reinforcing of national and nonimmigrational socio-cultural identities of Europe. Between 1920 and 1940 / 1960 was this period finished by localized, mainly inter-European migration. Migration was aimed on areas of heavy industry, mainly coal and steel industry. (Bauman Europe of strangers: 6) Foreign workers, or much fitting name for this period – guest workers (gastarbeiter), sometimes stayed there, found a wife and started a family and then they became “local”.

Speculum 2011/2

“I undertake to show that these migrants create home on basis of a synthesis of material and imaginative emotional and symbolic elements... “ “I argue that their construction of home depends on interplay of a number of personal, economical, political and cultural factors.” (Parutis, 2/2006) We can say that immigration was not out of cities or industry centres. Mobility (here we can include media and developed possibilities of transport), which very highly affects migration, in those times was on very low level. Development of that came into being after II.WW and continues to these days. Another mark of immigration was that these immigrants were mainly Christian people. The change was in 60´s of 20th century in every country of Western Europe, but in France and U.K. after 1945 already. From this moment we can say about Western Europe that they started to recognize what is non-Europeanism, or otherness, they started to have it directly in their cities, no like before, on the other continent. “Migration has never been a one-way process of assimilation into a melting pot or a multi-cultural salad bowl but one in which migrants, to varying degrees, are simultaneously embedded in the multiple-sites and layers of the transnational social fields they live in.“ (Lewitt, Jaworsky, 2007)

The human species has a long nomadic

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

history. The more recent concept of “cross-border migration” emerged from the formation of powerful territorially based states in Europe. It acquired practical importance after developments in transportation, communication, and industrialization gave options to Europeans to colonize large parts of the rest of the world, and to transfer both within Europe and overseas in large numbers. By the early 20th century, with general development and diffusion of passports and border controls, cross-border migration had become a widespread political concern, and foreign workers became a major source of labour used by large and small businesses. Transnational labour migrants, who are mainly temporal labour migrants, are inhabitants who live within the borders of two or more states and maintain close social, cultural, economic and political ties to their home country, but anyway, they temporally migrate to the other countries by reason of work, experience, business or study. One of the growing groups of transnational migrants is a highly skilled and qualified professional who works for international and transnational institutions and organisations. This we call “work/study/sport migration” and brain drain1 and it will be discussed later. 1 The term brain drain was coined by the Royal Society to describe the emigration of “scientists and technologists” to North America from post-war Europe. By Wikipedia. Another source indicates that this term was first used in the United 32

Government Policies around migration Government policies on cross-border or transnational temporal labour migration were often quite not really same. There are far less of border restrictions on leaving than on entering the country. For example the Schengen and countries which are part of European Union, almost nobody control you if you leaving Schengen countries, but when you entering you can experience the customs control also quite far from borders. Official policies also partly reflect popular ambivalence. Voters in receiving countries are often quite suspect or they afraid of large numbers of foreigners in their countries, but they are not against to easily available low-cost labour, which home-workers does not want to do. Migrant workers are usually more productive than they would be at home, because they have motivations, but the resulting net benefits of cross-border and transnational labour migrations are unequally distributed. Movements of migrants, however, are significantly influenced by economic cycles, not just by public policies or popular attitudes. For example U.S.A have program of “guest workers” which allows to Kingdom to describe the influx of Indian scientist and engineers. Also in Joel Spring. Globalization of Education: an introduction. First published 2009, by Routledge, 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016, pp.185

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants foreign people temporally work in America. “Temporary” guest workers, sometimes, have become permanent residents, they bringing in relatives through the family network links, which have long been central to self-replicating migration. Such networks are also usual within the growing migration between developing countries. The employers from large corporate, in developed countries, have been particularly interested in hiring more highskilled foreigners, which are cheaper than home workers. They creates they own surrounding, they live together in suburbs and creates small “homeland” and all of these they differ from Slovakian temporal labour migrants. Slovaks contacting each other, doing meetings, but does not creates own suburbs, they rather try to be accepted by majority, they want to temporally engage with majority. In 2004 from 15 EU countries, only U.K., Ireland and Sweden opened their labour market for labour migrants from eastern countries (Czech republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia,

Speculum 2011/2

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia)2, since they access into the European Union. Other member countries do the same in future years, until the May 2009. And also from 2004 dynamics of labour migration from Slovakia decreased due to higher wages and better work perspectives, but still here is almost same number of migrant like from Poland. Labour migrant from Slovakia are mainly students after college, university, high school, simply young people. Of course that abroad are number of illegal labour migrants, but I will talk only about legal labour migrants, which number in abroad is between 230,000 – 240,000 people.3 According to many sources, Slovakian labour migration was highest in 2008, but in 2009 was massive return “home” due to global economic crisis. Labour migration and creating of identity in case of Slovakian migrants Temporal labour migration and the mobility of labour and workers is a more and more common thing in many regions of the world. Now start to be necessary managing migration flows in a significant policy challenge for national governments and international organisations. Migration by reason of labour and work mobility should not be achieved through a competition on 2 According to EurActiv, http:// www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/ slovak-labour-migration-discrete-skilled/ article-186489 3 Ibid, Data comes from EurActiv, from May 2009. 33

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

the rights and working conditions of the workers. It has to be open opportunity to every skilled people, for the people who want more in their carriers, or lives. I think that many countries and their national legislation and international standards in the field of employment and social policy provide the needed instruments to achieve this balance. But also labour migrants creating their own mechanism how to adapt on new work position/ place, conditions, environment, and new people. They are creating strategies that help them to transform, or adapt and “be OK” with new situation around them.

to Castells (2004), that one person can have in same time, for different occasion, condition different identities. And I also claim, that people can forget, or stop to use their “temporal labour migrant” identities when they come back to home country, but they can use experiences from this period of life.

Like Castells write, “Identity is people´s source of meaning and experience..., and also, “By identity, as it refers to social actor, I understand the process of construction of meaning on the basis of cultural attribute, or a related set of cultural attributes, that is given priority over other sources of meaning.” (Castells 2004:6)

migration only in local context of one

He try to mark, that creating of new identity in every case, condition, life phases are necessary for selfidentification of person, because of this I claim that every temporal labour migrant create some kind of new identity which is for him/her transformational strategy how to deal, handle with new condition of work, surrounding, people, government, rhythm of day. But is wide known that every experience shape the person, and also temporal labour migration shaping the individuals, but I claim according

labour migrant point of view.

“For given individual, or for a collective actor, there may be a plurality of identities. Yet, such a plurality is a source of stress ad contradiction in both self-representation and social action.” (Castells 2004:6) We cannot think about labour

or some countries in region. Labour migration is global process, which we can understand only in global context (Kastoryano). But for my aim of paper I will discuss only about most numerous target countries in flow of

The most numerous amounts of Slovak labour migrants are in Czech Republic, it is around 90,000. This can be explained by same history and also same state until 1993, familiarity of countries, similar culture and language. Other countries with big number of Slovak labour migrant are

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

Speculum 2011/2

U.K. with circa 60,000, Ireland with circa 40,000, Hungary with around 15,000. Also we it can be claimed that young generation are rather for Western migration, than older. According to EurActiv, the average age of Slovak workers in U.K. is between 22,8 – 27,1, but on other side averaged age of Slovak labour migrants in Czech Republic is 32,8 – 36.4 According to global perspective Slovakia is part of not so much big group of wealthy countries and in recent years, when Slovakia had economical growth and also adoption of strong euro currency, not let to the massive decreasing of labour migration of Slovaks. From January 2009 authorities claim that they have over than 10,000 new applicants for job abroad. But I think that, Slovakia will need labour migrants from 3rd World countries in future, because our young collegeeducated people migrate to most Western countries because of job, or experience and then they left there. But who migrate are not only young people after education, it is also experts from many different areas of industry, IT specialists, doctors and many else. This we call brain drain and it will be explain in further chapters. 4

The things which influence the migration of workers we can divide into the two groups of factors, they are “push” and “pull” factors. This also influence creating of new identities which is transformational strategies of temporal labour migrants, how to handle with new condition in new environment. The push factors are these which pushing people in their home country to leave, migrate to the foreign country for the better life. And pull factors are these, which attract the migrant in their destination countries, better salaries, workstations, and safety. Modern times spread these classic motivational factors by Internet, by the developed telecommunical possibilities and also by possibilities to travelling much cheaper and faster than ever before. (Bauman, pp.3) Temporal labour migrant from Slovakia usually migrate to the developed (Western) countries, so than they have to adapt on new economic situation, on better salaries, other policy of employment, other tax policy, other prices of everything and sometimes on new currency and social policies. The second most important area of things on which they have to create transformational strategy, which led to creating of new identity, have psychological character. They meet new people, new and different characters and ways of behaviour and

ibid 35

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

everything of these they have to handle, accustom on it. But like I said, I will write only about voluntary temporal labour migrant of Slovaks. Strategies, which temporal labour workers creates, like their transformational strategies of creating new identities can be divide, for example into the strategies of “groupism” (Brubaker, 1998), which are based on meeting people with same nationality, cultural background or religion, employment, or simply same age, interests and/or same/ similar employment. And they work on creating of meetings of people from same countries in foreign countries, creating the possibilities for make own cultural events, creating national cultural events, which include everything what is common at home countries living together in same flat, streets, wards of town, creating religions meeting points. Or simply they try to be together sharing experiences, talking in mother - tongue and enjoy “sameness”. Like I said before, young Slovaks who decide for temporal labour migration do this because they see in this way to improve their skills, qualifications, life chance. Here is one example of young Slovak woman Klára Fekiačová, who after high school and before start at university decide to go for a work to U.K. and she worked there 5 hours per day for same money like for a full time job in Slovakia.

“After I finished high school, I had several months before the start of the first semester at university, so I decided to spend that time abroad,” Now she works like project manager also thanks to experience which she gained in U.K. She decided work in London because she wanted to improve her language skills, earn money for studies, and experienced the “school of life”. “I worked five hours a day and earned thrice as much as any full-time employee at the same position in Slovakia. I would say it was ‘the school of life’ because I did not have any work experience and also I became absolutely independent from the support of my parents, and after returning home I found a good job due to my improved language skills,” 5 Types of temporal labour migration • Au – pair, nurses Like Sabine Hess write in her paper about Transmigration of Eastern European Women as Transformation Strategy, focus on east-west relationships and secondly her text refers very much to the fact, that women break the gender constructions which should be seen (beside others) as one aspect of the autonomy of migration. (Hess: 1) Au - pair means babysitting, domesticworks, and is necessary that au – pair person live with family in same household. 5 ibid

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants She write about young women, from East Europe, in this case from eastern Slovakia, who in temporal work migration to the Western countries sees the chance to make some money for new start, independence, or finishing their university education and also receive some experience and improve their knowledge of language. She write about Nadja from small city in East of Slovakia and this young woman do not to be another else young wife and mother like many others from her region. Because here is massive lack of labour chances for young people with/without college education and without practice in job, or if here are some, it has very low salary. So these women, not necessary only from this region, decides to brake a stereotypes and go for their chance for independence to the West (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, U.S.A) like aupairs or like nurses to the retirementhouses, or for private nurses. “In fact these female migrants are global players from below, who are filling important social gaps torn up by the globalization and transformation processes but they are rarely recognized as such and as actors of transformation.” (Hess: 2) For these girls, women who work like au – pair, or nurse in Western country have work outside opportunity to start new life, by their own, without home pressures. Their new identity is girl for everything which is part of employer

Speculum 2011/2

household, when they have luck; they became part of family, beloved by every member of family or keeping house. “But in view of the deteriorating educational and social infrastructure they are forced to develop informal, transnational strategies, which they creatively do. The Au Pair migration is therefore to be seen as an individual and family based qualification strategy to enhance one’s own chances after the return. In regard of the other possibilities at hand it is a highly functional practice of young women to cope with the social risks of the transformations. Temporary migration is in this sense a transformation strategy.” (Hess: 5) This is very similar with nurses, or every medical workers which decide to migrate from Slovakia, for better paid work in Western countries. Sometimes they work on low-level positions, which not correspond with their education, because they are paid better, than they will be on more qualified position in Slovakia. This everything is because of extremely low wages in medical sector in Slovakia and drain of health skilled people starts to be serious problem for Slovak society. Brain drain Brain drain is human capital fluctuation, which receive more know name “brain drain”, is the big migration of individuals with technical or another skills, or knowledge. Here is most often two reasons why experts decides to migrate

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

to another country, it is “in terms of country” and “in terms of individual reasons”. In terms of country, we can find, for example these reasons along if they decide to migrate for work from home country to another country: lack of opportunities, political instability, economic depression, health risks. And in they are attracting by these reasons in host countries: rich opportunities, comparatively good political system, developed economy, better living conditions. In terms of individual reasons, there we can find family influence that could be overseas relatives, and personal preference, which are preference for exploring, ambition for an improved career, etc. No matter to where, but brain drain is widespread reality in whole world. But most often it is happens from East to the West. Sometimes Western companies, which are more developed and richer, are more attractive for expert workers, than are home companies. They attract them with much better salary and other possibilities, which are much better than in home company. However the term “brain drain” is officially connected with technological experts

who leaving the home country, nowadays the notion spread into the broadest sense of meaning: “the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another, usually for better pay or living conditions.”6 Brain drain means for “loser” country usually an economic lost, or cost, because the brain drain migrants take with them their own training in home country, which was paid by home government, or home organisation. This we can regard as flight of capital that we can call also the movement of financial capital. Countries, which achieving experts from developing countries, or “not-western” countries, according to OSN have to, for example, refund the losses to country from where they have drained workers. They can do it through developing help, or private capital, which they invest to the sectors that are influenced by leaving the expert workers.7 Movements of expert workers, mainly in science, engineering, and higher education, are a smaller but important form of temporal labour migration. The extent and incidence of benefits and costs resulting from this “brain drain” are a matter of considerable interest to scholars and 6 Brain drain Definition and More”, Free MerriamWebster Dictionary, 2010 7 Report of the Global Commission on International Migration (2005)

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants policy makers on which no general consensus has yet emerged. Slovak former Prime Minister Robert Fico accused that centreright government generate 400,000 economic migrants. But except of this number, situation with brain drain has never been politicised in Slovakia. Economist and other authorities agree that drain of specialists from Slovakia is problem for Slovak economy, but on political level it has never been defined in this way. (EurActiv, 2009)

Case of sportsmen And also we can find another case of temporal/or not, labour migration in case of sportsmen. This migration of sporting talent, especially from China, has been a common phenomenon for some 20 years now.8 This migration of sporting talent, or talented coaches are quite new phenomenon in nowadays labour migration, but also introduce specific and interesting case of labour migration, as well as specific type, mechanisms and strategies to creating identity in transformational meaning. 8 http://www.asiaone.com/ News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/ A1Story20100602-219644.html

Speculum 2011/2

This type of migration starts to be universal and common thing, in every sport we can find plenty type of migrants from lot of countries. For example in famous, or simply good and wealthy, football teams starts to be rarity see only home players mostly with nationality like is country of this club. Or for example, when sportsman have not good condition in his/her home country and in same time receive good offer from another country, he/she decide to move to this country. In Slovakia we have Olympic mistress in womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 7, 5 -kilometre biathlon, which is originally from Ukraine. But she does not have place and condition to do her passion in sport there and she decides to move to Slovakia, also with her husband and little son. Temporal labour migration of sportsmen is also attached to the place, or to the particular citizenship or identity, but I like mentioned before. Sportsmen are something else than expert worker, for athlete is what he/she do his/her entire life and if they does not have possibility, or good condition do practising their sport domain, they are able to leave their nationality, identity and also home. But anyway, the biggest motivation always is the money and better condition than they had at home. We can say that one sportsman can have multiplicity of identities in a globalised world. We can observe this thing on hockey or football players when they play â&#x20AC;&#x153;in colourâ&#x20AC;? of another country but also in

Speculum 2011/2

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants

home “colours”, for example on national competitions. Here is one quotation that perfectly describes what I want to discussed in this final work: “But in view of the deteriorating educational and social infrastructure they are forced to develop informal, transnational strategies, which they creatively do. The Au Pair migration is therefore to be seen as an individual and family based qualification strategy to enhance one’s own chances after the return. In regard of the other possibilities at hand it is a highly functional practice of young women to cope with the social risks of the transformations. Temporary migration is in this sense a transformation strategy.” (Hess: 5) And here is most important thing, which I want to discuss in my final work – that for people, who are actors of temporary labour migration creating of new identity is kind of transformation strategy how to deal with new conditions and environment that they surrounds. Conclusion „Transnationality, in terms of work, is way to the most tolerant society, which can get over the fear from diversity and teach us to fully exploit potential, that transnational migration and their participants offer to us.“ (Bitu íková, 2/2007:155, translated by Michala Jajcayová)

And here was and also will be question of

young generation about stay in or leave their home country, with a view of better tomorrow. Because I think that, migration is one of strategies how to make your life better and easier. Every part of our acting is shaped by our identity, by which we are in our common lives. And therefore I think, that every labour migrant, which are temporally out of his/her home create new strategy to deal with new situation, which include new work and living condition of foreign country, which we can name like new identity. Also like every new experiences shaped us, that we shaped, creates and survives these actions and experiences by our own acting, which can differ from our common life, when we are out of our common situation, home, surrounds. This is what I call creating a new identity like transformational strategy on the new economical and psychological situation in new economical and psychological condition, in terms of labour migration. But Analysts of labour migration from Slovakia not regarded this situation of flow skilled people, specialists, or young people after education like tragedy, and they claim that there is no real need for a national “return strategy” only except health skilled people in future years. The majority of labour migrants stressed that they feel willingness to come back after a certain time, usually when they earn enough money, gained enough experiences, or when the starts the family. And because of this I used the

Creating of new identity like economical and psychological transformational strategy of living and working in foreign countries of Slovakian temporal labour migrants term, temporal labour migration. “The Slovak foreign ministry also insists that the migration of its nationals to Western Europe is for the most part strictly labour-oriented and temporary. According to the SFPA survey, 59% of Slovak migrant respondents said they planned to stay in UK less than three months. Only 8% said they foresee staying longer than two years.” (EurActiv, 2009) And here was and also will be question of young generation about stay in or leave their home country, with a view of better tomorrow. Because like I said, migration is one of strategies how to make your life better and easier. References Every of these papers on website: http:// www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/working_ papers.htm • Prof. Zygmunt Bauman - Europe of Strangers • Andreas Wimmer - Transethnic relations of a transnational community • Sabine Hess - Transmigration of Eastern European Women as Transformation Strategy • Robin Cohen - Transnational social movements: an assessment • Riva Kastoryano - Transnational Participation and Citizenship: Immigrants in the European Union • Bridget Anderson - Reproductive labour and migration

Speculum 2011/2

• Jeff Crisp - Policy challenges of the new diasporas: migrant networks and their impact on asylum flows and regimes • Steven Vertovec - Transnational Networks and Skilled Labour Migration • Ulf Hannerz - Flows, Boundaries and Hybrids: Keywords in Transnational Anthropology • Castells, M.: The power of Identity. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2nd ed., 2004. pp. 5 - 12; 56 - 71. • Búriková, Z.: Motivácie au pair migrácie zo Slovenska. (Motivation of au pair migration form Slovakia) In: Slovenský Národopis, 2007, roč. 56, č. 4, 442 456. • Divinský, B.: Labour market – migration nexus in Slovakia: time to act in a comprehensive way. IOM, Bratislava, 2007. • Peggy Levitt, B. Nadya Jaworsky: Transnational Migration Studies: Past Developments and Future Trends.2007, Wellesley College and Harvard University, Yale University. • Parutis, Violetta: At home, in: Migration: Construction of home by Polish and Lithuanian Migrants in the U.K., Oikos, 2/2006, Lithuanian migration and diaspora studies. • Bitušíková, A.: Ethnological debates, year XIV, 2/2007, SAV, Bratislava. • EurActiv, 2009, Slovak labour migration: Discrete and skilled. http://www.euractiv.com/en/ enlargement/slovak-labourmigration-discrete-skilled/ article-186489

Speculum 2011/2

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion)

NAPOLEON CHAGNON: THE YANOMANÖ (THEORY, METHOD AND CONCLUSION) Rosella Toma FSES UK I am currently studying Anthropology at the University of East London. I am interested in all the aspects of human experience. I am attracted by cultural diversity and by the different approaches people take towards life. I believe in London it is possible to find different cultures, microcosms, at every corner. I remember feeling full of emotions I could not describe when one night, walking in Hackney, I encountered people leaving a Synagogue and a Mosque adjacent to each others, mixing together in what I felt was a highly spiritual and magic atmosphere. The emotions I felt in instances, such as the one I have described, of manifestation of cultural identities and beliefs, drove me to study this particular subject. I still cannot really explain the reasons behind this, even to myself.

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion) Napoleon Chagnon’s fourth edition of The Yanomamö is the result of 60 months of fieldwork among this population living in the Amazon forest, ona the border between Venezuela and Brazil. The principle conclusions that can be drawn from an examination of his book, are represented by the Yanomanö’s continuous state of migration caused by certain variables. These variables are related to ecological conditions, kinship and the bending of its rules, warfare and demography, characteristics that play an important part in the shaping of Yanomamö society. The theory of evolutionary human ecology dominates

the heart of the book, with its continuous remanding to the individuals as the cause of society development. Below I will describe how Chagnon used theory and method to support his findings. I will first expose his use of the method of cultural ecology and I will show how he went beyond it with his theory of social circumscription. Next I will discuss his views on the causes of macro movements and warfare, and how he dismissed Harris’ theory of a protein deficiency among the Yanomamö. Subsequently I will describe the interaction that Chagnon found between cultural and biological success. This will be followed by an analysis of Chagnon’s use of a structural and a statistical approach in order to explain village fissioning. Finally I will focus on the chapters in Chagnon’s book in which

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion)

his way of dealing with the argument could be contestable. Chagnon believed that “the world beyond has both a physical and sociopolitical dimension, and one must come to grips with both” (Chagnon, 1992, p. 45). In trying to study the physical environment and the effects that this had to shape the Yanomamö culture, he used Steward’s method of cultural ecology, which “pays primary attention to those features which empirical analysis shows to be most closely involved in the utilization of environment in culturally prescribed ways”(Steward, 1979, p. 37). Cultural ecology however does not take into account features which are not related to the environment, such as the presence and interaction with neighbours or historical influences. By adding these variables Chagnon went beyond this theory and method, attributing to the fission and relocation of villages social, historical and political reasons. The migratory nature of the Yanomamö was characterized by two kinds of movements. Micro movements consisted in the re-placement of the garden in a neighbouring area, while macro movements were the results of warfare and politics. Below I will discuss the reasons that laid behind both these events. Yanomamö needed to relocate their gardens every two or three years. After a certain time the growing vegetation

Speculum 2011/2

together with the hazard of snakes started to become a problem; at that point creating a new garden was an easier option than to invest energy into the old one. These types of migrations were believed by some anthropologists, followers of the cultural ecology theory, to be the results of a ‘poverty of the soil’, an exhaustion of the soil’s nutriments caused by the extensive cultivation of crops (Chagnon, 1992, p. 71). This belief was proven wrong by Robert Carneiro (1961 in Lyon 1974), who by citing studies conducted in gardens of tropical environments, showed that soil does not lose its fertility over a rather long period of cultivation. Chagnon (1992) attributed the reason behind macro movements to be related to warfare and politics. He detached himself from the method of ‘cultural ecology’ by proposing a theory he called ‘social circumscription’. Inspired by Robert Carneiro ‘geographic circumscription theory’, he substituted Carneiro’s theorized geographic barriers with barriers formed by neighbours, arguing that these influenced a village’s size and complexity, together with its ability to relocate somewhere else (1992, p. 75). Contrary to micro movements, caused by ecological conditions, these macro movements were caused by the interaction between villages, and by internal politics regarding the community. Between 1990 and 1991 Chagnon started a research in which he highlighted the

Speculum 2011/2

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion)

differences between villages located in the lowlands and villages located on the hills, reinforcing his concept of ‘social circumscription’. He noted that in the lowlands ecological living conditions were easier; villages were larger in size and were practicing more warfare. By contrast in the hills villages were smaller, more scattered, less bellicose, and had less polygyny’s frequency. In the lowlands villages had to be the way they were in order to maintain control over favourable natural resources, while in the hills there was less competition among neighbours, due to the scarce quality of the environment, leading to less complex villages’ compositions (Chagnon, 1992, p. 87). In 1976 Harris and Divale published a study supported by demographic data of “561 local band and village population from 112 societies” (Divale & Harris, 1976, p. 521). They argued that prestate societies, in order to maintain their carrying capacity, which is the maximum number of people that an environment can support, had to rely on male supremacy and on the practice of warfare and female infanticide. They believed warfare to be the cause of the male supremacy complex in a context of population control and they stressed that “postpartum selection against female infants is an unavoidable consequence of the absence of effective or safe prenatal contraceptives or abortion techniques” (Divale & Harris, 1976, p. 530). Divale and Harris (1976) suggested that a diet rich 44

in protein would have allowed women to lactate for longer and therefore to produce less offspring. If a population had a low intake of protein then, as in the case of horticultural societies, it had to rely on warfare to keep the population stable. They found a test case of this theory in the Yanomamö, believing that the expansion of their gardens created a population growth that the environment could not sustain; as a consequence they had to rely on female infanticide and on the use of warfare to obtain food resources and women. Chagnon dismissed this belief of a shortage of protein both in the book and in an article published in 1979 together with Raymond B. Hames. They found that “Yanomamö protein consumption (75 g per capita per day) is 250 percent higher than the lowest estimated requirement and 150 percent higher than the highest estimated requirement” (Chagnon & Hames, 1979, p. 912). Their research also highlighted that often warfare was present between two distant villages, excluding the reason for it to be related to food resources or gardens occupation (Chagnon & Hames, 1979). Chagnon believed that ‘women’ (Chagnon, 1992,p. 95), as I will discuss below, and not protein drove the conflicts between villages. As a follower of the ‘human behavioural ecology’ theory, he believed that the individual rather than the group drove selection. It was in this context that he found the basis to critic

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion)

Speculum 2011/2

Harris’ theory of a protein deficiency as a cause of the practice of warfare, stressing that his belief in ‘group selection’ was not up to date with biological theories (Chagnon, 1992, p. 92). He found as well a relation linking together military and reproductive success; those who had killed many enemies had a greater cultural success, and as a consequence they had a better chance of finding more wives that gave them more offspring than and individual who had never killed others (Chagnon, 1992, p. 205).

model’ approach which is based on the recording the actual behaviour of the individuals.

“It would appear that primitive societies can only grow so large at the local level— the village in this case—if internal order is provided by just these commonly found integrating mechanisms: kinship, marriage, and descent.” (Chagnon, 1992, p. 121)

size of a village, competitions over the access to women arise among distant parallel cousins, leading to a fission of the community.

Exploring the matter of village fissioning, Chagnon arrived at the conclusion that the main cause of this was related to the sphere of kinship and to the consequences correlated with the bending of its rules made by the individuals. In addition he found that polygyny helped to maintain a village cohesion; in fact the less lineages were present in a village, the more ‘social glue’, the solidarity that keeps them together, characterized their composition. To accomplish this he used both a “structural” approach that focuses on “’ideal models’ of societies, models that are constructed from the general rules of kinship, descent and marriage” (Chagnon, 1992, p. 121), and a ’statistical

What can be accomplished using a “structural” approach is that the Yanomamö are a patrilineal society in which descents are recognized through the male line and in which marriage is allowed among cross cousins, the descents of different sex siblings. All parallel cousins, the descents of same sex siblings, are referred to as brothers and sisters. In this context, with the growing

Chagnon integrated the above described structural approach with a statistical one, which he understood to be more adequate in order to study the variations in village size, internal cohesion and fissioning; he believed that the behaviour of the individual rather than the one of the group, was central in trying to understand the features and development of a community (Chagnon, 1992, p. 144). Polygyny and the reclassification of kinship roles played a crucial part in the events related to the history and development of a village. In order to prove his theory he used the test case of two groups of villages: the Shamatari and the Namowei-teri. The formers were larger in size and founded by fewer men who had many wives and who therefore were producing offspring

Speculum 2011/2

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion)

belonging to fewer lineages than the Namowei-teri, in which more lineages were existing as a consequence of the presence of more male founders. In the Shamatari villages, the competition between parallel cousins over the access to women was less pronounced because the choice was restricted to few lineages. On the other hand in the Namoweiteri different lineages led to more competition and consequently to fission. The social glue, the solidarity holding the components of the village together, was stronger in the Shamatari villages, which were more ‘inbred’ (Chagnon, 1992, pp. 145-152). Chagnon (1992) noted the age of the individuals was out of synchrony; this was caused by patrilineality and by the men capacity of producing offspring over a wider period of time than women. In order to have an easier access to women belonging to another clan, individuals had therefore to re-classify kinship identities to their advantage. This could have been done just by people who had a certain power and influence among the villagers, people who were fierce and ready to face any possible consequence of their decisions. This method, according to Chagnon was on the one hand the cause of the splitting of a village, but on the other it had as well “positive reproductive consequences” (Chagnon, 1992, p. 158). Chagnon stressed that “The fact that the Yanomamö have lived in a chronic state of warfare is reflected in their mythology, ceremonies, settlement 46

pattern, political behaviour, and marriage practice” (Chagnon, 1992, p. 9). To test this hypothesis he analyzed throughout the book the above characteristics following theory and method, but he treated mythology using a superficial interpretation, dictated more by intuition than by a methodology. A structural method as theorized by Lévi-Strauss regarding the interpretation of myths would have been more adequate in order to understand the real meanings behind Yanomamö belief. In the last chapter of the book, Chagnon described the process of acculturation that took place among the Yanomamö together with the Brazilian gold rush; he told of how epidemics brought by contacts with missions and by the miners’ pollution of the rivers profoundly changed this population demographic and mortality patterns (Chagnon, 1992). If in the rest of the book this influence was not felt much, it now materializes in what seems a second demographic chapter. Probably his aim was to bring to the reader the virgin image of this society partly because he believed that we could learn something from our early history by studying Yanomamö ‘settlement patterns’ (Chagnon, 1992, p. 45). On the other hand he stated that “With the disappearance and the knowledge and understanding they hold in trust about our world, we all become poorer and increasingly unable to appreciate not only who they are or were but who we ourselves are and what we value …” (Chagnon, 1992, p. xii). In my

Napoleon Chagnon: The Yanomanö (Theory, method and conclusion)

opinion, he might have thought that if he had organized the book considering the recent events he would have risked to lose the essence of this culture. To conclude, in this essay I have shown how Napoleon Chagnon interpreted Yanomamö society and how, using theory and method, he built his belief regarding the reasons behind the way of life of this population. First I described how he used Stewards’ method of cultural ecology and how he surpassed it with his theory of social circumscription. To do this I described his interpretation on micro and macro movements. Next I exposed the protein debate between Chagnon and Harris and how the former, using the theory of human evolutionary ecology as a basis made a critique of the latter. Subsequently I exposed Chagnon’s view that cultural success leads to biological success. I then showed how he integrated together a structural and a statistical approach in order to interpret village fissioning. Finally I focused on the chapters in which his approach is weaker; on the one hand I briefly described the approach regarding myths, and on the other the social change that is investing the Yanomamö, and I tried to find for the latter a possible cause. The principle conclusions that can be drawn from his study on the Yanomamö, are that in their society migration dominates their way of life together

Speculum 2011/2

with kinship and the breaking of its rules. Warfare and internal conflicts play a dominant role in the development of villages, and cultural success is often followed by biological success. In order to show his findings Chagnon based his work on the use and comparison of different theories, taking from each one what he believed was more useful.

References Chagnon, N.A. (1992) Yanomamö. New York: Harcourt Brace. Chagnon, N.A. and Hames, R.B. (1979) Protein Deficiency and Tribal Warfare in Amazonia: New Data. Science. 203(4383). pp. 910-913. Divale, W.T. and Harris, M. (1976) Population, Warfare, and the Male Supremacist Complex. American Anthropologist, New Series. 78(3). pp. 521-538. Carneiro, R.L. (1974) [1961] Slash-andBurn Cultivation Among the Kuikuru and its Implications for Cultural Development in the Amazon Basin. In P. Lyons (ed.) Native South Americans. Boston: Little and Brown. pp. 73-91. Steward, J. (1979) The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology. In Theory of Cultural Change. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, pp. 30-42.

Speculum 2011/2

Snapshot memories of India

SNAPSHOT MEMORIES SNAPSHOT MEMORIES OF OF INDIA Denisa Uhliarová, Lukáš Teren SA FSEV UK Denisa Uhliarová is student of the last year of Master degree in the institute of Social Anthropology, at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava.Her thesis concerns the topic of migration and cultural identification in the transnational environment. Her fieldwork was conducted in the community of Indian´s migrants in Bratislava. Supplementary information were collected in India. Her free time is dedicated to tribal dance. Lukáš Teren studies Master degree in the Acadamy of Fine Arts and Design, he specializes on video camera and photos, however his professional passion for photos started already at high school School of Applied Arts J. Vydru. He created several documentary projects, actually he works at short historical movies. Historical fencing is his free time activity.

Brahman is sitting at the street and asking for the food. One Brahman among another two thousand living in Pushkar, the pilgrim place for Hindus.

48 48

Snapshot memories of India

Speculum 2011/2

Traditional Rajasthani gypsy dance in the village Kori. Dancer is dancing with 8 kilo heavy pots on the head.

Devi Singh â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 40 years old man, whole life has dedicated to life in desert and camels. 49 49

Speculum 2011/2

Snapshot memories of India

Galtaji Temple or Monkey Temple is a religious place for the devotees of Lord Hanuman, near Jaipur where live hundreds of monkeys which fight every day for the territory.

Everywhere you can see children begging for money, but people usually give them food and sweets. 50

Snapshot memories of India

Speculum 2011/2

Jagdish Temple, a large Hindu temple in the middle of Udaipur in Rajasthan made whole from marble is an example of Indo-Aryan architecture.

Temple in Ranakpur built in the 15th century is known for being the largest and most important temple of the Jain cult. Over 1444 marble pillars, carved in exquisite detail, support the temple. The pillars are all differently carved and no two pillars are the same. 51

Speculum 2011/2

Snapshot memories of India

Monk in Jain Temple in Ranakpur is sitting and making the sandal wood paste, which every visitor can put on forehead as a sing of being in temple.

Wedding party in Pushkar.

Snapshot memories of India

Speculum 2011/2

Man feeding the street-cow just passing by to improve his karma.

Speculum 2011/2

Sight of Italy

SIGHT OF ITALY Piero Malvestio Presently studying Anthropology and Media, my interest centre around social and cultural anthropology also in communication through visual art practice. With photography and film I explore state of mind and thoughts using association of images to narrow a story. These photographs are part of a body of work started this summer 2010 during a road trip in southern Italy. Escaping from the chaotic city life I travelled through lands and coasts, becoming one with nature and being more receptive in the process of producing work. These images try to represent states of mind exploring the relations between environment and the human.

Sight of Italy

Speculum 2011/2

Sight of Italy

Speculum 2011/2

Submission Guidelines

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES We accept submissions from all students (undergraduates and postgraduates) of social anthropology or other social-science related disciplines or any student who can add desirable content to our journal. Here are our principles. FORMATTING: In respect to the form of papers · All papers must be in a Word document. · Font: Times New Roman 12pt. · APA-style bibliography. · Include your full name, e-mail, telephone number, address, and brief paragraph about YOU – what are you interested in, why are you studying anthropology, where do you study, etc. STUDY – Size limit: 15-25 pages (A4); short abstract (research focus, methods, hypotheses, main results, conclusions, recommendations) and key words (minimum three words) must be included. ESSAY – Size limit: 3-15 pages (A4). (BOOK) REVIEW / RECENSION / REPORT – Size limit: max 3 pages (A4). In respect to the form of visual material · In general, we prefer RAW or TIFF format of photo-material (if JPEG, use maximum of possible resolution). · Photos with added words or lines send in TIFF, BMP, or PNG format. · If you are not sure about the format, feel free to e-mail us (casopis.speculum@gmail. com).