Paper short abstract:

Based on interactions of zoofolkloristics, anthropology, philosophical discourses, the paper will reflect the role and importance of Lipizzaner horses through folklore and literature, and reconsider the man/animal relationship on the basis of ecocritical analysis.

Paper long abstract:

The paper discusses the Lipizzaner horses, a part of the natural and cultural heritage of the Slovenian nation (claimed also by the Austrians). Lipizzaner horses are typically perceived as the national cultural monument (educated and trained stallions) owned by human community, and not as non-human animals which were, only by way of domestification, destined to serve human. Based on interactions of zoofolkloristics (Marjanić, Zaradija Kiš, Kõiva), anthropology (Ilomäki)) and the philosophical and legal discourses (Ingold, Tzavela), the paper will reflect the role and importance of Lipizzaner horses through folklore and literature, and reconsider the man/animal relationship by establishing non-hierarchy between animal and human on the basis of ecocritical analysis (Zapf, Heise, Grewe-Volpp). The focus of the analysis is on folkloristic materials (texts), customs and traditions associated with the community horse/human, as well as literary works that discuss the Lipizzaner horses. The aim of the contribution is to acknowledge the intrinsic value of the animal and cultural patterns that exist irrespective of human intervention, which deprived the animal of its "wildness", separating the animal from its natural environment. In this context, the discussion will also involve the discourse of speciesism (Dunayer) and abolicionism (Francioni, Best).

Paper short abstract:

The promoting the Boškarin as a gastro-phenomenon was the dominant feature of the project Boškarin with Potatoes (2012-2014) by the City of Pula. Hence the Boškarin i.e. Istrian ox has been “revitalised” in the 21st century as the economic and gastronomic victim/sacrifice of the EU project.

Paper long abstract:

The anthropology of animals, as defined by socio-cultural anthropologist Barbara Noske, can be - or ought to be - a segment of ethnographic studies of the 21st century. Why do we have a list of national animals (e.g. pine marten is the national animal of Croatia) but fail to include said animals (only individual species) in the concept of heritage - why are the concepts of Nature and Culture still anthropocentrically segregated? The fact is that one can only talk about heritage species (especially traditional or autochthonous livestock breeds), but not about heritage animals (the animals in the concept of heritage). For instance, Boškarin or Istrian ox was a symbol of life a long time ago - the ox was more important than one's own children (cf. Ivona Orlić 2007) - but today the ox has been revitalised only for the purpose of profitable agro-tourism and gastro-tourism.

The aforementioned concept of promoting the Boškarin as a gastro-phenomenon was the dominant feature of the project Boškarin with Potatoes (2012-2014) by the City of Pula, developed as the confirmation of collaboration with the French town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue that became the partner city of Pula in 2008. As part of the project, local products were presented - Istrian Boškarin (i.e. the Boškarin was presented as a product rather than an animal) and the Ségala potato variety from the French region of Midi-Pyrénées. Hence the Boškarin i.e. Istrian ox, autochthonous Croatian livestock breed, has been "revitalised" in the 21st century as the economic and gastronomic victim/sacrifice of the EU project.

Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses the representation of the marble trout in discourse, with particular emphasis on the discourse of marble trout ''conservation'', emphasising that it is economic and national(istic) interests that drive the discourse, excluding any consideration of the marble trout's moral status.

Paper long abstract:

The paper analyses the representation of the marble trout in discourses surrounding aquaculture heritage and how this representation potentially influences the human perception of the marble trout. The analysis reveals that the examined discourses represent the fish as valuable only in terms of their utility to humans, rather then intrinsically valuable. I put the main focus of the paper on the discourse of marble trout ''conservation'' and argue that it is interconnected with fishing discourse in general, since it does not deconstruct but rather reinforces the construction of marble trout as an object with tourism value. Two of the most important justifications for the ''conservation'' of the marble trout are its connection to fishing and to national heritage. The first one is closely linked with the economic interest (the marble trout become objecitvised as a part of the range of tourist activities on offer in Posočje) and the second one with national(istic) interest (the marble trout become singularised with the emphasis on their national uniqueness). For over two decades many fishing defenders, especially angling families, have been calling for the ''conservation'' of the marble trout, protecting the existence of the species to provide sufficient numbers for further killing in the form of fishing tourism. The protectionist rhetoric has therefore been part of the wider neoliberal rhetoric and the efforts of the neoliberal economic-political system to commodify nature, where marble trout become available as a ''natural resource'' for the foreign financial elite, without any recognition of their moral value.

Paper short abstract:

Wild horses are one of many designations of local identity that has been recognized as European heritage stamp, as a number of projects for their preservation and „rewilding“ suggests. What are cultural processes behind aspirations to preserve ecosystems, even at the cost of „constructing“ the wild?

Paper long abstract:

It is almost impossible to define what a man is or what it means to be human without defining what other animals are and what they mean to us. How are other animals involved in the creation of a specific national, regional or local identity?

Wild horses are similar designation of local identity that has recently been recognized as a common, European heritage stamp, as a number of projects for their preservation or reintroduction of 'wilderness' suggests (eg. 'Rewilding Horses in Europe').

Debate over wild horses (concept that is nothing more than a heterotopia), raises many questions. Why are they so important today, on the verge of their (genetical) extinction and to whom? They are presented in a variety of identities: from pests that destroy local peoples crops or pieces of meat on dinning tables to the four-legged embodiment of a romantic ideal of wilderness and nature that must be preserved, small population of wild horses illustrate how dynamic and flexible tradition and it's elemets are.

Is there a greater utopia of Velebit upon which wild horses run free? Is there a greater utopia than that of Europe that seeks to 'rewild' itself?

What are the cultural processes behind these aspirations to preserve the ailing ecosystems, all at the cost of constructing the wild and why is it so important to preserve what we have so systematically cultivated and destroyed through thousands of years?

Paper short abstract:

The paper will examine ways in which humans have been negotiating relationships with the natural world and deer, in various past and present cultural contexts. Focus will be on the notions of identity, animal-human boundaries and ways in which ideas about human and animal bodies have been created.

Paper long abstract:

Insights into our pre modern ancestral past offered by archaeological discoveries suggest that human relationship with deer has been a long and diverse one. Remains of deer, particularly their antlers, have been found in funeral and other archaeological contexts across Europe, often together with human osteological remains. Such finds recently encouraged interpretative approaches that challenge dominant Western notions of identities, bodies and human-animal boundaries. Today, in various modern global cultural contexts (such as urban parks deer population management strategies in European cities, deer farming and hunting in North America and China, and wildlife research approaches of individual scientists, such as Joe Hutto) specific forms of relationships between humans and deer have been created. They suggest notions of simple co-existence between the two species, human domination and violence, but also animal personhood and individuality, and thus actively negotiate specific personal and local identities and political practices, sometimes involving both animal and human bodies. Furthermore, images of deer, particularly of their antlers, are strongly present in contemporary popular and material culture where, for example, representations of women with antlers once again urge questions about human-animal boundaries, gender and identities. It will be interesting to examine ways in which our relations with the natural world are formed through different cultural practices and to what extent are animals considered merely objects of our consumerist culture or are seen as subjects in the creation of new, conscious cultural practices.

Paper short abstract:

The paper looks at different attitudes towards the folklore tradition concerning the donkey. It analyses this narrative tradition through the prism of humans’ understanding of nature and their survival. It also explores the impact of the changing philosophy and literary stereotypes.

Paper long abstract:

While the horse was often extolled in literature, the donkey received somewhat less extravagant praise. It was characterised as stupid and stubborn. These stereotypes prevailed in fables and various animal tales, songs and other parts of the literary tradition, and often in everyday life as well. The principles of speciesism and anthropocentrism, which long held sway in science, are nowadays less frequent in modern research, which follows a non-speciesist and ecocentric philosophy. This is also reflected in current folkloristic and literary research. Some anthropologists have even concluded that instead of seeing the world from the perspective of one nature and many cultures, we now have to look from the perspective of many natures and one culture, and from the perspective of spiritual unity and bodily diversity.

The paper looks at different attitudes towards this through the prism of both humans' and animals' understanding of nature and survival. It also explores the impact of the changing philosophy and literary stereotypes. It compares various modern anthropological and folkloristic theories in this area within the Europe, and projects it particularly on Slovene folk narrative and folk song tradition.