In the article, representations of Ljubljana in Slovenian feature films made during the period of accelerated modernisation from the end of WWII to 1969 are analysed. Semiological analysis shows that ...Ljubljana is in these films constructed in a rather diverse yet not entirely arbitrary manner, as in all cases various signifiers of modernisation are presented in negative contexts. In films, where signs of modernisation are largely absent, Ljubljana appears as pleasant and beautiful city, whereas in films, where signs of modernisation are present, Ljubljana is presented as neurotic and alienated city. These representations could be explained by the relatively low status of urbanity in Slovenian culture.
Kljub temu, da slovenska narodnozabavna glasba velja za enega najpomembnejših označevalcev tradicije, gre za razmeroma sodoben žanr, ki je močno povezan z različnimi procesi družbene in kulturne ...modernizacije. Avtor v besedilu predstavi razvoj slovenske narodnozabavne glasbe ter njegove povezave z različnimi kulturnimi, političnimi in navsezadnje medijskimi konteksti, pri čemer ugotavlja, da se ta žanr v zadnjih desetletjih vedno bolj odločno spogleduje z različnimi glasbenimi in vsebinskimi značilnostmi angloameriškega popa.
Avtor v prispevku izpelje semiološko analizo spletnih aktivnosti šestih najbolj priljubljenih zasedb v sodobni slovenski narodnozabavni glasbi, da bi ugotovil, kako uporabljajo družbena omrežja. ...Rezultati kažejo, da so glasbene skupine na družbenih omrežjih prisotne na različne načine: zasedbe, ki se približujejo konvencijam pop glasbe, so zelo aktivne, medtem ko so tiste, ki ostajajo bližje konvencijam klasične narodnozabavne glasbe, na družbenih omrežjih zadržane. Kljub vsem razlikam pa analizirane zasedbe na družbenih omrežjih povezujeta dva vsebinska poudarka: ljudskost in žur. Zdi se torej, da je sodobna narodnozabavna glasba še vedno močno zavezana eni od osrednjih tradicionalističnih vrednot, skupnosti, le da je sedaj očitno pomembno, da se ta skupnost zabava.
Slovenian folk pop is one of the most under-researched music genres in Slovenia. To learn more about it, we conducted research about the demographics of those who listen to it. The results show that ...this genre is popular principally among older, less-educated, religious, politically right-leaning people in the countryside, while it is also listened to by other segments of society, albeit to a smaller degree. We also found that there is no significant correlation between listening to folk pop and economic class and gender. This suggests that Slovenian society is stratified into various cultural formations, primarily with respect to education, religiosity, age, political affiliations and place of residence rather than economic class.
The city of Ljubljana is one of the most recurring Slovenian film locations. It would be interesting to find out, therefore, precisely how it is presented in Slovenian films. This article is based on ...a semiological analysis of all Slovenian feature-length movies shot during the quick modernisation period of the country of Yugoslavia (and its Socialist Republic of Slovenia), beginning after the Second World War and ending in the late 60s, which are mostly set in Ljubljana. The results suggest that Slovenian filmmakers at that time were not comfortable with the processes of modernisation and urbanisation of the city. This point could be discerned from two opposing yet interrelated representations of the city in the analysed sample. In the films in which the distinct signs of modernisation are largely absent, Ljubljana is presented as a pleasant or even beautiful city, while in the films in which the signs of modernisation are present, Ljubljana is shown as a neurotic and alienated place. Such representations could be explained by relatively low status of urbanity in the Slovenian culture.
The article analyses images of smoking in contemporary TV series. The aim is to discern a variety of connotations these images evoke in relation to the question of smoking initiation. The research is ...based on semiological analysis of the 10 most popular TV series in April 2015 according to the IMDb meter. The results show that smoking is presented in the analysed series in very diverse ways. In general, it appears the main factor determining the portrayal of smoking is the targeted audience. While smoking is predominantly absent or marked as something bad in series aimed at younger audiences, it is included or even glamourised in series aimed at mature audiences.
One of the basic questions in cultural heritage studies is the relationship between accepted definitions of national cultural heritage and social power. In the case of Slovene popular music heritage, ...however, things are more complicated. Namely, the whole field is poorly organised, which means that the most influential work on Slovenian popular music heritage is not done by the institutions that are at least nominally in charge of this segment of the country's cultural heritage, but by different popular music enthusiasts - i.e. the ones that are, for the most part, not related to established positions of power in society. Yet, this does not mean that the work of these enthusiasts is not important. After all, in the context of the lack of institutionalised contributions, it alone defines what Slovenian popular music heritage is. To determine what kind of picture of Slovenian popular music heritage this work portrays, its most important segments (all monographs, expert and scholarly articles, schoolbooks, and film and television documentaries that address aspects of Slovene popular music) are analysed. Results show that the publications cover mainly urban and alternative music genres. While this is interesting, there is at least one problematic side effect in this respect - namely that in this way, the music enjoyed by the majority of Slovenians is almost completely left out of the analytical focus. This means that not only is the picture of Slovenian popular music emerging from these accounts rather biased, but also that many problematic elements of this music are also left out of critical analysis.
The history of Slovenian popular music is one of the most under-researched areas of Slovenian cultural heritage. It can be argued, therefore, that no definitions of Slovenian popular music would have ...been established had extensive research not been carried out by different scholars and experts, functioning in this respect as a kind of substitute for official work. The question here is simply what kind of understanding of Slovenian popular music emerges in this more or less spontaneous and unofficial research. The author analyses the content of all Slovenian scientific and expert monographs, scientific and expert articles, film and TV documentaries as well as school textbooks, at least some segments of which address Slovenian popular music, and argues that these accounts are significantly biased: for the most part, they focus only on different marginal music genres while the majority of other music genres, including all those that are the most popular among Slovenians, are neglected.
V Sloveniji živi pomembna etnična manjšina imigrantov, ki se je v preteklih desetletjih priselila iz drugih republik nekdanje Jugoslavije. V kvalitativno zastavljeni raziskavi avtorja iščeta ...morebitne spremembe njihovih prehranjevalnih vzorcev v Sloveniji, pri tem pa ju zlasti zanimajo interpretativni okviri, s katerimi (si) imigranti pojasnjujejo morebitne spremembe prehranjevanja. Raziskava ugotavlja visoko stopnjo pragmatizma v odnosu do prehranjevanja, fatalizem nasproti spremembam in omejitvam, odsotnost nacionalističnih prvin v utemeljitvah kulinaričnih izbir in veliko mero strpnosti do vseh oblik morebitnih kulinaričnih drugačnosti.
Cultural studies are nowadays one of the most important academic fields that deal with culture. One research institution that contributed most to introducing cultural studies to Slovenia is Center za ...preucevanje culture in religije (the Centre for Cultural and Religious Studies) at Fakulteta za druzbene vede (the Faculty of Social Sciences), University of Ljubljana. The work of this centre is presented in the article. The most important achievements of its researchers include the continuous research of youth subcultures, popular music, memories, soccer, nostalgia, eating practices, films, happiness and graffiti. The relatively small group of researchers has in this context achieved a lot, especially by way of connecting these topics to the analysis of various symbolic connections between Slovenia, the Balkans and Europe. However, this does not mean there are no research topics still waiting to be tackled by the team. Among them are different aspects of sexual identities and new technologies in relation to new ways of spending free time.
