This paper attempts to shed light on the image of Napoleon’s French forces that invaded and briefly conquered Slovene lands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as depicted in Slovene folklore. ...In some legends, we can recognize an echo of the historical reality of the time of French invasions and their rule. These portray the hardships of this foreign occupation, the exploitation of the population by the French and their cruelty and conflicts with them, yet some show a more favourable relationship or even depict humorous accounts (especially in relation with linguistic misunderstandings) with the French, while some aspects of their rule are completely ignored by folklore. In some cases, the French are narrated into stories that explain certain features of the physical environment of the community, and in some legends they are depicted as coming from the world beyond and are attributed supernatural traits. In some folklore examples, the interchangeability of different historical invaders is attested. We can generalize that the French are seen as “the Others” in Slovene folklore and have, as such, acquired different roles in folklore to serve diverse needs of the community in the sense of strengthening its own identity, rationalizing its physical landscape, and taking part in the beliefs about the supernatural and the world beyond.
This paper presents and compares the image of “the barbaric Turk” in the politicalideological discourses and the perception of “the Turk” as a dangerous, cosmos-disturbing Foreigner in Slovene ...folklore. The centuries-old concept of “the barbarian”, ideological propaganda and the archaic fear of the threatening Outsider in traditional culture all contributed in the process formation of a certain imagery of “the Turk”.
Not many processes grasp new technologies as fast as advertising. It has always been a synonym for new approaches, techniques, and unusual use of mass media for addressing the vastest audience ...possible. Folklore on the other hand, has for a long time been percieved as an unchangeable, stable, and traditional concept, often a complete opposite to mass media. Folklore as a science has undergone a large number of changes in the last few decades on a worldwide scale. Slovene folklore refused to address folklore phenomena which appear in mass media, i.e. advertising, because they were labeled as folklorism (fakelore) and as such, unworthy of scientific attention. Things have begun to change in the last couple of years and this paper will try to present the impact of media technologies upon society and some examples of the connectedness between advertising, folklore, and the community in Slovenia.
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