The Podnitza – A Model of the World (Towards the Semantics of Artefacts and Labour Specialization in Peasant Communities of the Balkans)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60053/GSU.IF.1.86.227-278Keywords:
Pantyhose, Rural culture, Balkan ethnology, Symbolism of objects, Ritual production, Traditional laborAbstract
The clay utencil podnitsa ("chirepnya"), in which women of the Balkan Peninsula baked bread on the home hearth until the mid-20th century, also represents a concrete depiction of the world in the traditional worldview of the peasants of this region.
This study examines the rich semantics of the ritual of making the podnitsa, revealing the symbolism of the entire technological process and reconstructing its meaning: the creation of the world—the vessel as a matrimonial pair, where the podnitsa, that is, the earth, represents the female principle, while the vrashnik—the sky, represents the male principle. It is made by young girls and women once a year.
This ritual has preserved some elements of initiation rites for young women. The author presents the thesis that the creation of world models by humans is an archaic way of harmonizing the relationship between humans and the surrounding world, and that human labor protects individuals from threats when encountering mythical beings of this world.
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Copyright (c) 1993 Таня Бонева
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