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Journal of Ethnography 4/2004 addresses the issues of food in traditional folk environment. In her article written in the Slovak language, Rastislava Stoličná provides a general introduction to this cultural phenomenon and its study (Methods and Objectives of Ethnological Research of the Art of Cooking and its Traditions in Slovakia). Marta Toncrová focuses on food from the point of view of a folklorist (Food in Folk Songs). Josef Oriško shares with readers his large experience from the Asian republic of Georgia (The Georgian Table; Some Comments on Culture of the Georgians). Karel Altman looks in detail at the history of inns, pubs, and food (Eaters and Gourmands in Inns). Ilona Vojancová presents the menu of a traditional rural environment (Everyday Food in the Region of Hlinecko).
The picture supplement extends the main theme of the journal and includes photos from the archives of the Institute of Ethnography of the Moravian Regional Museum. Josef Holcman is the author of an article Strážnice 2005: Old Journeys–New Possibilities in Transforming Tradition column. Social Chronicle carries an obituary notice on musicologist Pavel Kurfürst (1940-2004), and culture worker Stanislav Pěnčík (1939-2004). Other regular columns bring conference news, reports from ethnographical feasts and festivals, and book and magazine reviews. In the appendix there is a full text of the international convention on preserving non-material cultural heritage.
Journal of Ethnography 3/2004 focuses on seasonal feasts. Miroslav Válka in his article sums up general information available on this folk custom, and depicts its present state in selected sites of western Moravia. (On the Present State of Seasonal Feasts in Western Moravia). Irena Rogožanová writes about the form of present day feasts in the suburbs of Brno (Seasonal Feasts in Brno-Bystrc: a Tradition Renewed). The Kyjovsko region of southern Moravia was the subject of a field research by Martin Šimša (his article is called The Feasts in Sobůlky), and Eva Abramuszkinová Pavlíková (her article is The Emperor’s Feast in Věteřov and its 20th Century Transformation). The picture supplement, Photographic Stopping, introduces the feast photos by Vlastimil Žíla (1943-1980). Transforming Tradition column opens with personal observations of Josef Holcman on seasonal feasts in Skoronice, and continues with an article by Petr Kaleta devoted to the scholarly work of Slavist Adolf Černý on the Lusatian Sorbs.
Social Chronicle reminds of the life anniversaries of ethnographer Ludvík Kunz (born 1914), and ethnographer Eva Urbachová (born 1923); and it also carries an obituary notice for dancer Zdeněk Šimeček (1945-2003). Other regular colums contain conference news, exhibition and festival news, book reviews, as well as the list of 2003 international acquisitions in the book foundation of the NÚLK (The National Institute of Folk Culture) in Strážnice.
The Journal of Ethnography 2/2004 focuses on local activities in the development of rural environment. Andrea Zobačová has gathered information concerning regional monographs, and she comments on their social importance (Regional Monographs as the Expression of Self Identity Yesterday and Today). Oľga Danglová introduces one of the newly established micro regions in the Slovak district of Topoľčany (A Regional Union and its Place in the Development of the Countryside: An Example from the Topoľčany Region). In her article, Natália Veselská works with the results of the field research of the Slovak countryside (An Importance of the Authority in the Process of the Transformation of a Local Rural Community). Václav Štěpánek focuses on the development of the populated landscape (Landscape and the Reconstruction of the Countryside).
Under the heading of the Transforming Tradition column, you will find articles by Jarmila Pechová (Payments at the Blacksmith' in the Turn of the 20th century), and Kateřina Plochová and Zdeněk Uherek (A Survey of the Visitors of the Horňácké slavnosti Highland Festival). The Social Chronicle focuses on two anniversaries: the ethnologist Zdenko Hanzl (born 1944), and ethnologist Běla Minaříková (born 1944). There are also two obituaries there: the collector and choreographer Věra Šejvlová (1919-2004), and musician and dancer Jiří Pospíšil (1927-2004). Other regular columns inform about exhibitions, festivals, concerts, new books and CDs. In the final pages of the journal you will find the results of the Czech Ethnographic Society questionnaire concerning the 2003 Most Important Event.
The Journal of Ethnography 1/2004 focuses on ethnographic films, or, ethnographic visual recordings. Hana Dvořáková in her article illustrates the beginnings of ethnographic films via the personality of ethnographer František Pospíšil (1885-1958), who established, among others, the photography and film collections in the Moravian Regional Museum in Brno („František Pospíšil and the Beginnings of Ethnographic Films: Some Unknown Facts“). Daniel Luther provides a comprehensive view on the same issue in Slovakia („Ethnography in Slovak Documentary Film. In the Memory of Film Director and Ethnographer Martin Slivka /1929-2002/“). Jana Tichá depicts a relationship between an ethnographic documentary and its creator, film amateur; she focuses on a specific creator of the second half of the 20th century. („A Film Amateur in the Field of Ethnography: František Potočný“). Two authors discuss the theory and practical use of video in ethnography. They are Jiřina Kosíková („An Ethnologist and Camera: Video Recording as one of the Methods and Techniques of a Field Research“), and Miroslav Válka („A Video Documentary of the Present Day Village in the Institute of European Ethnography of Masaryk University in Brno“). Ilona Vojancová put together a survey of the 1980s film documentaries prepared by the workers of an open-air museum in Hlinsko („A Film Documentation in the Collection of Folk Architecture in the Highlands“). Magdalena Petříková in her article brings an annotated list of video documents of the production of another professional institution in the Czech Republic („A Video Encyclopedia of the National Institution of Folk Culture in Strážnice“).
The Transforming Tradition column includes an article by Vladimír J. Horák „Easter Ceremonial Noise in the Czech and German Ethnic Groups in the Regions of Haná and Nízký Jeseník“. Social Chronicle remembers the anniversaries of several personalities: the collector, organizer, and musician Josef Režný (born 1924); painter and graphic designer Josef Kiesewetter (born 1934); ethnologist Naďa Valášková (born 1944); ethnologist Soňa Švecové (born 1929), and ethnologist Alena Jeřábková (born 1934). In the Looking Back column, Václav Štěpánek focuses on the history of various associations within the Slovak folklore movement in Brno („95 Years of the Slovak Circle in Brno“). Other regular columns deal with the news from exhibitions and festivals, as well as book reviews, and other professional information.
