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The Journal of Ethnography 4/2003 is dedicated to the ethnographic photography. In his article Jiří Pátek focuses on the relationship between ethnographic photography and the history of photography in general (Photography, Ethnography, and Traditional Culture - Intersections and Inspirations). Daniel Luther writes about specific moments of the existence of ethnographically valuable photos and their authors in Slovakia (From the History of Ethnographic Photography in Slovakia; and about Czech-Slovak connections). Jarmila Procházková in her study explores activities of music composer Leoš Janáček and his original ideas concerning photo documentation in his research of folksongs and dances at the turn of the 20th century (Janacek's Effort to Make Photo Documentation within the Folksong in Austria Project). Barbora Gergelová introduces photographic collections from the Institute of Ethnology of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic (An Overview of the Documentary Photo Collection of the Institute of Ethnology of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic; a Profile of the Entertainment Fund of the Ethnographic Society of Czechoslovakia). The Photo column introduces 20th century photos of weddings in the region of Luhačovické Zalesí.
The Looking Back column commemorates the 95th anniversary of the Slovak Circle in Brno, and the 50th anniversary of the existence of the Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnography) journal. The Social Chronicle column is devoted to the anniversaries of two ethnographers, Miroslava Ludvíková (born 1923) and Jiřina Veselská (born 1943), choreographer Libuše Hynková (born 1923), and it also carries an obituary notice for music composer Emanuel Kuksa (1923-2003). Other regular columns of the journal deal with conferences, exhibitions, festivals, professional news (for instance about the preparation of Biografical Lexicon of European Ethnology) and book and CD reviews.
The Journal of Ethnography 3/2003 focuses on various associations and societies and their attitude towards folk culture. Karel Altman deals with the position of Czech associations in Moravia (Czech Associations in Moravia and Folk Culture); Eva Večerková uses the same issue and offers a specific answer (Folk Culture in the Activities of Young Republicans in Moravia as Reflected in the Period Press). Irena Štěpánová in her study writes about a Prague women's physical exercise association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Feminity in a Female Activity. The Origins of the Exercising Girls and Ladies Association). Lenka Nováková is interested in the late 19th century activities of the Vesna Society in Brno (The Vesna Society and its Ethnographic Activities). The final article on associations is by Karel Pavlištík. He writes about social functions of the volunteer fire-fighting squads in the traditional rural environment at the end of the 19th and during the 20th centuries (The Volunteer
Fire-Fighting Squad as an Important Phenomenon in the Community Social Life Formation and in the Transformation of Customs and Traditions in Zlínsko.
The Looking Back column includes articles by Alena Schauerová (An Ethnographical Backward Look at the Double Anniversary of Teréza Nováková) and Michaela Benešová (On the 50th Anniverary of the Establishing of the Pilsen National Ensemble). The Social Chronicle column remembers the anniversaries of Ladislav Vašek (born 1928), dancer and dance pedagogue, and Anna Maděričová (born 1943), folklore movement personality. Other regular columns deal with conference and exhibition news, foreign travel reports, concert, festival and book reviews. The Istanbul Deklaration is repriented in the final pages of the journal. The declaration concerns the non-material cultural heritage and was agreed on by the UNESCO countries ministers of culture in 2002.
The Journal of Ethnography 2/2003 focuses on issues of dance anthropology. The introductory essay is written by Daniela Stavělová (How They Dance in Bohemia Today. Some Questions of Dance Anthropology). Klára Davidová deals with the dance scene, which is a phenomenon of urban dance parties of the last decade. It has developed into a certain subculture with its own fashion, digitally made music, magazines, mass-media programmes and shows, and the style of experience including the drug use, etc. (A Ritual Party of the Postmodernist Period). The next two studies focus on specific dance manifestations which were made popular with the help of various workshops especially in bigger Czech cities over the few past years. Zdeňka Lammelová offers an insight into the belly dance (The Czech Orient. The Belly Dance: A Way How to be a Woman). Veronika Švábová deals with the African dance (In the Sign of Drums. The African Dance in Africa and in the Czech Lands).
The Photo column presents masks from a dance game performed around a dead body. The pictures were taken by Amálie Kožmínová (1876-1951), teacher and writer in Carpathian Ruthenia in 1922. The Transforming Tradition column includes an article The Tinker's Trade Metamorphosis by Daniel Drápala: it deals with the present and history of the tinker's trade. Social Chronicle introduces the life anniversaries of Emanuel Kuksa (born 1923), composer; Dušan Holý (1933), ethnomusicologist; Jiří Tesauer (1933), folk song collector and hammer cimbalom player; and Míla Brtník (1928), the artistic leader of the Vysočan folklore ensemble from Jihlava.
The obituary commemorates the life and work of photographer Jan Beran (1913-2003). Other regular columns bring news from competitions, exhibitions, and conferences; there are book and CD reviews as well. In the supplement, an extract from the official document called Culture Politics in the Czech Republic is published. The issue is completed with the list of books and magazines which the Institute of Folk Culture in Strážnice gained through an international exchange system.
The Journal of Ethnography 1/2003 deals most of its part with the issue of ethnic minorities. Václav Štěpánek provides a picture of a Czech minority, which in the 1820s settled in southern Banat, the most eastern part of the Austrian army border of that period (The Vanishing Minority. The History and Present of the Czechs in the Serbian Banat). Daniel Luther in his article focuses on the inter-ethnic relations in Bratislava after the establishing of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. (The Czechs and the Origins of the Ethnic Transformation of Bratislava. A Historical Ethnological Excursus). Martin Šimša finds interesting themes in the history of economic life of the Jews in the Vsetín region (Economic Activities of the Jews in the Vsetín Region). Peter Salner deals with issues of Judaism as well (The Present Forms of Judaism. An Example of Resurrection of a Jewish Cemetery). The last two studies on ethnic minorities are written by Jan Oriško, who supplied an article on an ethnographic group of so-called Moravci in Silesia (Silesian Moravci. A Less Visible Ethnographic Group of the Czech-Polish Border Area), and by Petr Kaleta respectively, with an article on cultural and scholarly activities of Lusatian Sorbs (The Lusatian Sorbs and their Cultural and Scholarly Activities).
The Transformation Tradition column offers notes from a vacation stay at the Czech minority in Romanian Banat (by A. Dunajová), and notes from a research of the present-day Easter (by J. Blahůšek and P. Šindelář). Social Chronicle remembers anniversaries of two outstanding female representatives of contemporary folklorism: organizer, narrator, and painter of decorated Easter eggs Marie Pachtová (born 1932), and folksinger Vlasta Grycová (born 1943). Obituaries are looking back to the life and activities of teacher, collector and folk song arranger Zdeněk Kašpar (1925-2002), and the life and work of musicologist Jiří Fukač (1936-2002).
Other regular columns bring conference and exhibition news, information on professional activities, and reviews of new books.
The Journal of Ethnography 4/2002 deals with broad questions of folklore, specially oral folklore. Marta Šrámková in her article defines urban narrative and its position within oral folklore (Urban Narrative A Special Kind of Narration). Jolana Darulová and Katarína Koštialová focus on marriage announcements and congratulation wires. They perceive them as a new phenomenon, which has replaced an oral custom of personal invitations to wedding ceremonies and receptions (,,We Are Happy To Announce....", or, On Modern Wedding Traditions). Dagmar Klímová used her own experience to comment on reflection of language education as it is found in oral expression of certain groups of people (A Different View on Oral Tradition, or, How Little Johnny Learnt Latin). Juraj Hamar shows basic historical issues of the Slovak puppet theatre (Punch Has Been Still Living. On Traditional Puppet Theatre In Slovakia).
The photography supplement goes back to the late 19th century: it introduces pictures of the little queen girl's dance as performed by participants in Vesna Club in Brno. The Transformation Tradition column offers articles on bagpipe bands in the region of Chodsko after WWII (by Vladimír Baier), and on blueprint forms of Ivanovice na Hané (by Jarmila Pechová). Social Chronicle remembers anniversaries of Luděk Štepán (b. 1932), researcher of folk architecture; Eva Davidová (b. 1932), ethnologist and Romanist; and Václav Maňas (b. 1942), bandleader of a brass band. Other regular columns offer news from folklore festivals, academic activities, and book and CD reviews.
The Journal of Ethnography 3/2002 opens a theme, which focuses on some manifestations of present day beliefs. In her research, Tatjana Bužeková explored some superstitious ideas in western and central Slovakia; she was especially interested in people who use magical means with the aim to harm other people (Neighbours Witches). Zdeňka Machálková deals with cartomancy and fortune-tellers (Cartomancy As A Phenomenon of Contemporary Spiritual Culture). Zuzana Galiová introduces observations gained in the surroundings of Žilina and Zvolen in Slovakia during a students' research (Supernatural Creatures And How They Are Perceived Nowadays: Some Aspects). Hana Dvořáková devotes her research to the questions concerning the Romani people and their spiritual life (Romani Pilgrimages As One Form of Taking Part In The Official Religious Cult). The picture supplement of this issue of the journal deals with pilgrimages as well; Jaroslav Pulicar took his pictures in the late 1990s.
The Looking Back column offers an article called Tracing The Jewish Heritage In Galicia (Petr Kaleta). The Social Chronicle column writes about the verbunk dancer Miloslav Janulík (1921-1991), and notes the anniversaries of other important personalities of the Czech and Moravian folklorism: dancer, musician and singer Jiří Pospíšil (born 1927); dancer and folklore movement organizer Jan Miroslav Krist (born 1932); and director and musician Vaclav Bárta (born 1937). Other regular columns focus on exhibitions, festival news, and new books and CD reviews.
The Journal of Ethnography 2/2002 opens an issue of children and teenagers. In her study, Jana Pospíšilová writes about what contemporary research on children has so far neglected, the labour and duties (The Child and Labour). Dana Bittnerová deals with children's games from the point of view of function in communication of children (Tendencies in the Development of Children's Games Repertoire. An Example of Social Stratification of Games of 10- and 11-year-old Children). Zuzana Palubová tries to capture some moments of the world of Romani children (Moments: From the Life of Young Romani in Čakajovce). Juraj Hamar focuses on the role of children's folklore ensembles in education (/Cultural/ Heritage Tax Dodgers).
The Transforming Tradition column brings specific contributions to the history of folklore movement in the articles On Work in Children's Folklore Ensemble (K. Pavlištík), The Singing Competition ,,Sing Out, Little Nightingale" (A. Maděričová), and How the Festival Is Born (R. Habartová). An article called The Summer Holiday of 1914 (M. Ulrychová) presents four letters of a 15-year-old boy from the early days of WWI.
The Social Chronicle column mentions four anniversaries: the museum worker and ethnographer Josef Beneš (born 1917), musician Jaromír Štrunc (born 1932), musician Vladimir Baier (born 1932), and ethnographer Věra Kovářů (born 1932). It also brings an obituary of choreographer Vera Svobodová (1928-2002). Other regular columns deal with conferences, exhibitions, concerts, festivals, books, and CDs.
The Journal of Ethnography 1/2002 focuses on ethnographic division of Moravia and Silesia into sectors, completing thus a several-year-series of articles on this topic. Richard Jeřábek deals with ethnographic regions and ethnic and cultural boundaries of the Czech, Polish, and German groups in the regions of Lašsko, Kravařsko, and Hřebečsko. In his article, Karel Severin follows in details the historical roots of Hřebečsko region and its formation, focusing especially on German sources and literature of this region, in other contributions to the theme, Miroslav Válka pays attention to a report on the 16th century western Moravia inhabitants, the Horáci; and Alena Jeřábková shows a specific part of a female costume from Hrebecsko, a wedding pelerine, as a relict of a Renaissance costume. The Transformation Tradition column brings an article by Alena Křížová on a popularized jewel from the region of Loket, and an article by Vladimir J. Horák on the spring and new-year custom cycle of the Czech and German ethnic groups of the regions of Hana and Nizký Jeseník.
The Social Chronicle column deals with two personal anniversaries: the birthday of a radio editor and manager Jaromír Nečas (born 1922), and the birthday of a musicologist and composer Miloš Štědron (born 1942). The column also notifies the folklore ensemble Šumava from Klatovy and the 45th anniversary of its founding. Other regular columns focus on the news from exhibitions, film shows, and concerts; on book and CD reviews, on glosses, and disputes.
The Journal of Ethnography 4/2001 focuses on one theme, the selected issues of ethnology as related toward environmentalism. In his article, Bohuslav Beneš tries to outline basic features of rural tourism (Rural tourism, agro-tourism, agro-folklorism, and folk tradition; Some thoughts on what used to be and what is going to be.). Alexandra Bitušíková deals with tourism in relation toward local cultures and mutual links with global trends. (On local cultures in a global village). Miroslav Válka brings specific examples of the changes in rural life in the Czech lands, which are part of the effort to preserve local culture (Contemporary countryside and its way toward cultural identity). Gero Fischer thinks about possibilities of agro-tourism in the Czech locations in Romania (Some thoughts on agro-tourism. Is there a chance for the Czech villages in the Romanian Banat?).
The Transformation Tradition column brings materials concerning a newly born social-cultural opportunity to mow meadows in Buchlovice, south Moravia, and focuses on haymaking in the White Carpathian Mountains (an actual agro-tourism) as well. There is also the final part of the article on a new tradition of making moonshine in the column. The Social Chronicle column is devoted to several anniversaries, of the Slovak musicologist and ethnomusicologist Oskar Elschek (born 1931), ethnologist Miloš Melzer (born 1941), and ethnologist Iva Heroldová (born 1926). It also brings the obituary of the musician Václav Kupilík (1946-2001) from the folklore movement region of Chodsko. The newsletter offers conference and festival news, book reviews, and a selected bibliography of the Czech books with ethnography topics published in 1999 as well.
The main focus of the Journal of Ethnography 3/2001 are social groups. Jolana Darulová presents her research of small teenage urban groups (Social Groups in the Urban Environment: Based on Research of Youth in Banská Bystrica). Karel Altman provides an outline of a history of a marginal social group - beggars (Beggars as an Subject of Ethnographical Research). In her theoretical article, Eva Krekovičová explains stereotypes in the formation of ethnic groups and the nation (Hetero-stereotypes and the Political Elite: Based on a Slovak Example). Jana Pešicová focuses on squatting (illegal accommodation in unused buildings) in her article called The Squat: Does This Alternative Work? Jana Poláková did ethnological research on Brno municipal transport drivers, especially tram drivers (Do You Know Who is “šalinář"?).
The Transformation Tradition column brings materials about folk crafts people as a group of tradition bearers (written by Josef Jančář), and a study on economic associations and their role in the birth of new tradition in the production of moonshine (written by Martin Šimša). The Looking Back column remembers Wallachian writer and artist Jan Kobzáň, 1901-1959 (by Richard Jeřábek). The Social Chronicle commemorates the anniversary of ethnographer Josef Jančář (born 1931) and the death of musicologist Miroslav Malura (1937-2000). The Discussion column turns its attention to the TV program ETNO 2000. In the journal there is news from festivals and folklore shows, as well as book reviews.
