The social and political instrumentalisation of vampire representations in the Balkans : adaptability of an immortal motif

U disertaciji se, iz antropološke perspektive, istraţuje forma, sadrţaj i status predstava o vampiru u narodnoj, pre svega kulturnoj, baštini seljaštva danas. Konceptu „vampira“, jednom od simbola društvene i kulturne stvarnosti zajednice, pristupilo se ne kao pasivnom i petrifikovanom, već kao konceptu u velikoj meri uslovljenom kako lokalnim, unutrašnjim, tako i spoljnim, globalnim faktorima. Komparacija stare i nove etnografske graĊe ukazala je na promene forme, odnosno sadrţaja motiva, što je nametnulo pitanje uzroka koji su doveli do promena, krunjenja ili nestajanja motiva kao elementa demonoloških predanja. Na osnovu prezentovane graĊe i analize zakljuĉeno je da je motiv u tradicijskom kontekstu figurirao kao odgovor na društvene probleme i potrebe, odnosno predstavljao refleksiju socijalne i kulturne stvarnosti. Koncept „vampira“ u tom smislu figurira kao „plutajući oznaĉitelj“, motiv kroz koji zajednica, grupa ili pojedinac govore o društvenim problemima, tenzijama ili potrebama u specifiĉnom kontekstu. Iako na kolektivnom nivou predstavlja reprezentaciju aberacije, odnosno inverzije društvene norme, „vampire“ je u svetu seoske zajednice imao raznorodne uloge koje su reprodukovale moć zajednice, ali i otelotvoravale otpor, odnosno pregovaranje, kojim su prevazilaţene društvene stege. Specifiĉnost motiva bio je, dakle, njegov suţivot sa razliĉitim slojevima društva koji kroz društvenu upotrebu tog motiva meĊusobno komunicirali. Sa druge strane, ovaj motiv kao simbol sela kao „sveta za sebe“, drţave unutar drţave ili crkve van okvira svetonazora Srpske pravoslavne Crkve, vekovima je i pored integrativne uloge na lokalnom nivou, bio interpretiran (od spolja) kao vid simboliĉkog otpora centralizaciji i modernizaciji drţave. Vekovima su verovanja i prakse vezane za „vampire“ bili kritikovani ili kaţnjavani od strane profane i sakralne vlasti. Ipak, istorijski periodi u kojima je Srbija bila okupirana ili crkva marginalizovana, doprineli su jaĉanju tradicijskih institucija poput “vampira” kroz koje su zajednice regulisale društveni poredak. Ono što je zapoĉeto srednjovekovim zabranama, nakon osloboĊenja i konsolidacije Srbije devetnaestog veka, nastavljeno je kroz primenu kulturnih politika ĉiji je cilj bila modernizacija društva iznutra ali i redefinisanje nacionalnog identiteta ka spolja. Ovakav pristup poĉivao je na principu „znaĉajnog drugog“. U sluĉaju drţave Srbije „znaĉajni drugi“ bila su zapadna društva, dok su u oĉima seoskih zajednica to bile elite koje su potencirale urbanu i modernu kulturu na uštrb baštine balkanskog seljaštva. „Vampir“, kao ţivi element seoske svakodnevice, na nivou drţave predstavljao je neţeljeni artefakt prošlih vekova, sliku neprosvećenosti naroda, te zaostalosti drţave, što je samo ojaĉavalo balkanistiĉke stereotipe Zapada o inferiornosti balkanskih društava. „Vampir“ kao simbol „balkanske drugosti“, bilo da se radi o motivu seoskog folklora ili zapadne popularne kulture, postaje element kulturne intimnosti sela i Srbije. Od sredine 19. veka, a posebno od druge polovine 20. veka, u Srbiji dolazi do društvene i politiĉke upotrebe motiva koji dobija novo, moderno, urbano ruho. Gubeći predznak seoske kulture, demonsko se zamenjuje ljudskim, a stvarnost fantastiĉnim. U periodu nakon Drugog svetskog rata kulturna politika, kao i u sluĉaju preĊašnje drţave, nastoji da zameni tradicijske modernim institucijama, kao i da marginalizuje baštinu koja se nije uklapala u koncept komunistiĉke filozofije ili socijalistiĉkog društva. Urbano, obrazovano i moderno postaju ideali, a koncept „vampira“ kao vid „seoske autonomije“ i kulturne stvarnosti nasuprot modelu zapadne fantastike ostaje jednako kulturno intiman, istovremeno odraţavajući opozicije izmeĊu urbanog i ruralnog, modernog i zaostalog ali i racionalnog i iracionalnog. Ĉak i nakon raspada Jugoslavije te retradicionalizacije društva, „vampir“ popularne kulture predstavlja opštepoznati simbol urbane kulture, a folklorni „vampir“ traumatiĉno nasleĊe ruralne balkanske prošlosti. Forma, sadrţaj i doţivljaj ovog elementa lokalne baštine ostaje intiman unutar seoskih zajednica u ĉijoj kulturnoj stvarnosti i dalje „ţivi“. Na osnovu terenskih iskustava, ali i analize medija, opozicija javno : privatno posebno se istiĉe na primeru „vampira“ kao elementa seoske baštine, bez obzira na to da li se ona otkriva antropologu sagovorniku ili kroz upotrebu motiva kao elementa turistiĉke ponude. „Grad“, „drţava“, „modernо“ ili „racionalno“ predstavljaju opozicije nasuprot kojih „vampir“ u javnoj upotrebi danas predstavlja taĉku razdvajanja dva dela društva - narodne i elitne odnosno pseudozapadne kulture, te identiteta drţave (i nacije) rastrzane izmeĊu „balkanske prošlosti“ i „evropske (budućnosti) Srbije“. Budući da je jedna pozicija u oĉima „znaĉajnog drugog“ valorizovana, dok je druga traumatiĉna i marginalizovana, moţe se govoriti o dominaciji jednog nad drugim motivom kao kulturno politiĉkim simbolom. Dva motiva, pozapadnjaĉeni i tradicijski i pored vrlo sliĉne logike upotrebe motiva, ostaju opozitni u svojoj ontološkoj poziciji kao simboli dve kulture, vremena i stvarnosti. Cilj ovog rada bio je razumevanje “prirode” motiva kako bi se razumela njegova „besmrtnost“ u svetu koji se sve brţe menja, menjajući stvarnost sela ĉije je imaginacije „vampir“ deo. Osnovna premisa o glokalizacijskim faktorima kao preduslovu društvene i politiĉke upotrebe motiva ispostavila se taĉnom. Pitanje „besmrtnosti“ motiva, sa druge strane, pokazalo se kompleksnim. „Besmrtnost vampirа“ u kulturi seljaštva ĉini se posledicom istorijskih, socijalnih i politiĉkih faktora, ali i mogućnošću motiva da se menja i prilagoĊava društvenim potrebama paradoksalno figurirajući kao konstanta tradicije i „stvarnosti“ zajednice. U Srbiji, zemlji na sporom putu tranzicije u evropsko i moderno društvo, brojne seoske zajednice danas su marginalizovane. Selo ĉesto figurira kao kognitivni i socijalni centar sa kojim se ĉlanovi identifikuju na vertikalnom (generacijskom) i horizontalnom nivou (na nivou zajednice), sa posebnim akcentom na društvenoj i politiĉkoj upotrebi tradicije kao faktora odvajanja od globalnog i identifikacije sa lokalnim. „Vampir“ kao vid intimne tradicije u ovim selima (i danas) ima integrišuću društvenu ulogu, kao element nasleĊa oko kog ĉlanovi zajednica afirmišu kulturnu stvarnost i identitet. Upravo moć promene i primene, prilagoĊavanja motiva društvenom kontekstu upotrebe, ali u isto vreme i suštinska postojanost, „vampira“ ĉine „ţivim“ aspektom baštine i kulturne stvarnosti brojnh seoskih zajednica danasThe dissertation explores the form, content and status of representations of the vampire in folk, foremost in cultural, rural heritage today from an anthropological perspective. The concept of the “vampire”, as one of the symbols of social and cultural community reality, was not approached as passive and petrified, but instead as a concept greatly influenced by local, inner, as well as external and global factors. Comparisons of old and new ethnographic material pointed out changes in the form and content respectively, which posed the question which influences led to the changes, fragmentation or disappearance of the motives as elements of demonological tradition. Based on the presented material and analysis we have concluded that the motive functioned as a response to social problems and needs in the traditional context, or that in other words it represented a reflection of social and cultural reality. The concept of the “vampire” in this sense functions as a “floating signifier”, a motiv through which the community, group or individual speak of social problems, tensions or needs within a specific context. Although it representsa an aberration, that is to say an inversion of the social norm on a collective level, the “vampire” had various roles which reproduced the power of the community, but also embodied resistance and negotiation used to overcome social bounds. within the world of the village community. The motive‟s specificity was therefore its cohabitation with different layers of society which communicated with each other through its use. On the other hand, this motive was, as a symbol of the “world for itself”, of a state within the state, or a church outside the worldview of the Serbian Orthodox church, for centuries interpreted, as a kind of symbolic resistance to the centralization and modernization of the state, besides its local integrative role. Vampire related beliefs and practices had been criticized or punished by profane and sacral rule for centuries. However, historical periods during which Serbia was occupied, or the church marginalized attributed to the strengthening of traditional institutions such as the “vampire” which communities used to regulate the social order. Initiated by medieval prohibitions, it was continued after the liberation and consolidation of Serbia during the 19th century, through the application of cultural policies whose goal was the internal modernization of society, but also the external redefining of the national identity. Such an approach was based on the principle of the “significant other”. In the case of Serbia, the “significant others” were western societies, yet in the eyes of village communities it was the elites, who emphasized urban and modern culture at the expense of Balkan peasant heritage. The “vampire”, as a living element of village everyday life represented an u unwanted artifact of previous centuries at a state level, an image of the people‟s ignorance, of the country‟s backwardness, which only strengthened western balkanistic stereotyps of the inferiority of Balkan societies. The “vampire” as a symbol of balkanic “otherness”, whether as a motive of village folklore or western popular culture, becomes an element of cultural intimacy for the village and Serbia. From the middle of the 19th century, and especially the second half of the 20th century, Serbia adopts the usage of the motive which gains a new, modern, urban outfit. Losing the prefix of village culture, the demonic is replaced with the human, and reality with the fantastic. In the period following World War II, cultural policy, as was the case with the previous state, tends to replace traditional institutions with modern ones, as well a marginalizing heritage which did not conform with the concept of communist philosophy or socialist society. The urban, the educated and the modern become ideals, and the concept of the “vampire” as a form of “village autonomy” and cultural reality as opposed to the model of western fantasy, stays equally culturally intimate, simultaneously reflecting the oppositions between the urban and rural, modern and backwater, but also between the rational and irrational. Even after the breakdown of Yugoslavia and the retraditionalization of society, the “vampire” of popular culture represents a well known symbol of urban culture, while the “vampire” of folklore remains a traumatic heritage of the rural Balkan past. The form, contents and experience of this element of local heritage remains intimate within village communities in whose cultural reality it remains “living”. Based on field experiences, but also media analysis, the opposition public : private stands out especially on the example of the “vampire” as an element of village heritage, no matter whether it is revealed to the anthropologist as interlocutor, or through the use of motives as elements of touristic offering. The “city”, the “state”, “modern” or “rational” represent oppositions against which the “vampire” in public usage today represents the point of separation between two parts of society – the folk and the elite, or pseudo western culture, or the identity of the state (and nation) torn between a “Balkan past” and a “European (future of) Serbia”. Since one position in the eyes of the “significant other” was valorized, while the other was traumatized and marginalized, the domination of one motive over the other as a cultural political symbol can be asserted. Two motives, the westernized and the traditional, although havinga very similar logic of motive usage, remain opposite in their ontological position as symbols of two cultures, times and realities. The goal of this study was the understanding of the “nature” of the motive so as to understand its “immortality” in an everchanging world which changes the reality of the village, and the “vampire” as part of its imagination. The basic premise of globalizing factors as precondition to the social and political use of the motive turned out to be correct. The question of the “immortality” of the motive, on the other hand, showed to be more complex. “Immortality of the vampire” in village culture seems to be the consequence of historical, social and political factors, as well as the possibility of the motive to change and adapt to social needs, paradoxically functions as a constant of tradition and community “reality”. In Serbia, a country on the slow road of transition into European and modern society, numerous village communities have been marginalized. The village often figures as a cognitive and social center with which its member indentify on a vertical (generational) and horizontal (“communal”) level, with a special accent on the use of tradition as a factor of separation from the global, and identification with the local. The “vampire” as a kind of intimate tradition in these villages has an (today still) integrating social role, as an element of heritage around which the community members affirm their cultural reality and identity. It is the power of change and application, the adaptation of motives to the social context of use, but at the same time the essential permanence, that make "vampires" a "living" aspect of the heritage and cultural reality of many rural communities toda