Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović

This paper discusses an episode in the history of Serbian ethnology, which I take to be indicative of the conditions in domestic disciplinary production in the first decade following WWII. The debate on functionalism between the then-leading representative of "vulgar materialism" (a form o...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Gordana Gorunović
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN FR SR
Publicado:	University of Belgrade 2016
Materias:	Anthropology GN1-890
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f2083295ed24464da58df3be68d2398d
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:f2083295ed24464da58df3be68d2398d
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f2083295ed24464da58df3be68d2398d2021-12-02T03:08:19ZPseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović0353-15892334-8801https://doaj.org/article/f2083295ed24464da58df3be68d2398d2016-03-01T00:00:00Zhttp://eap-iea.org/index.php/eap/article/view/454https://doaj.org/toc/0353-1589https://doaj.org/toc/2334-8801This paper discusses an episode in the history of Serbian ethnology, which I take to be indicative of the conditions in domestic disciplinary production in the first decade following WWII. The debate on functionalism between the then-leading representative of "vulgar materialism" (a form of pseudo-Marxism), Špiro Kulišić, and Milenko Filipović, who advocated an innovative social and functional perspective in ethnology (as a form of proto-functionalism), is viewed as a critical example that reveals the condition of academic ethnology at the time. Its characteristics were: the rule of intellectual inertia and ideological exclusivity; absence of constructive public discussions, debates and critical consideration of the subject, methods and aims of ethnology in the period of socialist transition; arrest of theoretical and methodological thought, exemplified by collector's empiricism and designed, schematic application of the Soviet model of "ideologically correct study". Proto-functionalism occurred in this setting as a rival strategy. Aware of the stagnation of Serbian ethnology and the need to innovate it, as well as of the complexity of the social and cultural milieu of the time, Filipović – in a theoretically modest and perhaps premature way – offered an alternative to the dogmatic views according to which ethnology was a study of rural surroundings and survivals; to the schematic application of methods and abstract concepts of evolutionism; and to the pretentious discourse of vulgar materialism, with its ideological and propaganda-serving functions.Gordana GorunovićUniversity of BelgradearticleAnthropologyGN1-890ENFRSREtnoantropološki Problemi, Vol 1, Iss 2, Pp 185-208 (2016)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN FR SR
topic	Anthropology GN1-890
spellingShingle	Anthropology GN1-890 Gordana Gorunović Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović
description	This paper discusses an episode in the history of Serbian ethnology, which I take to be indicative of the conditions in domestic disciplinary production in the first decade following WWII. The debate on functionalism between the then-leading representative of "vulgar materialism" (a form of pseudo-Marxism), Špiro Kulišić, and Milenko Filipović, who advocated an innovative social and functional perspective in ethnology (as a form of proto-functionalism), is viewed as a critical example that reveals the condition of academic ethnology at the time. Its characteristics were: the rule of intellectual inertia and ideological exclusivity; absence of constructive public discussions, debates and critical consideration of the subject, methods and aims of ethnology in the period of socialist transition; arrest of theoretical and methodological thought, exemplified by collector's empiricism and designed, schematic application of the Soviet model of "ideologically correct study". Proto-functionalism occurred in this setting as a rival strategy. Aware of the stagnation of Serbian ethnology and the need to innovate it, as well as of the complexity of the social and cultural milieu of the time, Filipović – in a theoretically modest and perhaps premature way – offered an alternative to the dogmatic views according to which ethnology was a study of rural surroundings and survivals; to the schematic application of methods and abstract concepts of evolutionism; and to the pretentious discourse of vulgar materialism, with its ideological and propaganda-serving functions.
format	article
author	Gordana Gorunović
author_facet	Gordana Gorunović
author_sort	Gordana Gorunović
title	Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović
title_short	Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović
title_full	Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović
title_fullStr	Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović
title_full_unstemmed	Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović
title_sort	pseudo-marxism and proto-functionalism in serbian ethnology: kulišić versus filipović
publisher	University of Belgrade
publishDate	2016
url	https://doaj.org/article/f2083295ed24464da58df3be68d2398d
work_keys_str_mv	AT gordanagorunovic pseudomarxismandprotofunctionalisminserbianethnologykulisicversusfilipovic
_version_	1718401953972617216

Pseudo-Marxism and Proto-Functionalism in Serbian Ethnology: Kulišić versus Filipović

Ejemplares similares