INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
"PROFESSIONAL AND MARGINAL IN THE SLAVIC AND JEWISH CULTURAL TRADITIONS"
(Moscow, December, 1-3 2021, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Science, Leninsky Prospekt 32A)
The conference "Professional and Marginal in the Slavic and Jewish Cultural Traditions" was held on December 1-3, 2021 at the Institute of Slavic Studies. The conference "Professional and Marginal in the Slavic and Jewish Cultural Traditions" became the twenty-fifth in a series of annual meetings of scholars who have been working on the international project "Culture of the Slavs and the culture of Jews: dialogue, similarities, differences" since 1995. The project is carried out by the Center for Slavic-Jewish Studies of the Institute Slavic studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with various academic and public organizations that show interest in the dialogue of cultures.
The conference was supposed to discuss a wide range of issues related to the concept of professionalism in traditional society. It is known that professionals (stove-makers, blacksmiths, potters, healers, hunters, foresters, musicians, bee-keepers) were often at the periphery of the cultural space in traditional society. People of urban professions were perceived in the same way. There were also social fringes - soldiers, prisoners, beggars, holy fools and madmen. In the Jewish tradition, representatives of professions at the intersection of cultures (tavern-keepers, balagoles - coachmen, junk dealers, cantonists) became marginalized. Converts to Christianity also were a separate marginal group.
We explored the mechanisms of inclusion of marginal people in society and their rejection, the principles of coexistence at the boundaries of cultural, confessional and ethnic spheres, folklore of professional and subcultural communities.
The conference was attended by 39 researchers from Hungary, Germany, Israel, Russia and the USA.
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Dear colleagues, we invite you to take part in the annual academic conference, which is the next stage of a long-term project on the comparative study of Jewish and Slavic cultures.
The conference is interdisciplinary in nature, reports of historians, philologists, folklorists, ethnographers, reflecting the comparative aspects of the problem, are welcome.
The authors of the accepted papers will be informed on November, 1.
Zoom-presentation format will be considered for nonresident participants. Accommodation in Moscow for nonresident participants is covered by the organizers. Travel expenses will not be covered. The materials of the conference are supposed to be published in the annual "Culture of the Slavs and the Culture of Jews: Dialogue, Similarities, Differences" collection.
We look forward to see you all at the conference - as speakers, discussion participants or guests!