IMAGE OF »THE TURK« IN SLOVENE FOLKLORE
Abstract
Legends about the time of the Turkish raids form an important and substantial part of the Slovene oral traditions. A closer examination of their content reveals a mixture of mythologized historical events from the time of the Turkish raids that are preserved in the Slovene collective memory (thou influenced by different ideological agendas), elements that are in their core mythological and use the time of the Turkish raids more or less as a chronological frame, and elements that ex-press the archaic fear of “the Otherâ€, which is the basic component of the image of “the Turk†in Slovene folklore. Materialization of these legends in the physical land-scape also expresses this multi-layered image of “the Turk†– from the “places of memory†that can be histori-cally confirmed to those that are just imagined and per-ceived as such – they all express a certain imagery that the community has about it’s own past and it’s under-standing and rationalization of the (physical) world that surrounds them. The predominantly negative and al-most demonized image of “the Turk†is an important part of the Slovene identity, collective memory and oral narrativesReferences
[1] A. BartuloviÄ, “»S Turkom star raÄun imamo, prav je da ga po-ravnamo«: vpadi osmanskih Äet skozi diskurzivno optiko slov-enskega zgodovinopisja in leposlovja ter njihova aplikativnost v enaindvajsetem stoletju,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 145–174.
[2] B. Baskar, Ambivalent Dealings with an Imperial Past: the Habs-burg Legacy and New Nationhood in Ex-Yugoslavia. Institut für Ethnologie, Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie. Dunaj, 11. Nov. 2003.
[3] B. Baskar, “»Prvi slovenski pesnik v džamiji«: orientalizem v potopisih pesnika z imperialnega obrobja,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 127–144.
[4] O. Belova, “The Stereotype of the “Other†Within Folk Culture: An Attempt at a Formal Description,†East European Jewish Af-fairs, vol. 37, no. 3, 2007, pp. 335–351.
[5] E. S. Bird, “It Makes Sense To Us: Cultural Identity in Local Legends of Place,†Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol. 31, 2002, pp. 519–547.
[6] S. Champion and G. Cooney, “Naming the Places, Naming the Stones,†Archaeology and Folklore, Gazin-Schwartz, A. and Hol-torf, C., Ed. London, New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 196–213.
[7] M. Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: the Nature of Religion. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.
[8] J. Gießauf, “Azijski barbar. Iskanje sledi v srednjem veku,†Zgodovinski Äasopis, vol. 59, no. 3–4, pp. 255–268, 2005.
[9] A. Gingrich, “Frontier Myths of Orientalism: The Muslim World in Public and Popular Cultures of Central Europe,†MESS, Medditerranean Ethnological Summer School, Vol II. Brumen, B. and Baskar B., Ed. Ljubljana: Inštitut za multikulturne raziskave, 1996, pp. 99–127.
[10] D. González Ãlvarez, “ArqueologÃa, folklore y comunidades locales: los castros en el medio rural asturiano,†Complutum, vol. 22, no. 1, 2011, pp. 133–153. [11] A. GriÄnik (collector), Farice: haloÅ¡ke folklorne pripovedi, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 1998, vol. 18. [12] T. Gunnell, “Legends and Landscape,†Legends and Landscape: Articles Based on Plenary Papers Presented at the 5th Celtic-Nordic-Baltic Folklore Symposium, Reykjavik 2005, Gunnell, T., Ed. Reykjavik: University of Iceland Press, 2005, pp. 13–24.
[13] M. Halbwachs, Kolektivni spomin. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis, 2001.
[14] K. Hrobat, “Ajdi z AjdovÅ¡Äine nad Rodikom,†Studia mythologi-cal Slavica, vol. VIII, pp. 99–112, 2005.
[15] K. Hrobat, “Use of Oral Tradition in Archaeology: the Case of AjdovÅ¡Äina Above Rodik, Slovenia,†Eurpoean Journal of Ar-chaeology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 31–56, 2007.
[16] K. Hrobat, Ko Baba dvigne krilo. Prostor in Äas v folklori Krasa. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2010.
[17] K. Hrobat, “â€Emplaced†Tradition: the Continuity of Folk Tradi-tion and the Landscape,†Traditiones: zbornik InÅ¡tituta za slov-ensko narodopisje in Glasbenonarodopisnega inÅ¡tituta ZRC SAZU, vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 41–52. [18] B. Jezernik, “Imagining “the Turkâ€,†Imagining “the Turkâ€, Jez-ernik, B., Ed. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2010, pp. 1–16. [19] B. Jezernik, “Imaginarni “Turekâ€,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 7–26.
[20] W. R. Jones, “The Image of the Barbarian in Medieval Europe,†Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 376–407, Oct. 1971. [21] Z. Kastelic, and J. Primc, (collectors), Krvapivc: vse sorte iz dežele Desetega brata, osrednje Suhe krajine, domovanja Tur-jaÅ¡kih, do KoÄevskega, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 2001, vol. 24. [22] N. KerÅ¡evan and M. Krebelj (collectors), Düša na bicikli: folk-lorne pripovedi iz Brkinov, doline Reke in okolice, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 2003, vol. 27. [23] D. KlÃmová, “Les guerres turques dans les narrations populaires III,†Ethnologica slavica, vol. 2, 1972, pp. 199–245.
[24] T. Knific and A. Pleterski, “Staroslovanski grobiÅ¡Äi v Spodnjih Gorjah in Zasipu,†ArheoloÅ¡ki vestnik, vol. 44, 1993, pp. 235–267. [25] M. Krejan (collector), Vse sorte je že blou: pripovedi s KrÅ¡kega griÄevja na desnem bregu Save od Sevnice do KrÅ¡kega, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 1999, vol. 19.
[26] E. KrekeriÄková, “Jewishness in the Eyes of Others: Reflection of the Jew in Slovak Folklore,†Human Affairs, vol. 7, no. 2, 1997, pp. 167–183.
[27] Ö. Kumrular, “Mediteranske konstrukcije »Turka« v šestnajst-em stoletju,†Imaginarni »Turek«, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Za-vod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo, 2012, pp. 41–66.
[28] N. Kuran-BurçoÄŸlu, “Reprezentacije »Turka« v nemÅ¡kih medijih od zgodnjega novega veka do razsvetljenjstva,†Imaginarni “Tu-rekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 75–86.
[29] D. Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1995. [30] A. Niewiara, “â€Ljubi sosedâ€, ta “hudobni morilec†– podoba “Turka†v poljskem jeziku in kulturi,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jez-ernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 187–204. [31] M. Ožbolt (collector), Andrejeva stopinja: folklorne pripovedi iz LoÅ¡ke doline, Blok, LoÅ¡kega potoka in okolice CerkniÅ¡kega ter Babnega Polja, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 2004, vol. 29.
[32] V. Palavestra, “Narodna predanja o starom stanovništvu,†Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja Bosne i Hercegovine u Sarajevu. Etnologija, vol. 20–21, 1966, pp. 5–86.
[33] A. Parafita, A Mitologia dos Mouros. Lendas – Mitos – Serpentes – Tesouros. Alfragide: Edições Gailivro.
[34] Pleterski, “De Sclavis autem unde dicitis: Slovani in Vlahi na “nikogaršnjem†ozemlju istrskega zaledja,†Acta historiae, vol. 13, no. 1, 2005, pp. 113–150.
[35] Pleterski, “Police na Tolminskem – prva “ciganska†vas na Slo-venjskem?†Med srednjo Evropo in Sredozemljem: Vojetov zbor-nik, Jerše, S., Ed. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC SAZU, 2006, pp. 33–45.
[36] B. Podbrežnik Vukmir and I. Kotnik (collectors), ÄŒuden preÄudež: folklorne in drue pripovedi iz Kamnika in okolice, Zbirka Glasovi. Celje: Celjska Mohorjeva družba, DruÅ¡tvo Mo-horjeva družba, 2009, vol. 37.
[37] N. Rapport and J. Overing, Social and Cultural Anthropology: the Key Concepts. Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. [38] D. ReÅ¡ek (collector), Brezglavjeki: zgodbe iz Prekmurja, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 1995, vol. 9.
[39] L. Risteski, “Space and Boundaries between the Worlds, †Eth-noAnthropoZoom, vol. 1, pp. 154–179. [40] C. Sabatos, “Slovak Perceptions of the Ottoman Legacy in East-ern Europe,†Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 735–749, Sept. 2008.
[41] F. Santos-Granero, “Writing History Into the Landscape: Space, Myth and Ritual in Contemporary Amazonia,†American Ethnol-ogist, vol. 25, no. 2, 1998, pp. 128–148.
[42] B. Slapšak, Možnosti študija poselitve v arheologiji, ser. Arheo: arheološka obvestila. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, 1995, vol. 17.
[43] J. Staeck, “Of Thunderbirds, Water Spirits and Chiefs' Daughters: Contextualising Archaeology and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Oral Traditions,†Archaeology and Folklore, Gazin-Schwartz, A. and Holtorf, C., Ed. London, New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 67–82.
[44] Z. Å mitek, Klic daljnih svetov: Slovenci in neevropske kulture. Ljubljana, Borec, 1986.
[45] Z. Å mitek, “Govorica toponimov,†MitoloÅ¡ko izroÄilo Slovencev: svetinje preteklosti, Å mitek, Z., Au. Ljubljana: Å tudentska založba, 2004, pp. 217–240.
[46] Z. Å mitek, “Zmajsko seme: topografija slovenskega izroÄila o Kresniku,†Studia mythological Slavica, vol. XII, 2009, pp. 169 – 185.
[47] D. G. White, Myths of the Dog-Man. Chichago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991.
[2] B. Baskar, Ambivalent Dealings with an Imperial Past: the Habs-burg Legacy and New Nationhood in Ex-Yugoslavia. Institut für Ethnologie, Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie. Dunaj, 11. Nov. 2003.
[3] B. Baskar, “»Prvi slovenski pesnik v džamiji«: orientalizem v potopisih pesnika z imperialnega obrobja,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 127–144.
[4] O. Belova, “The Stereotype of the “Other†Within Folk Culture: An Attempt at a Formal Description,†East European Jewish Af-fairs, vol. 37, no. 3, 2007, pp. 335–351.
[5] E. S. Bird, “It Makes Sense To Us: Cultural Identity in Local Legends of Place,†Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol. 31, 2002, pp. 519–547.
[6] S. Champion and G. Cooney, “Naming the Places, Naming the Stones,†Archaeology and Folklore, Gazin-Schwartz, A. and Hol-torf, C., Ed. London, New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 196–213.
[7] M. Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: the Nature of Religion. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.
[8] J. Gießauf, “Azijski barbar. Iskanje sledi v srednjem veku,†Zgodovinski Äasopis, vol. 59, no. 3–4, pp. 255–268, 2005.
[9] A. Gingrich, “Frontier Myths of Orientalism: The Muslim World in Public and Popular Cultures of Central Europe,†MESS, Medditerranean Ethnological Summer School, Vol II. Brumen, B. and Baskar B., Ed. Ljubljana: Inštitut za multikulturne raziskave, 1996, pp. 99–127.
[10] D. González Ãlvarez, “ArqueologÃa, folklore y comunidades locales: los castros en el medio rural asturiano,†Complutum, vol. 22, no. 1, 2011, pp. 133–153. [11] A. GriÄnik (collector), Farice: haloÅ¡ke folklorne pripovedi, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 1998, vol. 18. [12] T. Gunnell, “Legends and Landscape,†Legends and Landscape: Articles Based on Plenary Papers Presented at the 5th Celtic-Nordic-Baltic Folklore Symposium, Reykjavik 2005, Gunnell, T., Ed. Reykjavik: University of Iceland Press, 2005, pp. 13–24.
[13] M. Halbwachs, Kolektivni spomin. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis, 2001.
[14] K. Hrobat, “Ajdi z AjdovÅ¡Äine nad Rodikom,†Studia mythologi-cal Slavica, vol. VIII, pp. 99–112, 2005.
[15] K. Hrobat, “Use of Oral Tradition in Archaeology: the Case of AjdovÅ¡Äina Above Rodik, Slovenia,†Eurpoean Journal of Ar-chaeology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 31–56, 2007.
[16] K. Hrobat, Ko Baba dvigne krilo. Prostor in Äas v folklori Krasa. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2010.
[17] K. Hrobat, “â€Emplaced†Tradition: the Continuity of Folk Tradi-tion and the Landscape,†Traditiones: zbornik InÅ¡tituta za slov-ensko narodopisje in Glasbenonarodopisnega inÅ¡tituta ZRC SAZU, vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 41–52. [18] B. Jezernik, “Imagining “the Turkâ€,†Imagining “the Turkâ€, Jez-ernik, B., Ed. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2010, pp. 1–16. [19] B. Jezernik, “Imaginarni “Turekâ€,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 7–26.
[20] W. R. Jones, “The Image of the Barbarian in Medieval Europe,†Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 376–407, Oct. 1971. [21] Z. Kastelic, and J. Primc, (collectors), Krvapivc: vse sorte iz dežele Desetega brata, osrednje Suhe krajine, domovanja Tur-jaÅ¡kih, do KoÄevskega, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 2001, vol. 24. [22] N. KerÅ¡evan and M. Krebelj (collectors), Düša na bicikli: folk-lorne pripovedi iz Brkinov, doline Reke in okolice, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 2003, vol. 27. [23] D. KlÃmová, “Les guerres turques dans les narrations populaires III,†Ethnologica slavica, vol. 2, 1972, pp. 199–245.
[24] T. Knific and A. Pleterski, “Staroslovanski grobiÅ¡Äi v Spodnjih Gorjah in Zasipu,†ArheoloÅ¡ki vestnik, vol. 44, 1993, pp. 235–267. [25] M. Krejan (collector), Vse sorte je že blou: pripovedi s KrÅ¡kega griÄevja na desnem bregu Save od Sevnice do KrÅ¡kega, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 1999, vol. 19.
[26] E. KrekeriÄková, “Jewishness in the Eyes of Others: Reflection of the Jew in Slovak Folklore,†Human Affairs, vol. 7, no. 2, 1997, pp. 167–183.
[27] Ö. Kumrular, “Mediteranske konstrukcije »Turka« v šestnajst-em stoletju,†Imaginarni »Turek«, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Za-vod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo, 2012, pp. 41–66.
[28] N. Kuran-BurçoÄŸlu, “Reprezentacije »Turka« v nemÅ¡kih medijih od zgodnjega novega veka do razsvetljenjstva,†Imaginarni “Tu-rekâ€, Jezernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 75–86.
[29] D. Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1995. [30] A. Niewiara, “â€Ljubi sosedâ€, ta “hudobni morilec†– podoba “Turka†v poljskem jeziku in kulturi,†Imaginarni “Turekâ€, Jez-ernik, B., Ed. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za Å¡olstvo, 2012, pp. 187–204. [31] M. Ožbolt (collector), Andrejeva stopinja: folklorne pripovedi iz LoÅ¡ke doline, Blok, LoÅ¡kega potoka in okolice CerkniÅ¡kega ter Babnega Polja, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 2004, vol. 29.
[32] V. Palavestra, “Narodna predanja o starom stanovništvu,†Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja Bosne i Hercegovine u Sarajevu. Etnologija, vol. 20–21, 1966, pp. 5–86.
[33] A. Parafita, A Mitologia dos Mouros. Lendas – Mitos – Serpentes – Tesouros. Alfragide: Edições Gailivro.
[34] Pleterski, “De Sclavis autem unde dicitis: Slovani in Vlahi na “nikogaršnjem†ozemlju istrskega zaledja,†Acta historiae, vol. 13, no. 1, 2005, pp. 113–150.
[35] Pleterski, “Police na Tolminskem – prva “ciganska†vas na Slo-venjskem?†Med srednjo Evropo in Sredozemljem: Vojetov zbor-nik, Jerše, S., Ed. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC SAZU, 2006, pp. 33–45.
[36] B. Podbrežnik Vukmir and I. Kotnik (collectors), ÄŒuden preÄudež: folklorne in drue pripovedi iz Kamnika in okolice, Zbirka Glasovi. Celje: Celjska Mohorjeva družba, DruÅ¡tvo Mo-horjeva družba, 2009, vol. 37.
[37] N. Rapport and J. Overing, Social and Cultural Anthropology: the Key Concepts. Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. [38] D. ReÅ¡ek (collector), Brezglavjeki: zgodbe iz Prekmurja, Zbirka Glasovi. Ljubljana: KmeÄki glas, 1995, vol. 9.
[39] L. Risteski, “Space and Boundaries between the Worlds, †Eth-noAnthropoZoom, vol. 1, pp. 154–179. [40] C. Sabatos, “Slovak Perceptions of the Ottoman Legacy in East-ern Europe,†Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 735–749, Sept. 2008.
[41] F. Santos-Granero, “Writing History Into the Landscape: Space, Myth and Ritual in Contemporary Amazonia,†American Ethnol-ogist, vol. 25, no. 2, 1998, pp. 128–148.
[42] B. Slapšak, Možnosti študija poselitve v arheologiji, ser. Arheo: arheološka obvestila. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, 1995, vol. 17.
[43] J. Staeck, “Of Thunderbirds, Water Spirits and Chiefs' Daughters: Contextualising Archaeology and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Oral Traditions,†Archaeology and Folklore, Gazin-Schwartz, A. and Holtorf, C., Ed. London, New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 67–82.
[44] Z. Å mitek, Klic daljnih svetov: Slovenci in neevropske kulture. Ljubljana, Borec, 1986.
[45] Z. Å mitek, “Govorica toponimov,†MitoloÅ¡ko izroÄilo Slovencev: svetinje preteklosti, Å mitek, Z., Au. Ljubljana: Å tudentska založba, 2004, pp. 217–240.
[46] Z. Å mitek, “Zmajsko seme: topografija slovenskega izroÄila o Kresniku,†Studia mythological Slavica, vol. XII, 2009, pp. 169 – 185.
[47] D. G. White, Myths of the Dog-Man. Chichago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991.
How to Cite
MLAKAR, Anja.
IMAGE OF »THE TURK« IN SLOVENE FOLKLORE.
Култура/Culture, [S.l.], n. 8, p. 141-151, mar. 2015.
ISSN 1857-7725.
Available at: <http://journals.cultcenter.net/index.php/culture/article/view/123>. Date accessed: 17 feb. 2026.
Section
English Articles
Keywords
Turkish raids; folklore; Slovenia; otherness; folklore and landscape; identity; collective memory
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Култура/Culture by MI-AN is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
