Culture and Identity: Slava, a Family Saint Day Among the Serbs

Abstract

Slava, a family saint day, is a holiday belonging the annual calendar of family celebrations; slava represents a traditional cultural heritage of the Serbs, and stands out as an example of embedment of traditions into modern life. Over time, the Serbs had placed a special reverence to the slava days and thus slava became one of the most important annual holiday. Slava’s great importance is confirmed by the fact that almost everyone, from individual families to various national associations, in the course of a calendar year, dedicate a day to a particular saint, celebrated as the patron of the family or given entity. Slava day is dedicated to the patron (guardian) of a home, village, church, and various professionals. In this paper, slava will be discussed as a family tradition, with an emphasis on its importance in the present time. Slava is enlisted in the Representative List of the Non-material Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, and this has confirmed the fact that the holiday, through the historical duration, acquired certain peculiarities and became thus recognizable as an identity characteristic of the Serbs.