Zbornik Radova Filozofskog Fakulteta u Prištini (Jan 2021)
Celebration of Đuren in Prizrenska Gora: A contribution to the research
Abstract
In this paper the author presents several main elements of the celebration of Đuren among the Gorani in Prizrenska Gora, an event which, according to the date of the event, coincides with the celebration of Ortodox St. George's Day. The elements of Đuren's celebration the author tries to present taking into account its actors, and the clear spatial and temporal frameworks in which they take place. With this approach, the aim of the paper is to offer a concrete, precise presentation of the main elements of Đuren's celebration, which could be used as an ethnographic material for repeated research of the same phenomenon and comparative monitoring of its duration and possible changes within its structure. The results presented in the paper were obtained from the field research conducted in Gorani village of Vraništa at the end of 2018 and during the celebration of Đuren in 2019. The results achieved by the research showed that the main elements of Đuren's celebration include phenomena of a public, collective character, which imply a mass gathering of members of the Gorani community, and which the Gorani in Prizrenska Gora perceive as a feature of their culture and part of their tradition. Viewed chronologically, the elements of a collective character on the occasion of the celebration of Đuren, recorded in the village of Vraništa, include muzika, tupani and korzo. The content of these elements indicates the solemn character of Đuren's celebration, by which it can be described as a festivity, composed of music and dance segments. Based on ethnographic material collected in 2018-2019, it can be seen that the characteristics of the celebration of Đuren, mentioned by researchers who have dealt with this phenomenon in previous years and decades, are noticeable even today, which testifies of the importance that this event still has for the Gorani. The results presented in the paper point to the conclusion about the continuity of the researched phenomena, which importance is reflected especially from the aspect of their role as a factor by which the Gorani express their belonging to their community. The presented material also indicates the importance of the elements of Đuren's celebration from the aspect of maintaining and establishing ties among the Gorani (especially among youth), but it also raises the question of the role of these elements as a way of expressing gender and generational structure within the Gorani community. The results of the research, finally, point out all the complexity of celebrating Đuren as an event. The elements of this event, the dynamics of their duration, the structure and the role they play in the life of the Gorani, not only in the village of Vraništa, but also in other villages in Prizrenska Gora, have yet to be researched in more detail.
Keywords
