Role of symbols

This area is meant to examine role of symbols in the contemporary religious life using two approaches. First one will try to define the transformation dynamics of new religious forms in the present society, including Slovenia and Central European countries. It will try to register those manifestation forms of the sacred, which are characteristic for the new religious movements, the so called new age spirituality and the interface between the sacred and profane with their symbolic manifestations. The object of this approach is to elucidate the role of “sacrum” in the frame of new spirituality. The second approach will try to define the transformation dynamics of religious symbols in the present society, focusing the rural environment. The study will follow the trends of modernisation and impact of globalisation on traditional/ rural communities. Concerning the fact that in Central European countries more than 50% of inhabitants resident in rural communities, with specific (local) conditions - the research of rural/local religiosity is (still) important. Research is based on long term field work research (more then 10 years) in recent rural environment of Slovakia, where as a result of research, the great difference between recent urban and rural forms of religiosity was stated. The author claims, that the rural ones are still local, otherwise urban ones are trans-local. Nevertheless, after the fall of communism, the process of modernization/globalization or detraditionalization is obvious also in rural environment; both in traditional church/normative forms of religious identity as well as in traditional folk spirituality. The shifts of religious symbols in traditional rural environment as impact of modernization and globalization will be focused. „Old/traditional“ religious symbols (sometimes labeled as irrational) are transformed and undergo the process of approximation with „new/modern/rationalistic“ paradigma. Some of them are totally rejected as incompatible (locally deprivatized). Introduction of new symbols/elements/narratives follows the process of local privatization or approximation with the local system of knowledge.

Milan Kovac – Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava

Igor Skamperle – Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana