The A to Z of Slovenia
The A to Z of Slovenia

Author: Leopoldina Plut-Pregelj

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 620

ISBN-13: 0810872161

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For more than 1,300 years Slovenes had lived in Eastern Europe without having a separate Slovene state, but in December of 1990, they voted for independence, or, put more appropriately, for "disassociation" from Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, Slovenia had to fight for its independence, which it did not fully achieve until 1995 after its bloody disintegration with Yugoslavia was over. Since independence, however, Slovenia has prospered; its economy is far ahead of other former communist states and in 2004 Slovenia acceded to both NATO and the European Union, the only republic of former Yugoslavia to do so. The A to Z of Slovenia covers the history of Slovenia and its struggle to gain independence from communism. This is done through a detailed chronology, an introduction, appendixes, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on some of the more significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.

Semiotics of Peasants in Transition
Semiotics of Peasants in Transition

Author: Irene Portis-Winner

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2002-07-01

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0822383667

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In Semiotics of Peasants in Transition Irene Portis-Winner examines the complexities of ethnic identity in a traditional Slovene village with unique ties to an American city. At once an investigation into a particular anthropological situation and a theoretical exploration of the semiotics of ethnic culture—in this case a culture permeated by transnational influences—Semiotics of Peasants in Transition describes the complex relationships that have existed between and among the villagers remaining in Slovenia and those who, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio. Describing a process of continuous and enduring interaction between these geographically separate communities, Portis-Winner explains how, for instance, financial assistance from the emigrants enabled their Slovenian hometown to survive the economic depressions of the 1890s and 1930s. She also analyzes the extent to which memories, rituals, myths, and traditional activities from Slovenia have sustained their Cleveland relatives. The result is a unique anthropological investigation into the signifying practices of a strongly cohesive—yet geographically split—ethnic group, as well as an illuminating application of semiotic analyses to communities and the complex problems they face.