Vince-Pallua, Jelka.
(1999).
Culture of the Heart, Culture of the Mind. Radić's Concept and Definitions of Culture.
Etnološka tribina, 29(22).
pp. 247-253.
ISSN 0351-1944
Abstract
Must we resignedly agree with Weiss' opinion that all theoretical concern with the nature of culture is futile because the last thing to be discovered in any science is what the science is really about. Fortunately, Radić's opinion was different so he tried to determine it precisely and to define it. On the basis of the concept of the notion of culture, dovetailed into European thinking, the author tries to show Radić's valuable contribution to the formation of ethnological theory by analyzing his definitions of culture, its attributes and other characteristics. But, it is possible to reach a precise determination of culture and the cultural componens+ts incorporated in it, only by a consideration of the various ideas found in Radić's numerous discussions. Moreover, the author's aim in this article is to discover new trends in European ethnological thinking but also the influence of pragmatical considerations of his conception and notion of culture. Among such considerations was his final aim of awakening and enlightening the peasant conscious of the value of peasant culture and finally of making the peasant a political subject, all this at a time when his contemporaries were attacking him for daring to call on a tradition of peasant - culture. Basing herself on concrete examples, the author revealed how far reaching Radić's theoretical views were:
1) rejection of the current conception of unilineal evolutionism seen in Radić's categorical denial of the idea of the existence of less valuable people. In this he showed that he refused to accept the term simple, primitive in the way unilineal evolutionists used to do, i.e. as a notion of evaluation of a degree of inferiority or superiority of a culture. Throughout the article the author tries to show Radić's far reaching views in the crucial place where evolutionists have failed, the trap which Radić did not fall into, not asking himself whether evaluation was right or wrong convinced that the basis of evaluation was wrong;
2)unambiguous elements of the notion cultural relativism accepted in ethnology. In Radić's stress on the cultural equality of the culture of simple people (culture of the heart, as Radić used to call the peasant culture) and the culture of the mind - of the city (strange) the culture of gentlemen, civilization) basing herself on concrete examples the author additionally discovers traits of cultural relativism, Although in Radić's texts we cannot find the theoretical term itself, the author sees it within the opposite notion incorporated into Radić's theoretical reflections where he questions ethnocentristic views about the absolute value of European culture. The author expresses the opinion that Radić's theoretical originality and progressive approach must be partly attributed to the fact that he was not restricted by the influence of the official theories of his time. Throughout the article the author points to the interaction of Radić's political convictions and his engagement in ethnology, which together provided both the inducement and space to express his concept of culture.
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