Traditiones

The Power of Isolation

Dan Podjed — 2024-12-18

This article investigates isolation as a complex physical and symbolic phenomenon. The studies presented in the article and in this special issue explore how isolation impacts identities, social cohesion, and community life – especially in times of ongoing and interconnected crises. The authors examine the multifaceted nature of isolation that informs daily practices, emotional wellbeing, and community bonds, offering insights into the challenges and resilience seen in isolated communities.

Isolation and Connectedness in the Bohinj Alps: Experiences of a Majerca

Špela Ledinek Lozej — 2024-12-18

The paper explores the experiences of isolation, solitude, and loneliness in the Bohinj alps (the Julian Alps, Slovenia). Based on the life experiences and perceptions of a long-term majerca, it reveals a dense interconnectedness of people in the geographically isolated alps. It challenges presupposed assumptions of loneliness and solitude and proposes a relational understanding of remoteness. It draws on long term ethnography, including participant observation, conversations, and interviews.

Floating Homes: Homemaking Practices among Seafarers as Strategies against Isolation

Nikolina Hazdovac Bajić — 2024-12-18

This article analyzes the multilayered practices of homemaking among the seafarers from a theoretical perspective on the polysemic nature of home, space, and masculinity. In addition, distinction is made between involuntary and involuntary types of isolation at sea (whereby professional sailors belong to the former and adventurous sailors to the latter). The research is based on remote ethnography that included semi-structured interviews, virtual “walks”, informal conversations, and photos.

The Island of Žirje: Challenging Claims of Isolation

Peter Simonič — 2024-12-18

The article examines the influence and remnants of economic and political systems as layers of time on the remote island of Žirje in Croatia, focusing on developments from the sixteenth century onwards. The author explores changes in local economic, political, legal, religious, spatial, and kinship arrangements to shed light on contemporary ethnographic realities. By adopting a relational approach to studying Žirje, the author challenges the notion of islands and cultures as isolated entities.

Connected by Sea, Isolated by Water: Water and Water Supply Infrastructure on Two Croatian Islands

Ana Perinić Lewis — 2024-12-18

This article presents ethnographic research on the lack of water infrastructure on two Croatian islands – Žirje and Hvar. Both islands are examples of various forms of isolation that have persisted throughout history and have even been reinforced by absent or neglected water infrastructure. The author critically examines the social, cultural, and economic role of water as a factor or survival or disappearance, along with its political and demographic consequences.

Revitalizing Robidišče: Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities of Marginalized Rural Communities

Katarina Polajnar Horvat — 2024-12-18

This article deals with the revitalization of Robidišče, a village affected by depopulation and economic decline. Through the preservation of cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, and community engagement, the village has noticeably improved. The study examines how local efforts and external support have strengthened social cohesion and revitalization. Despite progress, challenges remain, highlighting the importance of further sustainable practices and community-oriented initiatives.

Lockdown Friend

Maruška Svašek — 2024-12-18

During the pandemic, confronted with the “crisolation” (Podjed, 2024) of the first lockdown, I turned like many others to Skype, Zoom, and Teams to connect with distant relatives, friends, and interlocutors (Podjed, 2021; Svašek, 2022). Experimenting with various modes of digital hanging out, I began to paint the computer-mediated interactions (Svašek, 2023a, 2023b). The paintings explored the online relationality of pandemic life and were realized through concentrated bodily attention to the social dynamics of long-distance co-presence. While newly developed, the method of long-distance painting drew on pre-pandemic work by anthropologists who used sketching, painting, and graphic storytelling to reach broader audiences (Collordo-Mansfield, 1993; Afonso, 2004; Ramos, 2004, 2018; Causey, 2017; Dix, Kaur, 2019; Hurdley, 2019; Jain, 2021; Haapio-Kirk, Cearns, n.d.).

About a year after the completion of the paintings, I began adding poetic reflections. Lockdown Friend explores an encounter with one of my friends in the Netherlands in 2020. The picture visualizes the momentary link between our distant homes, connecting the two locations through wavy pen strokes. The accompanying poem expresses the sense of frustration I felt because of our inability to physically meet, and the last stanza refers to the deeply disturbing situation in which the infection and mortality rates rapidly increased across the world. As a united piece, the painting-poem is a focal point for imagination and free association between words and shapes.