Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Humanities
- Organization
- BTK Institute of Ethnography and Folklore
- Code
- BMA-NEPD-413
- Title
- The ethnology of contemporary society
- Usual semester
- Spring
- Published semester
- 2025/26/2
- ECTS
- 5
- Language
- hu
- Learning outcomes
- The aim of the course is to counter the fact that ethnographic-anthropological research was institutionalized in the era of modernity, and both the conceptual apparatus and the method of approach are stuck in the era of modernity, by exploring the functioning of contemporary (postmodern) society and analyzing the zeitgeist that dominates it. . However, the research of postmodern society is not only useful for those dealing with contemporary research, but also for those dealing with any other era.
- Course content
- Going through the themes of Ágnes Kapitány and Gábor Kapitány's volume (Visible and invisible worlds in the millennium and after. Typotex, 2013.), we try to interpret the processes taking place in contemporary society, primarily using the phenomenon of gastronomy as an example. Main topics: Zeitgeist of postmodern society. Polarization of poverty and wealth. What are people around the turn of the millennium afraid of and anxious about? Health cult - organic cult - nature cult. Housing around the turn of the millennium - the rituals of food storage, preparation and consumption. Street scene in postmodernity. Holidays, celebration customs. Ordinariness. Children's world and children's games. Transformation of family forms generational and gender roles (Generation X, Y and Z). Identities, border blurring. The cult of speed and efficiency. Away from home. Models in time. Models in space. Behaviors in mass communication. Art and taste. General concepts: monetary dominance, fragmentation, international character, multiculturalism and globality, appreciation of the role of information. Virtual reality (online community building and free time). The change in the relationship with nature, from the view of "conquering nature" to the ideal of harmony with nature. Transcendence and the need for faith (New Age, esotericism, neopagan movements). Turning to tradition (search for community, identity and experience), the demand for the authentic. Small-scale agricultural production in postmodernity. The taboo, concealment and visibility of ethnicity in postmodernity. "Doing nothing" in postmodernity. The nation in postmodernity. "Online" postmodernity. The blurring of gender boundaries in postmodernity. Gastronomy on TV, the gastronomy program as a leisure activity. Ethnography of food shopping.
- Assessment method
- The evaluation is done by giving a practical ticket. The basic guidelines for the evaluation of student work are laid down in the faculty regulations of ELTE BTK, which state that the instructor selects the means of evaluating student work based on the nature of the knowledge and skills imparted. The practical ticket is given to the students for completing their individual and group, written and oral and practical tasks during the diligence period.
- Bibliography
- Báti, Anikó (2018) Mai menü: Néprajzi tanulmányok a változó táplálkozáskultúráról. Életmód és tradíció, 16. MTA BTK Néprajztudományi Intézet, Budapest. Bringéus, Nils-Arvid – Wiegelmann, Günter eds. (1971) Ethnological Food Research in Europa and USA. Lund Burnett, John – Ody, Derek J. eds. (1994) The Origins and Development of Food Policies in Europa. London-New York Kapitány Ágnes - Kapitány Gábor (2013) Látható és láthatatlan világok az ezredfordulón és utána. Typotex, Budapest. Pusztai Bertalan – Neill, Martin szerk. (2007) Fesztiválok, turizmus és helyi identitás. Halászléfőzés Baján. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh. (Báti, Anikó (2018) Today's menu: Ethnographic studies on the changing food culture. Lifestyle and tradition, 16th MTA BTK Institute of Ethnography, Budapest. Bringéus, Nils-Arvid – Wiegelmann, Günter eds. (1971) Ethnological Food Research in Europe and USA. Lund Burnett, John - Ody, Derek J. eds. (1994) The Origins and Development of Food Policies in Europe. London-New York Kapitány Ágnes - Kapitány Gábor (2013) Visible and invisible worlds at the turn of the millennium and after. Typotex, Budapest. Bertalan Pusztai - Neill, Martin ed. (2007) Festivals, tourism and local identity. Cooking fish juice in Baja. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.)