European Traditions

The changing societies of European nations in the 21^st century have a diverse cultural heritage. This heritage often has a long historical background, while sometimes it appears in relatively new elements. We find customs that go back decades or centuries and may originate from local, regional, national, or even cross-border events. These customs can be almost unchanged or partly modified, and sometimes communities revive the long-forgotten customs of their ancestors (with the help of various classical and modern methods of understanding and experience). These customs eventually become integrated into the new technical environment or increasingly changing living space over time. Heritage elements are often exclusively associated with a specific nationality, but sometimes they contain features that are part of the cultures of different countries. Similar customs can exist side by side or at different times, fitting into the unity of European folklore. We may perceive similarities that define the cultural characteristics of several nations, while the specific differences of individual regions/nations can define a unique geographical and cultural space as well. They can be connected to social and material characteristics, or vice versa, a ritual or a folkloristic element may emerge related to a particular material or social phenomenon which in its unity can define the cultural characteristics of the given region or control the way of behaviour.

The issue of 2025 focuses on the spatial and temporal network of tradition, as well as on the cultural imprints of multiethnic coexistence, drawing from the complex cultural and intellectual heritage of a multicultural Europe; with the aim to compare the theoretical approaches of recent decades and contemporary perspectives.

Submissions should address any of the following topics:

1. The recurring questions of the interpretation of tradition and the researchers involved in these discussions;
2. Ways of rediscovering national and local values;
3. People who provide, collect and analyse information about traditions in the European folklore, touching on the efforts of the lay and/ or professional groups involved in archiving, musealization, and heritage formation;
4. Carriers of elements of tradition and the related collections of objects;
5. Parallels and differences in European folklore;
6. Traditions that are considered to be heritage by various peoples;
7. Emergence of new genres, both related to written/textual, and material culture;
8. New forms of heritage transmission and preservation;
9. The role of historical and contemporary applied ethnography in European culture;
10. The relationship of local communities to their traditional past and its constant re-enactment.

The manuscript can be written in English or German.

The deadline for the submission is the 1^st of April 2025.

When you prepare your manuscript for submission, use the author guidelines instructions (Submit online menu item). Please read and follow them as closely as possible, as doing so will ensure your paper matches the journal's requirements.