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Siinne doktoritöö käsitleb rahvuskuuluvuse tähendust inimeste ja riigi vahelistes suhetes 20. sajandi esimesel poolel, kasutades näidisvalimina 1941. aastal Eestist Saksamaale ümber asunud inimeste andmeid. Uurimuse eesmärk on selgitada, kas ja kuidas riiklik rahvuspoliitika mõjutas inimeste käitumist ja vastupidi – mil määral mõjutasid inimeste valikud riikide tegevust. Valimisse hõlmatud inimestest suurem osa puutus uuritaval perioodil kokku nelja riigi – Venemaa keisririigi, Eesti Vabariigi, Nõukogude Liidu ja Saksamaa – rahvuspoliitikaga. Nende põhimõtteliselt erineva rahvuspoliitikaga riikide käsitlemine võimaldab tuvastada rahvuse ühiskondliku tähenduse universaalseid jooni. Eesmärgi täitmiseks analüüsiti inimeste eluloolisi andmeid, seadusandlust ja rahvuspoliitikat puudutavat dokumentatsiooni ning ühiskondlikke olusid puudutavaid allikaid. Doktoritööst selgus, et üksikisikute rahvuskuuluvuse formaalne määramine osutus 20. sajandi esimesel poolel keeruliseks nii riikide kui ka inimeste jaoks, sest puudusid selged kriteeriumid viimaste rahvuspõhiseks kategoriseerimiseks, ühtsed arusaamad rahvuste olemusest ning takistav tegur oli ka mõlema poole pragmaatiliste kaalutluste domineerimine rahvuse määramisel. Mida suurem oli rahvuskuuluvuse formaalne tähtsus, seda enam olid üksikisikute valikud tingitud olukorrast ning märksa vähem nende harjumuspärasest keele- ja kultuurikeskkonnast. Seetõttu ei õnnestunud riikidel peaaegu kunagi soovitud määral rakendada essentsialistlikke ja objektiivsusele pretendeerinud rahvuse määramise kriteeriume, isegi kui see oli eesmärk ja taolisi põhimõtteid seadustega kehtestada püüti. Samuti ei olnud riigid objektiivsuse rakendamisel põhimõttelised ja järjekindlad, vaid kohandasid seisukohti vastavalt pragmaatilistele huvidele ning inimeste käitumisele. Üksikisikute valikutel oli riiklikele poliitikatele märkimisväärne mõju, ehkki arvuliselt oli muutliku ja ebamäärase rahvuskuuluvusega inimesi ühiskonnas marginaalselt. This dissertation focuses on the meaning of ethnicity in the relations between individuals and states in the first half of the 20th century using the biographical data of people who resettled from Estonia to Germany in 1941 as a sample. The aim of this study is to explain whether and how ethnopolitics of the states influenced the behaviour of individuals and vice versa – to what extent individual choices influenced state policy. Most people in the sample were affected by the ethnopolitics of four states: Russian Empire, Estonian Republic, Soviet Union, and Germany. Analysing the states with fundamentally different ethnopolitics enables to identify universal characteristics of the role of ethnicity in the society. To fulfil the aim, biographical data, legislation, and documentation about ethnopolitics as well as sources about the social conditions were analysed. The dissertation shows that fixing individuals’ ethnicity turned out to be difficult for both parties – the states and individuals – since there were no clear criteria for ethnic categorisation and no common understanding about the nature of ethnicity. Pragmatic considerations of both parties also turned out to be an obstacle. The more formal importance ethnicity had, the more individuals made choices dependent on the situation and not so much on their customary lingual and cultural environment. Therefore, the states almost always failed to implement essentialist and objective criteria in fixing individuals’ ethnicity in a desired manner, even if such criteria were their aim and established by law. Furthermore, the authorities of the states were neither principled nor consistent in applying objective criteria. The states had to adapt their stances to their own pragmatic interests and according to the behaviour of individuals instead. Thus, individual choices had a remarkable impact on ethnopolitics, although people with dynamic and vague ethnic identity formed a marginal group in the society. https://www.ester.ee/record=b5450809

The aim of the paper is to show the Polish story of the COVID-19 pandemic as seen through a humorous looking glass. Different stages of coronavirus presence in the media and social discourse have been accompanied by the appearance and development of jokes and memes, which illustrate the rapidly changing pandemic situation. The database consists of over three hundred memes, movies, and comments collected between February and May 2020, during the pandemic humour peak, and come mainly from private WhatsApp and Facebook accounts of the researchers. The humorous material is related to introduced restrictions, changing laws, parliamentary elections, news from other affected countries as well as seasons and festive times - especially Easter - occurring in the same period of time. The universal themes present in the humorous material travelling around the world are complemented by the strictly culturally immersed topics, reflecting the specific social and political situation in Poland. The analysis undertaken in the article focuses on various kinds of mechanisms which involve intertextuality (allusions) as well as complexity of references that function as sources of humour, with special attention being paid to cultural references, for example, films, paintings, references to political life, including those of the life under socialism as well as universal themes, such as animal memes. © 2021 Eesti Keele InstituutAƒÂ‚A‚Â. All rights reserved.

The article gives an overview of the folk culture mechanisms that helped to cope with the pandemic situation in Belorussia during the first wave of COVID-19 (until midsummer 2020). The article is based on the qualitative analysis of interview texts related to the pandemic as well as the content of internet users' visual reactions (memes, poems, proverbs). In folk culture the mechanisms helping to overcome the crisis situation often have a ritual-magical nature. When describing the influence of the pandemic on some practices, the authors conclude that their performing in the crisis situation was especially important for the community. One of the ancient rituals activated for preventing the epidemic was the creation of a magic circle around the village by conducting a procession around the village with a ritual towel ('rushnik-abydzionnik'), which had to be made within one day. On March 28, this one-day-ritual was performed in Minsk with the greatest possible adherence to tradition. The initiators and participants of the practice were mainly representatives of the Students Ethnographic Society. Not all women present knew how to spin or weave, but some of the simplest operations were mastered. The towel was carried around Minsk and brought to a stone on the site of a pagan temple in the centre of Minsk at the sunset. The towel was tied around the stone, and the latter was also covered with threads spun on the same day. The ritual relieved the tension of the participants and fostered awareness of their solidarity, strengthening collective networks, and the feeling of empathy and unity. COVID-19 also affected the living traditions in Belarus. Some traditional practices were cancelled or postponed. The spread of the pandemic created a negative backdrop for living traditions. However, a number of rites and ceremonies were carried out despite the pandemic in accordance with their spatial and temporal reference. Due to the difficult epidemiological situation, the usual order of ceremonies was changed - their duration was reduced without changing the traditional rite structure. Only local residents participated in the rituals;although, formerly, many journalists and tourists had come to the villages from different parts of the country on the days of the ceremonies. For tradition bearers, such practices during a pandemic are a way to relieve stress and to share problems with people with similar interests. Traditions are one of the constants of their life;maintaining them in times of crises stabilizes the community. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a powerful explosion of folk art. The texts of various genres, both oral and written (graphic), are rapidly spreading on the Internet. A large number of them are based on the traditional worldview of Belarusians and are expressed in traditional forms (alterations, ditties, anecdotes, anti-sayings, paroemias, etc.). The role of humour has grown tremendously. Jokes and laughter in the face of an external threat are a compensatory mechanism that helps to overcome fear and uncertainty, and common laughter unites and helps to learn new rules of behaviour. Humour is not concerned with the threat of getting ill, but rather individual hygiene practices, the situation of quarantine, and circumstances of the new reality. Thus, humorous folklore becomes a way to adapt to new norms and to overcome fear and instability. © 2021 Eesti Keele InstituutAƒÂ‚A‚Â. All rights reserved.