CONTENTS - NUMBER 1, JUNE 1998

A r t i c l e s

SZELEPCSÉNYI, Jan: On the Need for History...3
ŠTÚR, Ivan: Life Dimensions of Psychology...21
BAČOVÁ, Viera: The Construction of National Identity - On Primordialism and Instrumentalism...29
TUŠEK, Andrej: The European Character of the Slovak Regional and Local Press (Part One)...44
LALÍKOVÁ, Erika: Discussion on Nacionalism in the Philosophical Almanac in 1943...57
RIEČANSKÁ, Eva: Contemporary Ethnicity, Maintenance of Ethnic Culture and Ethnic Change: The Case of the Slovak Americans in Western Pennsylvania...68
MALITI, Eva: The World of the Novel "Petersburg" by Andrei Bely...85

B o o k   R e v i e w s

MALITI, EVA: Symbolizmus ako princíp videnia. By Alexander Avenarius...97

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ON THE NEED FOR HISTORY

Ján Szelepcsényi
University of Sts Cyrill and Methodius, Institute for Social Communication, Ulica J. Herdu 2, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia

The transformation of a post-communist society is mostly regarded as a change in proprietary relations and the principles of economic life. Changes in the thinking of citizens are more relevant. And a new attitude to the history of their country is needed. Without this evaluation and re-evaluation of the history it is impossible to revive the basic social and moral values conditioning the introduction of democratic principles in all areas of the social life. Some basic questions and tasks of the contemporary historiography in Slovakia are discussed.
pp. 3-20

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LIFE DIMENSIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Ivan Štúr
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, Gondova 2, 818 01 Bratislava, Slovakia

The science of psychology is horizontally associated with biology, which enables it to elucidate psychological phenomena, and with social sciences exploring a wide range of human behaviour and interpersonal relations. The author tries to justify other dimensions of psychology in the vertical direction. The first is philosophy, as logical and noetic transcendency of psychology, supporting and looking for the meaning of human life. On the opposite side, there is the domain of art representing, within the Crocean hierarchy, the roots of saying yes to life. The closeness of introspection and poetry but also of clinical psychological evaluation and a literary critical study means real enrichment of the psychological science.
Psychology integrates in this approach the efforts of humankind to date, sees human beings within a broader context and much more beautiful proportions, focusing primarily on the way individuals fulfil their earthly life time.
pp. 21-28

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THE CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY - ON PRIMORDIALISM AND INSTRUMENTALISM

Viera Bačová
Institute of Social Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Karpatská 5, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia

The author argues that the content of the concept of "national identity" is determined by the way how we construe "nation". She submits two ways of construing the nation as basic ideal types: primordial versus instrumental. In primordial terminology the nation is primarily the "ethno-nation", i.e. a community which unites individuals through "the same blood and common fate". The instrumental way of construing the nation stresses the pragmatic and situational aspects of large communities. Thus it approaches the political understanding of the nation. The beliefs about the character of the nation prevailing within a particular community, determine the identification of the member of this community with the nation. Terminological chaos governs this area of life as well as research on it. The concept of "nationalism" can serve as an example: it denotes loyalty to the state as an instrumental political formation. Simultaneously, however, within the ideology of nationalism, the state is introduced as a primordial community. The aim of this paper is: 1. the analysis of the ways of construing the "nation" as a form of social reality by individuals; 2. the use of the construing about the nation in public, cultural, and political discourses; 3. consequences of the ways of construing the nation for the national identity of individuals.
pp. 29-43

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THE EUROPEAN CHARACTER OF THE SLOVAK REGIONAL AND LOCAL PRESS (PART ONE)

Andrej Tušer
Department of Journalism, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, Štúrova 9, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia

The introduction of the article is devoted to a typological description of the regional and local press in Slovakia, taking into account the theoretical opinions of foreign experts on journalism on this subsystem. It is assessed from the perspective of territory, effect and frequency. Socio-professional and universal regionality and localness are demonstrated on an etymological basis. The historical part, against the background of which the subsystem of the periodical press is studied, is divided into several developmental stages till the establishment of the Slovak republic in 1993. The focus of this part is on the development of the regional and local press in Slovakia from the earliest times to the end of World War II in 1945.
pp. 44-56

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DISCUSSION ON NATIONALISM IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL ALMANAC IN 1943

Erika Lalíková
Department of Philosophy and History of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, Gondova 2, 818 01 Bratislava, Slovakia

The aim of the Philosophical Almanac, as the first Slovak journal, was to fill the gap in the cultural life at that time, to bring expert solutions to different philosophical questions, to inform and contact the readers with modern European philosophical streams. The journal also proclaimed the effort to direct not only intellectuals, culture, and science, but also the Slovak nation. The characteristic feature of the Almanac was the plurality of opinions based on different approaches to philosophical work itself, closely connected with the political standpoints of individual authors. The problems discussed in the journal covered the area of closely specified philosophical issues, articles based on natural sciences, philosophy, logic, the history of Slovak philosophy, sociology, psychology, etc.
The most frequent ideological-philosophical themes discussed in the Philosophical Almanac were disputes about nationalism, its ideological and political function and its relation to humanism. The summit of these efforts was the discussion on nationalism published in the third issue of the fourth volume. The reason for its inception was the need to clarify attitudes to nationalism and racism in relation to national views and humanism. The active contributors to this discussion were Professor Dr. A. Jurovský, Dr. A.J. Šurjanský, Dr. A. Hirner and Dr. J. Dieška.
The author gives a review and interpretation of the discussion.
pp. 57-67

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CONTEMPORARY ETHNICITY, MAINTENANCE OF ETHNIC CULTURE AND ETHNIC CHANGE: THE CASE OF THE SLOVAK AMERICANS IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Eva Riečanská
Institute of Ethnology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Jakubovo nám. 12, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The western part of the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh as its industrial and administrative centre were the areas of an extensive influx of immigrants from the territory of Slovakia (formerly part of Austria-Hungary, and pre-WW II Czechoslovakia). The immigrants settled in this area created the basis of formation of Slovak ethnic communities, which have left their imprint on the life-style and cultural identification of the next generation of American-born descendants of the Slovak immigrants. According to the US federal censuses of 1980 and 1990 the area of Pittsburgh and adjacent counties is still, besides Cleveland, Oh. and Chicago, Ill. a territory with a significant portion of the population declaring Slovak ancestry.
pp. 68-84

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THE WORLD OF THE NOVEL "PETERSBURG" BY ANDREI BELY

Eva Maliti
Institute of World Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Konventná 13, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The Russian symbolist Andrei Bely was one of the pioneers of experimental aesthetics. Bely's creative method in the novel Petersburg was based on his perception of symbolism, which he associated with ethics and religion. To create the world of the novel, he used symbolic-anthroposophical artistic approaches. The world of the novel differs from reality, which is, according to non-materialistic philosophies, apart from God, because it is created by God. It is as if the symbolic reality of Petersburg were divine, as if it should have been God or God-Devil, here represented by the author's subject. Steiner's deity, the most universal being of the human ego, so-called manas comes to life. It embodies the author's anthroposophical "ego". The text of the novel, which is simultaneously the author's world, was created in the disharmonious relation of the author's subject to external reality. It can be perceived as a form of the occult text that became popular in twentieth-century literature.
pp. 85-96

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BOOK REVIEWS

pp. 97-98

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