CONTENTS - NUMBER 2, DECEMBER 1997

A r t i c l e s

MOJMÍR BENŽA: Rights and Status of persons Belonging to Ethnic Minorities and their Implementation An Attempt at a Comparative Study ...101
JÁN ŠULAVÍK: An Elementary Form of Mental Adaptation to Death ...113
JÁN AZUD: International Treaties and the Legal Order of the Slovak Republic (On the Issue of Domestic and International Law) ...119
JÁN HORECKÝ: Intention and Extension of a Term ...134
KLÁRA BUZÁSSYOVÁ, SLAVOMÍR ONDREJOVIČ: Slovaks and Czechs The Slovak and Czech Languages ...141
MILAN PODRIMAVSKÝ: The Slovak National Party as a Political Representative of the Slovaks (1871-1914) ...159
EVA KREKOVIČOVÁ: Jewishness in the Eyes of Others: Reflection of the Jew in Slovak Folklore ...167
LUCIA PAWLIKOVÁ: The Traditional and Present Role of the Church in Latin America ...184

R e p o r t s  a n d  B o o k  R e v i e w s

Discourse - Intellectuals - Social CommunicationBy Emil Višňovský...194
Lexicon Grammaticorum Who is Who in the History of World Linguistics By Slavomír Ondrejovič...197
E KOVAČIČOVÁ- K SCHLENKEROVÁ: Bibliografia almanachov, ročeniek a zborníkov na Slovensku 1945-1965 By Helena Třísková...199

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RIGHTS AND STATUS OF PERSONS BELONGING TO ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION. AN ATTEMPT AT A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Mojmír Benža
Institute of Ethnology, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Jakubovo nám. 12, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The issue of the rights and the status of persons belonging to ethnic minorities together with the upholding of fundamental human rights and freedoms has become a measure for evaluating the level of democracy within countries, particularly those undergoing post-communist transformation. Many countries feel that in this question there is a different approach to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and to the countries of Western Europe. They call for a comparison of the existing ethnic minority rights in individual countries in order to obtain a real image of their status in all European countries. Our attempt at a comparative study of the rights and the status of persons belonging to ethnic minorities was stimulated by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. The study was called an attempt because, although with a broader view, it does not offer an exhaustive answer to the basic question: what is the status of the rights and the position of ethnic minorities in European countries like.
pp. 101-112

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AN ELEMENTARY FORM OF MENTAL ADAPTATION TO DEATH

Ján Šulavík
Department of Social and Biological Communication,
Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 06 Bratislava, Slovakia

The article describes one of the forms of mental reaction to the presence of death in the life of man, which can be denoted as the state of "not thinking about death". This simple status is widespread among people. It is often the cause of careless, irresponsible conduct and therefore the challenges of the professional group which could generally be named "rescuers" are directed against such behaviour. These are the people whose job is to rescue other people from burning houses, drowning in rivers, crashed cars, seeking people under avalanches and ruins, protecting, guarding and reviving them.
pp. 113-118

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INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND THE LEGAL ORDER OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC (ON THE ISSUE OF DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW)

Ján Azud
Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations, Matej Bel University, Banská Bystrica
Institute of State and Law, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The author studies the issue of the relationship between domestic and international law from the perspective of the legal regulation of the Constitution of the Slovak republic, with particular emphasis on the problem of international treaties in the legal order of the SR. This problem is new for the SR from three points of view: 1. the short existence of the SR as a subject of international law, 2. the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, 3. the collapse of the bipolar world and efforts of the SR to accede to the group of democratic countries functioning on the basis of the rule of law. After analysis, it appears that the Constitution of the SR is based, although not with full consistency, on a dualistic conception. Particular attention is directed towards art. 125, letter e of the Constitution of the SR, concerning the issue of the relationships of international treaties and international law. Art. 11 of the Constitution of the SR establishes the primacy of international treaties on human rights and basic freedoms over legislation if they secure a greater extent of rights and freedoms, which, however, is only a partial regulation. The author proposes to express the conception and principles of the foreign policy of the SR as well as the relationship between domestic and international law generally in the Constitution of the SR. He also proposes to establish the possibility of the delegation of part of the execution of sovereignty to international bodies in connection with the accession of the SR to the EU.
pp. 119-133

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INTENSION AND EXTENSION OF A TERM

Ján Horecký
Marianska 15, 900 31 Stupava, Slovakia

The term is defined as a linguistic sign which represents a designate, denoting together a concept and referring to a reference object. In the content part of this sign, the onomasiological basis and onomasiological mark are delimited. The designate as an element of idea, in which extension corresponds with the onomasiological basis of the content and intension corresponds with the onomasiological mark of the content, corresponds with the content as a linguistic element. These relations can be expressed in a bracket notation: [(content - form) - designate] -> concept, object.
pp. 134-140

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SLOVAKS AND CZECHS. THE SLOVAK AND CZECH LANGUAGES (THE ETHNO-SIGNIFICATIVE, CULTUROLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIOLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN TWO NATIONS AND THEIR LANGUAGES)

Klára Buzássyová and Slavomír Ondrejoviè
Ľudovít Štúr Linguistics Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Panská 26, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The aim of this study is to correlate knowledge from the areas of history, art history, and sociology, with related linguistic knowledge and so contribute to understanding of the relations ethnicity - culture - language. The authors would also like to contribute to the understanding of the processes currently taking place in several multinational states, which have also had an impact on the relations between the Slovaks and the Czechs.
pp. 141-158

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THE SLOVAK NATIONAL PARTY AS A POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SLOVAKS (1871-1914)

Milan Podrimavský
Institute of Historical Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The article deals with the basic characteristics of one of the chief functions of the Slovak National Party (SNS) between 1871 and 1914 as a political subject representing the national emancipatory interests of the Slovaks in the old Kingdom of Hungary (Uhorsko). Those interests were based on the principle of national sovereignty and expressed demands for political and state-legal recognition of national identity in terms of the principles of the equality of nations.
pp. 159-166

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JEWISHNESS IN THE EYES OF OTHERS: REFLECTION OF THE JEW IN SLOVAK FOLKLORE

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

The picture of the Jew in Slovak folklore is reconstructed by the author on the basis of songs, proverbs and sayings and folk narratives. The negative attitudes of the Slovak population towards the Jews prevail in the reflection and the tendency towards ambivalence is also met. The Jews are primarily perceived as "strange", the number of signs not being large: religion, ethnonym, language, social status and occupation, love relations between Jewish boys and non-Jewish girls (Jew - a seducer). The objections are primarily of moral-ethical character. The ethnic dimension of the image is just a device for demonstrating religious and social barriers. However, through moral-ethical objections, ethnic distinctive features were also indirectly demonstrated there. Particular forms of anti-Semitism have not been recorded in Slovak folklore. Most attributes of the Jew in Slovak folklore has deeper European (Central European) roots.
pp. 167-183

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THE TRADITIONAL AND PRESENT ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA

Lucia Pawliková
Department of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts of Comenius University,
Gondova 2, 818 01 Bratislava, Slovakia

In past few decades, that is after the Second Vatican Council the traditional role of the Roman Catholic Church in many Latin American countries has changed very considerably. Latin America originated the controversial "Theology of Liberation", which requires the involvement of the Church in the politics and sometimes uses Marxist rhetoric. The Catholic Church lost its previous unanimity and the progressive hierarchy and clergy in some countries began to promote new trends within it. This involved pastoral and social activities, the proliferation of so-called "church base communities" and a critical stand or even resistance against the military regimes. But nowadays the Catholic Church is still facing the challenge of finding its new role and mission in contemporary Latin America.
pp. 184-193

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REPORTS AND BOOK REVIEWS
pp.194-199

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