The Center for the Study of European Politics and Society (CSEPS) at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, organizes EUROFEST, the annual European Festival at BGU Campus, which will take place between the 15th and 19 of May, 2011. Organized by CSEPS and students organizations, it constitutes nearly a dozen events dedicated to Europe, a mixture of cultural as well as academic celebration.
This year's festival theme is "European Myths & Legends", with every day of the festival focusing on a different area of Europe and presentings the area's myths and traditions.
On May 17, 16:00-17:00, prof. dr. Adrian Poruciuc, from Jassy University in Romania, will give his special lecture on the "Romanian Folklore – Between Lions and Vampires".
In English. Free entrance. With the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv.
Romanian Folklore – Between Lions and Vampires (Abstract)
Some Romanians may complain about the not so well developed urban civilization in their country. There is, however, a "benefit of ill" in that situation: due to centuries of illiteracy and to a still strong rural way of life, a remarkable amount of archaic (even prehistoric) beliefs could survive in Romania better than in other parts of Europe. On the one hand, Romanian traditional culture contains features that have evident counterparts in other Southeast European countries; but, on the other hand, there also are many elements of ritual folklore that are to be found in Romania alone.
Some of those elements can be referred to mythical-religious motifs of the ancient Orient and of the Aegean world. An example in point is a cycle of ritual songs (now used as "Christmas carols" in Transylvania) in which the central motif is a fight between a brave young man and a (talking, and even dancing) lion. Although the original ritual functions are no longer clear, the "inertial force" of peasant culture has ensured the transmission of such songs (from generation to generation, by word of mouth), so that they still are part of the Romanian winter-solstice celebrations.
In other instances, relics of archaic cultual practices (such as those that recall "folk Orphism") linger only under the guise of superstitions. In that respect, although "local" werewolves and vampires are not as blood-thirsty ad Bram Stoker's Dracula, they are still feared as harmful intruders from the Other World, and methods of protection against them are still remembered in many villages.
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