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and Stará Pazova.
In Selenča, they took out Kiseľka on Palm
Sunday and they received eggs for her (Vereš 1973). In
Kovačica, girls went round on Palm Sunday from morning with
a sprig and they were singing songs. One of them was dressed as
a bride (Pavlov 2019). Destruction of Kiselica or Morena in
Stará Pazova was known since the arrival of Slovaks to this
village. Kiselica was made by the girls, it was a dummy on
a wooden stick, and they dressed her up and carried her singing
around the village. They set her on fire and threw her into
a stream behind the village. The first record of active practice of
this custom comes from the first half of the 20
th
century and is
found in a monograph from 1932 (Lilge 1932). They were
mainly girls from poorer families who went round with K
iseľica
before World War II and collected eggs. Some residents of the
village remembered that on this occasion they also went to Nová
Pazova, where the German Evangelicals lived, who welcomed
them and rewarded them. According to the research of
ethnologist Pavlov (2019), the tradition has gradually lost its
obligatory character, its magic significance has disappeared and
it has been replaced by its entertainment function. Young girls,
who originally carried out Winter, are replaced in today's form
of “ladies“ by groups of children lead by a young bride of their
age. Boys and girls – “ladies“ in ceremonial ritual clothes
generally represent the youth and the beginning of a new era. If
some girls are dressed as brides, the function of youth, fertility
and new life is even more expressive and obvious. The motives
of the departure of winter and its ending are still present in the
song sung by “ladies“ in Stará Pazova during their round walks.
One of its central motives is bringing or passing the keys that
unlock the new season and bring spring. The same song was
sung in Stará Pazova when taking out Kise
ľica. Another element
that clearly interconnects the contemporary “ladies“ with the
original spring customs is the moment of rewarding the “ladies“
with Easter eggs. Presenting the girls with eggs as a symbol of
spring and life is present and obligatory in all forms of this
tradition.
Picture 4: Grand mother with grandson. Preparing for round
walk
“paňičke”. Stará Pazova. Apríl 2019. (Author: S.
Letavajová)
As we have mentioned earlier, the role of a young bride is very
important in the group of girls that represent “ladies“. In this
context, we could also look for parallels with children's games,
especially those that come from or imitate family customs – a
wedding or a funeral. Children's folklore includes games and
rhymes, some of the customs and festivals that come from the
adult repertoire, or the ones by which children imitate the adult
life. An example of this element is a children's wedding or a
funeral – burying a sparrow, a mouse, or other animal. The
children perform the roles of wedding or mourning officials, in
the case of a funeral they present the role of a priest, cantor or
a funeral parade, in the case of a wedding they represent the
bridegroom, the bride, the elder, wedding parents, cooks,
musicians, groomsmen and bridesmaids.
The tradition of children's weddings is still alive in the Serbian
village of Kovačica. In the past, children were performing the
wedding in the natural environment; almost every street had their
wedding parade. In addition to being entertained by these
activities, the children learned the common traditions of adults.
In the last decade, the children's wedding in Kovačica has been
institutionalized, it has a script and a director, and most often it
takes the form of a folk wedding parade through the streets of
the village. It is a program performed by adults, a cultural event
that has repeated performances (in Kovačica as well as at
folklore festivals at home and abroad); the number of
performances depends on demand and the amount of finance. Its
primary function is to select the appropriate types of children,
prepare a quality cultural program and to institutionalize the
original Kovačica / Slovak custom. The event is held under the
auspices of the Memorial Centre of Dr. Janko Bulík, who is, in
cooperation w
ith Matica Slovenská in Kovačica, its main
organizer. It is held in August or September and in 2019 it will
be its 13
th
year (Children's Wedding in Kovačica 2016, 2019).
However, we believe that the connection of the “ladies“ with
children's games is not unequivocal. When performing children’s
wedding, children imitate adults or some of their activities and
the game plays a primary role, regardless of whether their
parents help them prepare the space, costume or food.
5 Conclusion and discussion
The performance of “ladies“ is an ancient custom of the
Vojvodina Slovaks. If we do not take into account its unique
manifestations in the nearby Sklankamenské Vinohrady, Stará
Pazova is the only locality where the “ladies“ are still alive and
continually realized since the arrival of Slovaks to this locality.
The ”ladies“ have evolved and naturally transformed into today's
form from the pagan Slavic ritual of Morena (Winter). From the
original forms of this cultural element, they retained most of the
formal, content, and semantic components. The presence of the
“ladies“ and their walks during the Palm Sunday is considered a
norm and an obligation by the local community, without which
the Palm Sunday would not be what they are supposed to be.
Some changes took place mainly in the outside – the formal
aspect of the custom. The ladies' garments were enriched
(colourful, rich, complex garments and garments imitating the
bride's clothing), and the group of actors of the tradition
expanded (a number of groups and a number of young brides,
the presence of boys, babies dressed in folk costume during
church services), new features appeared in the round walks such
as the participation of the “ladies“ in the Palm Sunday
evangelical worship (presentation of the children in folk
costumes before the altar, blessing by the priest, taking a picture,
singing and dancing in front of the church). All of these factors
determine the continuation and strengthening of the obligatory
character and normativeness of the tradition- From the viewpoint
of a form the tradition is increasingly more colourful, varied,
pomp, theatrical and representative. They are particularly better
living standards of the population that determine these changes.
However, the contemporary form of the “ladies“ is primarily a
reflection of a strong ethnic, confessional and local identity. In
addition to the family background and the natural
intergenerational transfer of the tradition from the generation of
grandparents to their children and grandchildren, the activities of
local institutions also participate in its formation. The local
priest, evangelical church, kindergarten and primary school as
well as folklore ensembles contribute to the preservation and
revitalization of the “ladies“. The formal and informal support of
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