A description of the field of activities and tasks of the IOV Science and Research Commission for East-Central Europe

The scope of the Commission’s scientific and research activities comprises primarily Slavic cultural heritage viewed in two different perspectives: 1/ The cultural individuality of particular ethnoses within East-Central Europe (their cultural distinctive features), and 2/ Their common features: cultural universals combining individual nations within both Eastern and Western Slavdom and a broader community of European nations. A broad consideration of two religions – Western (Roman) Christianity and Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity – and their systems of values will be important for reconstruction of the traditional vision of man and the world characteristic of the component ethnic cultures of the ECE Commission.

Emphasis will be laid on correspondence between traditional and contemporary aspects of anthropologically orientated studies in folklore. This research will consider both spiritual and social areas of folk culture of East-Central European nations, with their material culture as a context.