Page 40 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 40
stone narratives
chimney. Until the Italian occupation, when spirit distilling was prohibited, people would
make spirits in autumn and winter in the cauldron for distillation, placed next to the fire-
place (Bizjak, 1958, f. 26, 41, 42, 213, 297; Budal, 1993, p. 68; Godina Golija, 2008, p. 104;
Plahuta, 2002, pp. 85–101; Rodman & Makarovič, 2000, p. 76; Šarf, 1958a, p. 2, 6, 18, 33–
34; Ščukovt, 2007, pp. 423–431).
Venue of social interaction
The fireplace was not important only as a place of physical activities, but also as a venue and
generator of social relations, negotiations and interaction among members and non-mem-
bers of the household. The fireplace did therefore not only change raw food into dishes, as
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1980) put it, but also transformed individuals into members of the
shared household:
But the hearth is not just a symbolic centre; it is also instrumental in processes of transformation.
It is in the hearth that the different elements that enter the house – meat and vegetable, kin and
affine, the like and the unlike – may be said to be mixed and blended, veritably cooked together.
Insofar as houses are continually transforming what passes through them, the hearth is both
literally and figuratively the site where these transformations actually take place. (Carsten in
Hugh-Jones, 1995, p. 42–43)
The fireplace was the place in the dwelling where residents were daily, weekly and
yearly engaged in repetitive social interaction, daily food preparation and eating, and cele-
brating of festivals of the calendar year or a life’s cycle. The most common situations of so-
cial interaction were eating together, sitting and warming up at the fire, gathering togeth-
er, meeting, communicating and negotiating with members and non-members, and certain
other rituals, such as prayer.
Since the kitchen was the only warm and light place in the house, people stayed at the
fireplace in long winter evenings. On spacious low fireplaces, they would sit on footstools,
three-legged stools, benches or sills in window or blind niches; children would sit on round
logs. Characteristic of the Vipava Valley was a moveable bench with a backrest (škanj),
which at the same time protected the fire from draught. These benches were only placed at
the fireside in winter and were removed in spring, on Saint Joseph’s Day (19 March). People
would also sit on covered cauldrons and on the edge of the fireplace. In winter, when it was
very cold, they would bring the cradle to the fireplace (Bizjak, 1958, f. 46, 178, 182, 186, 191,
210, 224, 226, 267, 299, 302, 303, 305; Makarovič, 1981, p. 200; Šarf, 1958a, p. 4–6, 43; 1958b,
p. 13; 1964, p. 366). In winter, they would eat on the fireplace (Šarf, 1958b, p. 4); the habit of
eating at kitchen or dining tables was only established with the introduction of stoves and
kitchen tables.
The fireplace was also a scene of certain rituals. In the mid-19th century, the priest and
linguist Štefan Kociančič recorded a ritual of burning a yule log in the Vipava Valley. On
Christmas Eve, a large wooden log (panj), which they called a little god (božič), was placed
on the hearth instead of the andiron. The whole family would gather at the fireplace, crack
walnuts and hazelnuts, pray, sing religious and secular songs and tell stories, while pouring
wine from maiolica onto the yule log. According to Niko Kuret, this custom is believed to
have been preserved in the south-eastern, southern and south-western parts of Slovenia un-
38
chimney. Until the Italian occupation, when spirit distilling was prohibited, people would
make spirits in autumn and winter in the cauldron for distillation, placed next to the fire-
place (Bizjak, 1958, f. 26, 41, 42, 213, 297; Budal, 1993, p. 68; Godina Golija, 2008, p. 104;
Plahuta, 2002, pp. 85–101; Rodman & Makarovič, 2000, p. 76; Šarf, 1958a, p. 2, 6, 18, 33–
34; Ščukovt, 2007, pp. 423–431).
Venue of social interaction
The fireplace was not important only as a place of physical activities, but also as a venue and
generator of social relations, negotiations and interaction among members and non-mem-
bers of the household. The fireplace did therefore not only change raw food into dishes, as
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1980) put it, but also transformed individuals into members of the
shared household:
But the hearth is not just a symbolic centre; it is also instrumental in processes of transformation.
It is in the hearth that the different elements that enter the house – meat and vegetable, kin and
affine, the like and the unlike – may be said to be mixed and blended, veritably cooked together.
Insofar as houses are continually transforming what passes through them, the hearth is both
literally and figuratively the site where these transformations actually take place. (Carsten in
Hugh-Jones, 1995, p. 42–43)
The fireplace was the place in the dwelling where residents were daily, weekly and
yearly engaged in repetitive social interaction, daily food preparation and eating, and cele-
brating of festivals of the calendar year or a life’s cycle. The most common situations of so-
cial interaction were eating together, sitting and warming up at the fire, gathering togeth-
er, meeting, communicating and negotiating with members and non-members, and certain
other rituals, such as prayer.
Since the kitchen was the only warm and light place in the house, people stayed at the
fireplace in long winter evenings. On spacious low fireplaces, they would sit on footstools,
three-legged stools, benches or sills in window or blind niches; children would sit on round
logs. Characteristic of the Vipava Valley was a moveable bench with a backrest (škanj),
which at the same time protected the fire from draught. These benches were only placed at
the fireside in winter and were removed in spring, on Saint Joseph’s Day (19 March). People
would also sit on covered cauldrons and on the edge of the fireplace. In winter, when it was
very cold, they would bring the cradle to the fireplace (Bizjak, 1958, f. 46, 178, 182, 186, 191,
210, 224, 226, 267, 299, 302, 303, 305; Makarovič, 1981, p. 200; Šarf, 1958a, p. 4–6, 43; 1958b,
p. 13; 1964, p. 366). In winter, they would eat on the fireplace (Šarf, 1958b, p. 4); the habit of
eating at kitchen or dining tables was only established with the introduction of stoves and
kitchen tables.
The fireplace was also a scene of certain rituals. In the mid-19th century, the priest and
linguist Štefan Kociančič recorded a ritual of burning a yule log in the Vipava Valley. On
Christmas Eve, a large wooden log (panj), which they called a little god (božič), was placed
on the hearth instead of the andiron. The whole family would gather at the fireplace, crack
walnuts and hazelnuts, pray, sing religious and secular songs and tell stories, while pouring
wine from maiolica onto the yule log. According to Niko Kuret, this custom is believed to
have been preserved in the south-eastern, southern and south-western parts of Slovenia un-
38
