Slavic Culture Lecture
The Slavic Culture Lecture does not try to prove or disprove any of the many cultural elements or components within the current populations that claim to be Slavic. Rather, we are here to learn about the hypotheses, theories, and current scholarly reviews regarding the Slavic culture region, which is referred to on this website as the Slavic Global Village.
Click on the following video, which describes the Slavic countries and names their capital cities. You will also note that each Slavic country has its own flag with its own relevant colors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNM8-v_m4zM
Some of the earliest human remains found in the Ukraine are dated to 32,000 years ago and belong to a culture known as the Gravettian culture. As long ago as 10,000 years ago Slavic tribes settled Belarus and some 25 centuries ago there existed a thriving lake settlement in the Kyrgyz mountains, which was an advanced civilization producing bronze battleaxes, arrowheads, daggers, casting molds, and gold bars used as money.
Slavic language groups boast over 270 million speakers, with a wide variety of ethnic groups, which share in the culture of the Slavic Global Village. Ethnic groups include Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Bashkir, Belarussian, Moldavian, and Chuvash. Since the fall of the Soviet Union many of these countries have become independent sovereign nations with fledgling democracies. However, the smaller Slavic countries are still heavily influenced by Russia because of their dependency upon Russia’s natural resources. A prime example is Ukraine, which is in a struggle to remain a sovereign nation.
The Slavic Global Village is a dominant culture region in the world today. Students need to become aware of the many theories and controversies, as well as the facts that have been uncovered. Many facts cannot be said to be irrefutable, for ways of discernment, modern perspectives and manipulations and coercions of facts can change how facts are presented publicly. Unfortunately, political correctness or contemporary policies may also influence how facts are presented. Cultural biases and culture-bound prejudices, which students have already learned about, may misrepresent even the most documented and established facts. That being said, the Slavic Global Village deserves to be discovered and discussed in ways that bring awareness to students studying the region and its peoples.
One of the first things students learn about culture is that it is symbolic. The following video portrays Symbols in the Slavic Civilization. The many symbols in the video are recognizable, yet they may be hundreds or even thousands of years old. The symbols show up on textiles, tombstones, tablecloths, flags, clothing, and on many other kinds of material culture, such as dwellings, furniture, architecture, carvings and art. While watching the video,make a list of the many places these symbols are found. Where in your own cultural surroundings have you noticed or seen some of these same symbols?
What does it mean to be Slavic ? Follow this link to see what Slavic people think it really means to be Slavic in today’s world.