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The author presents a part of the results of his field research in Šar Mountains Župa Sirinić, a region in the extreme south of Kosovo and Metohija. Starting from the fact that this region has the character of an ethnically mixed area, since, beside the Serbian majority, there also live Albanians, the attention in the paper is paid to the local Serbian-Albanian relations in the context of the position of the Serbs living in Sirinić in the conditions of socio-political processes in Kosovo and Metohija after the NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia in 1999 until today. The studied problem was observed from the perspective of the local Serbs, which means that in order to achieve the goal of the research the emphasis was placed on the analysis of the discourse of the members of the researched Serbian community. The results presented in the paper were obtained on the basis of field research conducted in Sirinić on several occasions during 2023 and 2024. The results of research affirmed the complexity of the studied topic, since the inter-ethnic relations in the observed area reflected the character of the relationship between the members of the two ethnic groups inherited from the period before 1999, while, at the same time, they were under the influence of diametrically different positions of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija after the mentioned year, which expressed the position of power of the Albanian side over the Serbian side. Serbian-Albanian relations in Sirinić, according to the perception of local Serbs, manifested one main characteristic, which could probably be best described as ambivalent, which means that, through the prism of the members of the researched Serbian community, the relations with their Albanian neighbors are most often experienced as intertwined coexistence and cooperation, on the one hand, and mutual distrust, on the other.

The author of this paper presents part of the results of his field research in Ibarski Kolašin, a region in the northwest of Kosovo and Metohija. Central attention is paid to the event that the Serbs from Ibarski Kolašin perceive as an important part of their traditional cultural heritage, which is the secondary family patron saint celebration. The research of the mentioned event was carried out in the village of Rujište, located in the eastern part of Ibarski Kolašin, which is characterized by the fact that all its inhabitants celebrate Saint Elijah as a secondary family patron saint. The author tries to present the main elements of the celebration of the Saint Elijah's Day in Rujište, with a focus on a collective aspect of the celebration, while the goal of the paper is an attempt to contribute to the understanding of the researched event as a phenomenon whose important role, viewed from the aspect of demographic processes in Ibarski Kolašin, is the role of social-integrative character. The research procedure applied in the aim of achieving mentioned goal was based on the qualitative method approach, primarily observation and conversations with interlocutors. Field research for the needs of paper in the village of Rujište was conducted in August 2023.

In this paper the author pays attention to the practice of drinking from big rakija, the so-called "tea" glass, distributed among the Serbs in Ibarski Kolašin. This act the author observes as an aspect of culture which Serbs from Ibarski Kolašin perceive as an element of their tradition, while the emphasis in the paper is on the subjective side of the researched phenomenon, what means that attention is focused on understanding the way in which its immediate bearers think and speak about it. The idea of the author, in other words, was to try to replace the classic ethnographic description of drinking from the "tea" glass, which would be given from the "outside", from the researcher's point of view, with the approach in which the emphasis would be on personal descriptions of the mentioned practice, given from the point of view of its concrete bearers. The analytical procedure applied in achieving the set goal was based on an anthropologically key perspective, and that is the emic perspective, or view from the "inside", which means that, methodologically speaking, the author had used the qualitative approach, primarily the conversation with interlocutors. In this way, the author obtained the narrative material, which he transcribed, systematized, selected, and then transferred to the paper in an effort to present it in its original form, as it was noted in direct contact with interlocutors. The narrative material presented in the paper was obtained on the basis of field research conducted in Kosovska Mitrovica and Zubin Potok on several occasions during 2021 and 2022.

In this paper the author starts from previous research on the position of Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica, of which the main part he conducted in the period from 2011 to 2014. Based on the results of this research, the everydayness of the local Serbs, in the changed socio-political context in Kosovo and Metohija after the NATO aggression in 1999, the author described as everydayness "captured" in a post-war state of conflict, filled with feelings of threat from Albanians and fear of an uncertain tomorrow. Bearing in mind the changes that took place in Kosovo and Metohija after the 2011-2014 research, which were initiated by the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, which meant integration of the institutions of the Republic of Serbia into the institutional system of self-proclaimed independent Kosovo, the author intends to give a contribution to understanding the situation of the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica today. He directs attention to the analysis of the local Serbs' attitudes towards the outcomes of the Brussels Agreement, and makes an effort to answer the question whether the thesis of the "captured" everydayness of the researched Serbian community is applicable today as it was according to the results of research conducted from 2011 to 2014. The methodological procedure applied in achieving the set goal was based on an anthropological key perspective, and that is the emic perspective, which means that the author used the qualitative research approach, primarily the conversation with interlocutors. The data and results presented in the paper was obtained on the basis of field research conducted in Kosovska Mitrovica during March and April 2022.

In this paper the author presents results of research on the position of Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica in the context of the integration of the North of Kosovo and Metohija into the institutional system of the self-proclaimed independent Kosovo, foreseen by the Brussels Agreement from 2013. The focus of the paper is on the attitude of the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica towards the outcomes of the Brussels Agreement, where the emphasis is placed on viewing the way in which the members of the researched Serbian community talk about their position from the aspect of one of the main sentiments woven into their experience of their own status practically all the time since the ethnic division of Kosovska Mitrovica in 1999 until today, and that is the feeling of apprehention from an uncertain tomorrow. In a situation where they are practically excluded from making decicions regarding the application of the Brussels agreement, the research was motivated by the effort to enable the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica to "speak", in the hope that their voice will reach not only the scientific, but also the wider social public. The goal of the paper, in that sense, is aimed at understanding the way in which the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica describe their current situation, that is, at providing an answer to the question of how, in the context of feeling uncertainty about tomorrow, they think about their future. The method applied in achieving the set goal was based on the emic, anthropological key perspective, which means that the author used the qualitative research approach, primarily the conversation with interlocutors. The results presented in the paper were obtained on the basis of field research conducted in Kosovska Mitrovica on several occations during 2022.

In this paper the author presents a part of the results of field research conducted among Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica between 2011 and 2014. The motive of the research was to offer a contribution to the understanding of the position of the Serbs in this city in the conditions of the altered socio-political context after the war on Kosovo and Metohija in 1999. A part of the research was paid to the problem of the image of Albanians in the perception of Serbs in the context of mutual conflict and the division of Kosovska Mitrovica into two parts - northern, majorly Serbian, and southern - majorly Albanian. This topic has imposed itself practically from the very beginning of the research, due to the fact that the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica generally defined their everyday life after the war in 1999 through the picture of division towards Albanians. Theoretically, the research was relied on the concept of ethnic identity, or ethnicity. Starting from Roland Barthes' interpretation of this phenomenon, according to which it is reflective, what means defined by boundaries as a social product arising from the need of groups to differentiate between each other, the aim of the research was to provide ethnographic material useful for understanding the identity position of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica in the conditions of conflict with Albanian ethnic group. Methodologically viewed, the research was conducted by using an anthropological approach, which meant that the studied problem was analyzed at the interpersonal level and through the experiences of individuals. Attention was focused on the discourse, which means that the research topic was observed from the point of view of the testimonies of the respondents included in the research. The testimonies of the respondents were obtained by using in-depth, ie qualitative research methods, in the first place formal and informal interviews. The research showed that the identity discourse of the Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica towards Albanians was marked by distance, imbued with feelings of threat and distrust. Members of the Albanian ethnic group were observed through the generalizing prism of opposing others, so that they were attributed characteristics with most often diametrically different sign compared to the characteristics that the respondents attributed to themselves, to their own, Serbian ethnic group. On the one hand, the respondents attributed negative characteristics to Albanians, which they considered as not appropriate for Serbs. These characteristics were observed at a double level: 1) regardless of contacts with Serbs ("uncultured", "primitive", "uncivilized"); and 2) in the context of mutual contacts (hypocritical, pretentious, cunning, calculated, etc), ie from the aspect of the attitude towards Serbs which was generally described as hostile. Negative characteristics attributed to Albanians respondents perceived as features opposite to the characteristics of Serbs, which means that by emphasizing them, according to the principal of mutual contrast, they implicitly pointed to the positive values of their own, Serbian identity. On the other hand, the respondents attributed certain positive characteristics to Albanians, namely those that they considered to be in favor of members of Albanian ethnic group in relation to Serbs, which the Serbs lacked. These characteristics were also treated in contrast to Serbian characteristics, and they meant patience, tact, wisdom, diligence, meekness, keeping a given word. The results presented in the paper upgrades the results of previous research that included the analyses of the image of Albanians in the perceptions of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija in the conditions of the altered socio-political context in this area after the war in 1999. Presented ethnographic material, obtained in period between 2011 and 2014, showed that Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica perceived Albanians primarily through the prism of simplified ideas, which viewed from identity aspect implied the perception of members of the Albanian ethnic group as violent, and members of their own, Serbian ethnic group as victims. Generalization as a form of opinion about Albanians in the statements of respondents was colored with the intertwining of negative and positive attitudes about the characteristics of members of the Albanian ethnic group, with the fact that these attitudes were expressed in such a way as to compare the characteristics of their own group. Yet, the research obtained several views which softened the contrast between Serbs and Albanians, by pointing out the elements of a social character common to each other. The image of Albanians, in the end, gained some complexity thanks to the attitudes of those respondents who spoke about members of this ethnic group through the perception of direct connections and personal experiences. This brought to light the attitude towards Albanian that in some measure deviated from the prevailing generalizations, which, from an analytical point of view, suggested that the image of members of this ethnic group in the perception of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica was not as simplified as in the context of mutual conflict it might seem so at first glance.

In this paper the author presents the results of the research of the everyday life of the Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica in the conditions of the altered socio-political context after the war on Kosovo and Metohija in 1999. The main attention is paid to the status and the functioning of institutions. The aim of the paper is to offer a contribution based on the conceptualization of the ethnographic field work material in order to give the account of the everyday experience of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica in the conditions of the undefined institutional relations caused by the withdrawal of Serbian authorities from Kosovo and Metohija, the introduction of an international protectorate and the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence. The results presented in this paper were obtained from the field research conducted several times from 2011 to 2015 in a total duration of over eight months. The change of social-political context after the war in 1999 led to major structural disruptions in Kosovo and Metohija. These disruptions were felt especially in the institutional sphere, where they reflected in almost all aspects of the everyday life of Serbs in this area. The undefined status of institutions, in this regard, has shown to be one of the key issues in the context of the everyday life of the Serb population in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica. The survival of the Serbian institutions for the Serbs in this town represented a confirmation of the presence of the Republic of Serbia in the North of Kosovo and Metohija, which was an important symbol of identification of the local Serbs with the state they considered their own. These institutions, on the other hand, have been under intense international and Albanian pressure since the war in 1999, i. e. under the constant threat of abolition, which caused a continuous feeling of insecurity among the Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica and the concerns regarding their own survival. In the conditions of contested legitimacy the Serbs did not accept the imposed instances of international and Kosovo administration, while the international regulatory bodies and Kosovo institutions did not recognize institutions of the Republic of Serbia, considering them "parallel", i. e. illegal. In Northern Kosovska Mitrovica this led to a social situation characterized by the absence of clearly defined authorities, especially in the domain of executive structures, in which the Serbs in this town led their everyday life in a gap between their needs for carrying out various daily practices on the one hand, and on the other the reality interwoven with intricate institutional relations. The Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica were forced to adapt to living in "parallel" realities, deprived of the "normalcy" of everyday life inherent in organized societies. Yet, even though they learned how to adapt to those circumstances and even how to take advantage of them, such a reality created a number of everyday problems which, in the conditions of general uncertainty, made their situation even more unfavorable.

In this paper the author shows the results of the research of everyday life of the Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica in the conditions of the altered socio-political context after the war in 1999 and ethnical division of this town on two parts: northern (Serbian) and southern (Albanian). The main attention was paid to those aspects of everyday life which were ranked as fundamental, unavoidable fields of everyday reality, and this was work and economy. The results presented in this paper were obtained based on field research conducted several times from 2011 to 2015 in the total duration of over eight months. The research results showed that socio-political alterations in Kosovo and Metohija caused by the consequences of war in 1999, had enormous impact on everyday life of the Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica. Non-defined institutional-legal situation in the connection with permanent political independence, led to the situation that everyday reality of Serbian population was found captured in one laminal condition, on the margins of that social condition which could be called in modern sense of the word as regulated one. Such condition caused merely complete delay of economy, which in the shadow of former giant Trepča, and in the lack of investments, in the period after war, survives thanks to the influx of resources on behalf of pension benefits, salaries and social welfare being paid from the budget of the Republic of Serbia. The majority of economic activity in the situation alike is of mercantile character which means that a large part of these activities from entrepreneurial sector is based on commerce and service provision, thus consumption. Everyday economy practices of the Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica one decade and a half after the separation of the city was characterized by a liberal regime is personalized in entrepreneurial activity which is run almost freely and without strict legal rules. In order to ensure the existence in the time where there are no regular incomes, as lot of citizens were forced to get by, thus to resort to different entrepreneurial activities such as: commerce, provision of different services, transport etc. These activities, besides suitability arisen from the fact that due to the non-functioning of the institutions taxes were not paid to the state, could not provide nothing more than a mere survival. The research showed that ethnicity played an important role in economic co-operation among Serbian population in Kosovska Mitrovica, that is, in other terms, economic aspects of everyday life of the Serbs in this city was followed by the favourizing line of the members of the own ethnical group. That was seen practically in all economic practices encompassed with this research, where Serbs were directed to each other. Limits of ethnical favourizing have proven to be permeable, first of all, in the field of commerce. Serbs tried to include in the exchange process of goods and money from pragmatic reasons the Albanians so that this kind of activity in ethnically divided Kosovska Mitrovica was getting additional dimension, as the factor of Serbo-Albanian interconnection.

The paper discusses 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko', the event of a collective character, named after a famous epic character in Serbian tradition, which is practised in Štrpce on the day of White Shrove. I presented this event taking into account its main participants and the spatial and temporal frameworks in which it takes place, with the aim of contributing to the research of the culture of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohia. This research aims to replace general topics with specific topics, usually involving the interpretations based on the absence of clear space and time coordinates, by looking at precisely defined events, in order to provide an ethnographic material that could serve for possible comparative or repeated surveys of the same phenomena. The results presented in this paper were obtained from the field research of qualitative type carried out in Štrpce on White Shrove in 2018. The results of the study showed that 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko' is a central ceremony during the celebration of White Shrove in Štrpce. It shows a wedding ritual, distinguished by a clearly defined organization at three levels: 1) of space, 2) time, 3) participants. The actors of 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko' include only men, mostly younger, who make a masked procession through Štrpce, with several main characters, such as, in the first place, Kraljević Marko, as a 'groom', and snaša, as a 'bride'. Playing wedding roles, in which the central attention is dedicated to 'the newlyweds' as bearers of a marital relationship that symbolizes the birth of the offspring, points to the ancient origin of the phenomenon of the shrovetide procession in Štrpce, which can be accommodated in that past when it was believed that the transition from winter to spring season by imitation of a wedding ritual can affect the fertility of nature, crops, people and cattle. That the roots of this phenomenon do not rely only on this belief, which speaks in favor of its complexity, indicate the other elements from which it is compiled, such as the connection of the shrovetide procession to the beginning of the Easter fasting as a period in which, due to spiritual 'purification', people are supossed to enter good mood and forgive insults, intrigues and quarrels. 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko' shows the characteristics similar to the shrovetide weddings recorded in other regions inhabited by the Serbs, the characteristics by which these phenomena are recognizable, such as ritualism, collectivity, colorfulness. According to these characteristics, this custom can primarily be described as a folk festivity, or as an event of social and entertainment character. As a collective joy, 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko' is also a type of social valve, that is the kind of unusual practice which under controlled conditions enables the release of the pressure of the proclaimed social principles and the inversion of the existing order into an apparent, another world, different from the world of the established everyday reality. The shrovetide wedding in Štrpce reflects inversion of reality exactly in the sphere of marital relations, where the roles of the main actors, above all the 'bride', as a female principle, are mostly shown in the reverse mirror of generally accepted social values, through satire and lasciviousness. Accordingly, the role of 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko' ceremony could be viewed as the role of a latent criticism of the established way of marrying, especially in the context of the patriarchal social order, where a woman, with a position subordinated to the position of a man, has a limited freedom of behavior, where two things most often expected from her are innocence and physical beauty. The significance of 'The Wedding of Kraljević Marko' for Serbs in Štrpce is of particular importance in the context of contemporary social and political processes in Kosovo and Metohia, where in the majority Albanian environment, and under the pressure of full integration into the so-called Kosovo institutional system, proposed by the 2013 Brussels Agreement, their position is largely uncertain. The preservation of the shrovetide wedding, which they perceive as a part of their traditional heritage, is therefore of crucial importance for the Serbs in Štrpce today, because it is an important issue of their cultural and historical continuity, especially in a situation where under the mentioned circumstances they have a great need to express their ethnic identity.

The paper discusses the event named 'mavanje kumbara' that is practiced in Sirinićka župa, the area in southern Kosovo and Metohija. This event is related to the act of burning the ritual fire and represents a part of the celebration of the White Shrove, on the eve of the Eastern fasting. The results presented in this paper were obtained from the field research of qualitative type carried out during 2018, mainly in Štrpce, the centre of Sirinićka župa. The study showed that 'mavanje kumbara' is a unique name used for the burning the Shrovetide fire recorded among the Serbs. The practice connected to the act of 'mavanje kumbara' shows the characteristics similar to the practice of the burning the shrovetide fire recorded in some earlier periods, but the fact is, according to everything, that nowadays this practice is also unique phenomenon, which is not reported anywhere else among the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, central Serbia and wider. The act of 'mavanje kumbara' is derived from belief that in the transition from winter to spring season harmful effects and evil forces will be driven out of settlements and houses by fire. It is the act of collective character, performed in the streets, on one hand, and in the middle of the settlement, on the other hand, by rotating the flame torches around the body. Beside ritual elements, this event contains elements of social and entertainment character, with the goal of contributing to a good mood, according to what it can be described as a kind of folk festivity or a collective joy.

The paper discusses the dance of peacock and peahen, the ritual of a collective character that is practised in Velika Hoča on the third day of Easter. I presented this ritual taking into account its main participants and the spatial and temporal frameworks in which it takes place, with the aim of contributing to the research of the culture of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohia. This research aims to replace general topics with specific topics, usually involving interpretations based on the absence of clear space and time coordinates, by looking at precisely defined events, in order to provide ethnographic material that could serve for possible comparative or repeated surveys of the same phenomena. The results presented in this paper were obtained from the field research of qualitative type carried out in Velika Hoča on several occasions in late 2016 and during 2017. The results of the study showed that the dance of peacock and peahen is the phenomenon of syncretic character, which means that it links elements from several cultural epochs including the oldest that appears to date back to pre-Christian times, and that could be connected to the practices of spring cycle rituals and customs dedicated to fertility, marriage, etc. The actors of peacock and peahen dance include only women, and the leading roles - the role of the peacock and the peahen - belong to two older women, with a significant experience in dancing, while other roles belong to girls and other women. From an analytical point of view, the origin of this dance can be seen as a response to the need of the female members of the community to compensate for the shortcomings of their real social position in a patriarchal context, and they will do so through a socially acceptable form to emphasize the importance of their role in a reality where their decision-making in the past was often disabled, in matters such as choosing marriage partners. Today, this ritual is part of the cultural heritage of great importance for the Serbs in Velika Hoča, in terms of self-identification, especially in a situation where they live in the environment inhabited by an Albanian majority, and in conditions of a deeply altered socio-political context after the war in Kosovo in 1999, where they have a great need to express their ethnic and religious identity.

The author of this paper elaborates some elements of the patron, that is, family celebration with Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica today. The overview has been presented as per the data gathered during the field research carried out from October 2013 to February 2014, including also the period from July to August 2014. The research results show that celebration is among Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica widespread phenomenon. There are some specificities in its celebration so that it differs from the one with population in other parts of Serbia. One of the specificities is featured in the fact the celebration starts to be celebrated one day before, so in the eve of the day when the saint occurs, and when the main celebration ritual is performed. Some particularities regarding the celebration table, including the fact the celebration is transferred from father to son before father's death, and in the case sun became independent and married one child of his, that is married his son or daughter. Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica experience celebration as an important element of their Serbian tradition, being transferred by generations from father to son from which it can be viewed as phenomenon showing continuity and tendency of long lasting. At the same time, although the respondents do not inform it explicitly, and bearing in mind the fact the understanding of celebration as the mark of Serbianism is proscribed in their attitudes, for the symbolism of the holiday it can be said it was additionally actualized in the context of ethnic division of Kosovska Mitrovica, in which due to tensions with Albanian population from the war in 1999 onwards, Serbs undoubrfully had the need to show their religious and ethnic identity.

The author of this paper shows the results of research among Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica from the point of view of their memories on everyday life before the war 1999. The central attention was paid to the memories on the most important, and at the same time, contending others, that is, Albanians. The basic aim of the paper is to give contribution for the consideration of the role the mentioned memories in the post-war, radically altered ethnical and socio-political discourse have had in the self-identification of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica; giving contribution to the conception of ethnographic material for the consideration of their recent everyday life being fulfilled almost fifteen years with refugee-related reality, security risks, economic passiveness, and uncertain tomorrow. From theoretical point of view, the author starts from the comprehension of memory as thoughtful image of the past inseparable from the experience of reality being happened now which is, in other words, interweaved by the needs of the present days, and hopes looking forward to the future. As such, memory is contemplated through the direction by social and cultural context, that is, through the belonging to collectivity which is modelling individual memories in accordance with identity-related discourses, value system, and symbols comprehension. The author is also relying on the socio-constructivist approach of the identity study, as per which identities are created inside the discourse as the result of some social frame, which means they are situation conditioned, changeable and subject to negotiating, rather than being a permanent category which people are possessing 'it themselves'. The research had been conducted with respondents through interviews which were of open type, and which were diffused toward the most different directions where pre-war everyday life were the most present. The attitudes of the respondents were in the focus of research so that the material at which the paper was based upon was of narrative character, from which the analysis was directed to the discourse under which was understood the form of social practice whose basic unit was the attitude, that is statement. The research had been conducted among elderly and middle age people of Serbs which were born in Kosovska Mitrovica or spent a large part of their life including the ones which emigrated there after the war from the wider area of Kosovo and Metohia Southern from the river of Ibar. In the aim of field research the author repeatedly stayed there from the middle of 2011 until the beginning of 2014 in the total duration of over six months. The research results indicate the fact that memories of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica to Albanians in the context of pre-war everyday life interweaved by the discourse of post-war everyday life, where everyday life before the war 1999 is experienced through the belonging to our time, during which in Kosovo and Metohia the state of Yugoslavia was present, that is Serbia, differently from the everyday life after the war being described in the context of their time, where that area belongs to the protectorate of international community, and the preponderance in power distribution passes at Albanian side. Contrast between the two mentioned times in the discourse of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica is expressed in the multiethnical character of everyday life before the war, as the opposition of the state after the war where the ethnical division of the town and open antagonism of Albanians occur manifested in numerous attempts to exterminate Serbs from the part of the town Northern of the river of Ibar. The main responsibility for such turning point is reproached to Albanian side for which it is alleged that it started showing intolerance toward Serbs and desire for separation many years before the war. The difference between everyday lives before and after the war is represented as discrepancy between the one Serbs has or does not have today, and the one Albanians had before the war. Albanians in the memories of respondents at everyday life during several decades until 1999 appear as equal citizens, whom Serbs regardless of different ethnical belonging accepted as neighbours, colleagues, acquaints, even friends. On the other hand, the position of Serbs after the war is experienced diametrally different. Their everyday life from the division of labour they connect with the sentiment of significant risk, uncertainty, tensions, and risk of the outbreak of interethnic conflicts, for which as the worst offenders are referred to Albanians. It is considered that the Albanians in our, Yugoslav time, lived much better than Serbs live today, in their, Serbian time. Contrary to their own position, which has been from the war onwards experienced through the exposition to many permanent pressures and largely denied rights, respondents have connected Albanians until the war with everyday life in which they were not being deteriorated by Serbian side. Relationships of Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica toward Albanians after 1999 are imbued with the sentiment of the experienced injustice. Such sentiment is interwoven in the self-identification of Serbs as the main victims of the war, inextricably connected with negative perception of Albanians as the main culprits for evil being inflicted to Serbs. Memories at Albanians in the context of everyday life before the war are the resource which has got an important role in the victimization of Serbs. Through the images on the other once, before the war, is shaped the image of yourself today, after the war. By memories to Albanians in pre-war everyday life in other words, is positioned the experience of yourself as the part lost a lot by the war, which Albanians had already had before the war in Yugoslavia and Serbia.

This paper deals with the celebration of Demetrius, city's celebration of Kosovska Mitrovica, which the author wishes to show within clearly defined spacious and timely frames including a recognizable organizers and main actors. A special attention was paid to the one of the crucial celebration rituals - procession which, with its starting point in the churchyard of St. Demetrius, is moving via main streets of the city making a circle around the narrowest core of it. The reason for such theme choosing lies in the fact the author wishes to give a contribution to ethnologic-anthropologic study which aim is to replace generalized studies of some phenomena in culture, which generally mean interpretations based on the absence of clear temporally and spacious co-ordinate, by taking into account precisely determined events in order to achieve ethnographic material which could serve for eventual comparative or repeated researches of the same phenomena. No less important motive for the research of the mentioned theme the author sees in the endeavour to give contribution to the studies of modern phenomena in the culture of Serbian population in the ethnically divided city as Kosovska Mitrovica, in which from the war in 1999 everyday life of Serbs is characterized almost by permanent emergency situations filled with tensions with respect to the Albanian population, security risks, institutional-legal and existential uncertainty. The research for the needs of paper by the method of observation with participation including jotting down the events with camera and dictaphone was carried out at the day of Demetrius in 2012. The achieved results show the feast of city's celebration day in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica together with public rituals being partitioned during that day are structured at three levels such as: 1) at the level of apace, 2) time, and 3) participants. The celebration of Demetrius is performed in the Church of St. Demetrius and its churchyard, and outside of it - along the trace which including some streets makes a circle around the city's core, and at some points being situated in that trace. Public rituals at the day of the city's celebration are carried out in the frames of more-less precisely determined time intervals - at 08:00 o'clock where feast's church liturgy starts, and around 10:30 when procession sets out from the churchyard until 12:00 o'clock when the procession by the turnout at the Square of Šumadija is terminated. Among the actors of Demetrius' celebration is possible to notice organizers and main actors, which include representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, local self-management, and some bodies of power from the Republic of Serbia from one part, and from another, visitors, participants including the members of wider Serbian community in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica. Feast's rituals in the church building of St. Demetrius, as the author noticed, are carried out completely in accordance with Church's Law, in the way the Orthodox church's practice impose it. Nevertheless, although church's representatives interpret part of the celebration including procession in accordance with Christian images, it is featured with the displace of Demetrius' acts out of church's building, strict Church's principles are put in the second plan, from which it can be supposed the way of their practicing was achieved by harmonization of the priesthood concepts and the population needs themselves. Harmonization of the procession with the needs of population of Northern Kosovska Mitrovica is better shown by the popularity of this ritual among them, and which in some elements is more like folk, profane celebrity than strictly prescribed church's ritual. The importance of that ritual is noticeable in the symbolic it contains: symbolic of individual and group identification with the Orthodox religious tradition and the one in the field of ethnic identification are being overlapped in it. The procession is seen by the representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church including the citizens as the event they are identifying with as the Orthodox believers and the one serving for the Serbian people from Northern Kosovska Mitrovica gathering, and in the reinforcing of its mutual connection and fellowship feeling. The mentioned symbolic is not able to be viewed independently from the interethnic tensions which have been present for many years among the citizens of the city for which Serbian population has got doubtlessly the need in the conflict with others, or Albanians, to express and confirm its religious and ethnic identity.

The author presents preliminary results of neighbouring relationships research among Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, by which he tries to give contribution to the study of intragroup relations among the members of Serbian community in that town, in the area which is to be crisis-stricken from the war in Kosovo and Metohia 1999, conditionally speaking border, and multiethnic one. Field research was performed at the restrained sample of respondents mostly among the members of middle generation of Serbs living in Kosovska Mitrovica before the war 1999, and among a number of the ones emigrated there from the wider area of Kosovo and Metohia southern of the river of Ibar. The author reached empiric material by combining of structured and semi-structured interview, which means the conversation with the respondents had been done by means of strictly defined questions and by means of reminders with indicated themes and aims within each one. The research was conducted in many attempts from the middle of 2011 to the middle of 2013. The research results show that neighboring relations among Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica are being experienced as important ones primarily because they are being put in connection with the fact the persons from the immediate neighbouring are being included, with whom everyday life is shared and to whom it is possible to count on should it is the need. The importance being attributed to neighbourhood includes the maintenance of good relationships with neighbours, which includes any further courtesy and kindness in everyday communication during the encounters, hospitality, mutual assistance, and exchange of visits during some feasts such as patron saint etc. neighbouring relationships are seen as the traditionally inherited ones, which are losing in their importance due to demographic, socio-political and economic consequences provoked by the war in Kosovo and Metohia 1999. Due to the mentioned, it can be heard among Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica that neighbouring relationships were better ones beforehand than now. First of all, it is about relationships with neighbours Serbs, bearing in mind the fact the relationships of the same kind with members of other ethnic communities, among others with Albanians, are seen as the ones which due to some cultural differences even before the war were not much too close. Although it is considered they should be good, and in accordance with that they are mostly practiced, relationships among neighbours finally can be only superficial, formal, and even bad. The respondents during the research repeatedly mention it is not excluded in the neighbourhood exists mutual disrespect, disinterest quarrel etc. In that case, the character of each individual relationship should not be neglected which may exist among neighbours, which is in essence, no matter of the general understanding the neighborhood is important, determined among other things by the individuality of the participants in the communication process of neighbouring connections establishing and maintaining. That means one thing: intragroup relationships among Serbs in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, in this case interspersed through the institution of neighbourhood, may be additionally more complex, where it is necessary instead of any generalization study them more thoroughly and more carefully.

The author is presenting in this paper the preliminary results of the research of the relationships of Serbian population in the northern Kosovska Mitrovica living there before the war had been commenced in 1999 toward Serbs settled the town after the war, by moving from the wider area southern from the river of Ibar. The objective of the paper is to provide a contribution of the ethnographic material conceptualization based on field work in order to take into account the dynamics of the construction process of intragroup identities among the members of Serbian population inhabited in the part of the town northern from the river of Ibar, in the area which is to be crisis-stricken, conditionally speaking a border one, but multi-ethnic as well. From theoretical point of view, the author relies on social-constructivist approach of identity study, as per which identities are changeable, situationally conditioned, and subject to negotiation, where an important role is played by interaction, self-identification, and identification by others, or so-called 'neighbouring discourse', and relationships of power and domination. The field research was performed on the limited number of respondents sample, mostly among the members of middle generations of Serbs in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, which can be named as indigenes, based on a structural and semi-structural interview, which means the conversation with the respondents was taken by clearly defined questions, and based on the reminder with indicated themes and aims within each of the themes. The research results show that in the attitudes of the indigenes a dichotomy we/they is to be conspicuous with regard to Serbian population emigrated from the area southern from the river of Ibar. The immigrants are being experienced in the unbreakable bond with the complex everyday life in northern Kosovska Mitrovica full of security-related risks, uncertain tomorrow, economic passivity, and finally refugee-related reality. It is about the facts which considerably changed the social reality in the town in the last fifteen years, from which the perception of the immigrants as the different ones was undoubtedly underlined by the relationships toward the appeared changes. As per the attitudes of the respondents, the immigrants are appearing as different ones first of all from culturological point of view, as the inhabitants from their local surroundings brought different value system and different behaviour. In that sense, they were connected with the ones being percepted as essentially others, these are the Albanians. These differences do not weight ethnicity, which means the indigenes experience the immigrants as Serbs, as the members of the same ethnic group with which they are connected with the feeling of solidarity comparing with the opposed Albanian population. By attributing them of certain differences, the indigenes are not only effecting the identification of the immigrants, but at the same time, are confirming their own indigenous identity as well. The respondents were emphasizing they had been born in Kosovska Mitrovica, and they are living there a majority of their life, explicitly or implicitly appropriating for himself the name old Mitrovcani. The feeling of dignity regarding their indigenous identity is emphasized with the respondents in the context of negative qualifications being attributed to immigrants, where they are seen in reverse angle: as the holders of real values, guardians of pre-war town's spirit, tolerance, restraint, honesty etc.

The subject of this paper are Public procedures among the Serbian population in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, which the author wished to elaborate within clearly defined spacious and timely frames including the recognizable organizers and main participants. A special attention was paid to the ritual of the public laying of Yule log in the Porte of the church of Saint Dimitrije. The justification of the mentioned approach is seen in the methodological imperative to work on the description on the precisely determined events instead of generalized description of Christmas Eve and Christmas rituals based upon the lack of clear timely and spacious coordinates, so as to come to the concrete ethnographic material which could serve as eventual comparative or repeated researches of the same phenomena. The research was conducted during the Christmas Eve, and at the first day of Christmas in 2012. Empiric data were gathered by the method of observation with participation, and by making interview with the main organizers of Christmas Eve celebration, at the first place with the head of the church of Saint Dimitrije, that is by conducting a poll among citizens participants of the ritual of public laying of Yule log. The results achieved show that public gatherings on the occasion of the featuring of Christmas Eve in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica were structurized at three levels: the level of space, time and participants. The featuring of Christmas Eve among the residents of Northern Kosovska Mitrovica is linked to the church of Saint Dimitrije and its Porte. It is developed within clearly indicated time intervals, beginning with at 8 o'clock in the morning, that is, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Among the participants it is possible to notice organizers, or hosts, which the representatives of the Serbian Orthodox church belong to, and Municipality from the one side, and visitors, participants in the celebration made of the belongers of the Serbian Orthodox population in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, from the other side. Furthermore, Christmas Eve rituals in the building of the church of Saint Dimitrije, as the author heard, were practiced almost completely in accordance with ecclesiastical canons, that is, as per the Orthodox ecclesiastical practice. The highlight of the public Christmas Eve's practice represents the ritual of the public laying of Yule log, which is run in the ecclesiastical Porte, and which includes elements due to which it is rather like some kind of people's merry party than strictly regulated ecclesiastical ritual. The mentioned ritual of Yule log laying is to be characteristic because of the fact it contains a stratified symbolic: the symbolic of individual and collective identification with the Orthodox religious tradition, and the symbolic of ethnical identification are being interwoven. The public laying of Yule log, and celebration of Christmas in general, the organizers of Christmas Eve celebration together with the citizens see as the event which the population of Northern Kosovska Mitrovica are identifying with as the Orthodox believers. Furthermore, they see it as the event serving for the gathering of Serbian population of Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, and at the same time, strengthening of feelings of mutual connection and unity. The mentioned symbolic is impossible to be observed independently of interethnic tensions which have been present among the citizens of the town for years, and which are being manifested through its split into two parts. Taking into account a long-term socio-political conflict between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovska Mitrovica, the ritual of Yule log laying as the symbol of religious and ethnical identification of Serbian population, it is more than evident it is being given a special importance.

The topic of the research of spacious aspects of culture of the Serbian population in Kosovska Mitrovica, the town which was from 1999 split from ethnical grounds in two parts: Southern, inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians, and Northern one, inhabited mostly by Serbs. Division from ethnical grounds is also present in the Northern part, in which several quarts are inhabited mostly by Albanians. By starting with the concept of spacious behaviour under which the author understands specific forms of public behaviour of people, which include the overcoming of some distance, that is moving through the town, the author tries to think over of the Serbian population toward the mentioned division of labour, and come to the answer to the question whether and in what way such division has impact on the patterns it relies on in everyday moving and performance of everyday activities. Furthermore, by methods of structured and semi-structured interview, the research was being conducted in the Northern Kosovska Mitrovica from 18th to 22nd July 2011, on the sample of ten respondents of the Serbia ethnical identity. The achieved result during the research shows that the area of the town in which the respondents live is being defined through the discourse of Serbian-Albanian division, which is being manifested in everyday life through permanent interethnic tensions, and from that point of view parts of the town inhabited with Albanians are being perceived as risky ones with regard to their own security. In accordance with the above mentioned, the frames of everyday moving of town's areas are being mostly connected with parts of the town inhabited by Serbian population, while in parts inhabited by Albanian population such as Bošnjačka mahala and Three Skyscrapers, they go only per need or do not go at all. The given results are to be considered only as the initial ones, and the author thinks they should be reviewed additionally in order to deepen the study of this problems. The contribution of this paper is to be in the following: 1) it gives the contribution to the more thorough overview of everyday life of Serbs in the Northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica; 2) theoretically, by this paper it is drawn the attention on the importance of connection of the theory of risk with the concept of spacious behaviour, especially from the point of view of interethnic tension consideration as facts in urban spaces defining. Regarding the last mentioned thing, the author suggests that for the marking of moving through the town which includes planning in the aim of risk minimization from (ethnical) conflict, instead of the syntagm spacious behaviour the use of the one named spacious strategies.

The topic of this paper is the structure of colonists' household in Kosovo and Metohia between 1918 and 1941, which author researches using archive documents not being explored till present day. The aim that lies ahead is to reveal facts on colonist household's structure, due to offer of information that could be useful in wider analysis of kinship organization in Kosovo and Metohia, particularly in researching influence that migrations, social, economical, cultural and political processes in that area have on family and household in mentioned period. Using archive documents in obtaining relevant information, the aim of this paper is also to attend affirmation of archive facts as resource in ethnological researching. In theoretical way, when consider the structure of colonist household, the author relies on typology presented by Martine Segalen and Karl Kaser. For the previous one, household differs in four types: household without family structure, simple household, expanded household and multimember household; the second one makes difference in three types: household of nuclear family, expanded family household and compound family household. Analyzing the sample of archive documents, the author reveals that archive facts are quite valuable, whence they couldn't be neglected in reaching the knowledge on household structure. At the other hand, he finds out that all three types of household presented by Kaser are spread among the colonists, but mostly simple household or household of nuclear family. Regarding household without family structure, mentioned by Segalen, the author says he didn't find any confidential archive facts, and according to that he makes a thesis that type of household among colonists could be just rare. The results obtained through researching, finally, author defines as not complete ones and consider them as assumptions yet to be confirmed or rejected. In that sense, he points out that it is very important to undertake much wider researches, especially those based on all archive documents which could be useful as resource in obtaining necessary facts.

The theme of the author's paper is the phenomenon of vampires, which was written down either with Serbs or with the whole population in the area of former Yugoslavia. The author takes as an initial step the ethnographic material which is connected with the beliefs in vampires gathered in the area of Kosovo and Metohia, and takes into consideration the material brought by Tatomir Vukanovic and Mina Darmanovic. He gives the overview to the researches of vampirism in the Serbian ethnology and states that up to the several last decades of the 20th century, this field is being dominated by the papers not exceeding the level of description and trying in them to discover the origin and roots of beliefs in vampires hypothetically. Such state lasts to the end of the 70-ties and beginning of the 80-ties of the 20th century, when in the Serbian and Yugoslav ethnology enters the structuralism thanks to the influence of anthropological ideas. This influence managed to express itself very soon also in the field of study of the belief in vampires on account of which there is a study of Dusan Bandic from 1980, in which the phenomenon of approaching to vampirism has been explained in a completely innovative way. Beginning with the basic concepts of structuralistic theory, according to which each myth or belief are nothing but a system of messages by which, as the author says, some of socially important ones are being transferred from generation to generation, and Bandic reveals the unperceived functions and significance beliefs in vampires up to that time. Bandic perceives such beliefs appear as a religious form through which the members of social community are communicating among themselves informing to each other an important message, this is a warning that each individual who deviates from the socially accepted norms of behavior will end up in such a way he will become a vampire after death in a way that he will be killed by his near relatives in a most brutal way as a vampire. Observed by the aspect of ethnographic material being brought by T. Vukanovic and M. Darmanovic, it is shown that Bandic's communicative approach is completely relevant with the belief in vampires in Kosovo and Metohia, either with Serbs or with Albanians. It is possible to say the vampirism is appearing there as a medium which, in the absence of the institutional mechanisms, serves as a so called instrument by which the collectivity regulates its relation toward socially 'dangerous' that is, aberrant individuals who are threatening to damage a normal functioning of the community by their behaviour. .

The author stresses the importance of bracelets carrying, which is, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century widely spread among the inhabitants of Serbia, and especially among youth. It is about bracelets made following the sample of the same prayer-ritual requisite being encountered in use with Orthodox personnel. The popularity of bracelets are observed by the author as a result of the process of retarditionalization, raised in Serbia at the end of the 80-ties and beginning of the 90-ties years of the 20th century, when religious tradition is being revitalized and influence of religious institutions is being renewed. Firstly in the field of politics, and then almost in all fields of social life, retarditionalization leads to the establishment of strong discourse in which nationalist rhetoric primarily supported by religious and ethnic elements is dominating. The author proceeds from the hypothesis that in ideo-symnbolic establishment, which has still been governing in Serbia twenty years from the beginning of the retarditionalization, where ethnic and religious discourse prevail, bracelets appear as a means of firstly religious and afterwards ethnic identity defining. The empiric material for the mentioned hypothesis check is collected at the sample of 40 grammar school students in Kosovska Mitrovica and Leposavić in the North of Kosovo and Metohia. The answers which are reached show that the interviewed recognize bracelets as things in accordance with some religious ideal, and beginning from then it is presented in their mind in accordance with adequate meanings. A great majority of the interviewed by mere fact it carries bracelet determines itself as the Orthodox (male or female), and almost two thirds at the same time as Serb (male of female). Finally, the author concludes bracelets could be observed as thing, that is, as the product which is in the function of the reproduction of the Orthodox ideology by its symbolism. The author considers furthermore that the initial hypothesis has got the confirmation in the comprehensions of the interviewed, and therefore interpretation of bracelets as a means in the definition of the religious together with ethnic identity has some justification. The attitudes elaborated are considered as the initial ones and only indicative, and in order to acquire more thorough knowledge he is pleading for more extensive researches undertaking on that matter.