2 comments about Semiotics of Peasants in Transition: Slovene Villagers and Their Ethnic Relatives in America (Sound and Meaning: The Roman Jakobson Series in Linguistics and Poetics).

1. In her book "Semiotics of Peasants in Transition: Slovene Villagers and Their Ethnic Relatives in America," Irene Portis-Winner presents a significant semiotic study that, unlike many previous semiotic studies limited to the analysis of discourse alone, traverses multiple dimensions of cultural texts. Portis-Winner's study comprises a three-decade long fieldwork analysis of transnational and ethnic qualities binding two communities: that of the little peasant village of Žerovnica, Slovenia, and its emigrant population in Cleveland, Ohio and Hibbing, Minnesota. Special attention is also awarded to the question of ethnicity and ethnographer's or author's voice in ethnographic studies. The study considers a broad range of polysemous, multi-vocal, and polyindexical values of cultural texts unbound by time-space continuum, which in turn prompt the author to redefine ethnicity as a dynamic entity not limited by "timeless essence" of individuals but rather free of eternal verity too often ascribed to societies.
   The complexity that defines ethnic culture and transnationalism is illustrated through a variety of cultural texts throughout the book. These texts range from: official to non-official history of the area and the villagers, everyday life, beliefs, traditions, economy, power and domination struggle, continuous revival and change of traditions and customs, and how they index the significance of signs. Portis-Winner's study is heuristic in nature because it employs a method that involves finding out what happens within a cultural text, rather then merely being told. The theme of Lotman's unconquerable boundary-crossing cultural hero is carried throughout the book as it is uncovered from personal interviews of reflexive narratives, and interpretive, double-voicing, accounts of the extended human sign.
   Chapter 1 (3-27) provides a brief introduction to the economic, social, and geographic properties of Žerovnica, as well as of its landscape, landmarks and inhabitants during the first fieldwork study in the 1960s. The question of inner versus outer (non-member) point of view immediately surfaces as the author warns that the immediate peaceful impression of a harmonious village and its inhabitants is positively deceptive. Tension-ridden relations amongst villagers are discussed and traced to the communist rule and its goal to obliterate peasant autonomy and traditions that were considered a threat to the conglomerate whole. The Chapter also informs of the pervasive hardship and exploitation of the peasants, as well as the imminent impact of global modernization on the village structure following the Slovenia's declaration of independence in 1991.
   The author's initial impression of a harmonious community changes after she has spent time within the ethnic community and has gained insight into their traditions and practices. Portis-Winner fervently argues that accuracy of an ethonographer's research relies heavily upon his or her ability to become a quasi-member of the group under investigation. She effectively accomplishes this task through a continuous exposure to a variety of ethnic texts, amongst others, modeling her conclusions after many member perspectives. I consider "Semiotics of Peasants in Transition: Slovene Villagers and Their Ethnic Relatives in America" a testament to the importance of efficient ethnographic work and applaud Portis-Winner's efforts to provide us with such a valuable study.
   The last part of Chapter 1 offers a taste of juxtaposition between the member-perceived vibrant and active life of the Slovene emigrant community in Cleveland, their clearly marked attachments to their Slovene village, and the deteriorating, tension-ridden, and mistrustful community of Žerovnica. An initial introduction is made to the changing semiotic aspects of objects and signs brought along by the migrants to the New World. Portis-Winner argues that semiotic changes, from practical to emotive and aesthetic, serve to reinforce the ethnic identity of Slovene Americans.
   Part II (28-74) comprises of Chapters 2 through 4. In this section, Portis-Winner provides a rich account of issues pertaining to traditional terminology (with respect to culture, ethnicity, identity and transnationalism) relevant for the understanding of the study at hand. Chapter 3 (43-49) is dedicated to a significant and recurring issue of non-member interpretation of cultural texts and modes of unearthing the communicative objects that are significant in the construction of an inner point of view. Portis-Winner warns about the problem of authorial interpretation of traditions and customs, their usage and changes. She advocates the inner point of view as essential in ethnographic research because it may have different realities and coherence, therefore rendering the uni-dimensional authorial view at best inaccurate and at worst overly simplistic.
   Chapter 4 (50-74) offers a detailed overview and discussion of theoretical and practical issues pertaining to ethnographic studies over the decades. It spans views and attitudes of many semiotically-oriented scholars from Saussure, Peirce, The Prague Linguistic Circle headed by Jakobson, Moscow-Tartu School and Bakhtin, to Lotman and others. Each subsection of the chapter introduces a new stance of one of the above-mentioned authors with respect to the analysis and attitudes toward cultural texts. Special attention is afforded to the concepts of sign, symbol, and index; polysemy or mutlivocality of texts; everyday behavior; context (heteroglossia); perception and interpretation of history; as well as the undeniable role of power, which often forces cultural significance onto signs. Portis-Winner substantiates her synopsis with a much-needed critique of the semioticians' attitudes, their respective problems or benefits toward a more wholesome ethnographic study. Reader should be warn that previous knowledge and familiarity with the subject matter are indispensable in understanding of Part II, which is not suited for an average reader.



2. Part III (75-124) includes Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 (77-105) revisits the economic, cultural and geographic landscape of the village. Portis-Winner offers a detailed account of historical events of the Slovene people. She draws on official records, community's view of future, and survey of cultural texts (recollections, beliefs, tales, myths, autobiographies, and changing beliefs and object meanings), to successfully extrapolate the inner point of view. Chapter 5 concludes with an account of a changing value system in the peasant village.
   Chapter 6 (106-124) discusses the immigrant community in Cleveland, Ohio, and should be of great interest to a linguist as it addresses the bilingual aspect of Slovene American culture. The immigrant population shows great attachment to their mother tongue, which has undergone phonological, lexical, and grammatical changes under the influence of a new environment. Portis-Winner delineates member attitudes toward the Slovene language over several migrant generations. Much of Slovene American communication is marked by code switching especially within second generation immigrants. The third generation immigrants however are said to have initially shown embarrassment at their grandparents speaking Slovenian, but later that there was some indication of the younger generation's interest in the revival of the language.
   The rest of Chapter 6 elaborates on the survival and upward movement of the Slovene community. The success is ascribed to the traditional values the immigrants brought with them: stubbornness, ingenuity, hard work, loyalty to their tradition, generosity, discipline, honesty and responsibility toward family, kin, and country. Portis-Winner recounts several immigrant narratives, which, she persuasively argues, shed light on the ethnic culture as a part of a larger cultural context. The stories are significant in that they provide reference to the experience and points of view of the Slovene migrant. The indication of transformation is present in a variety of signs, verbal and non-verbal, and may be evidenced in the meaning and significance change for the original signs, the change that points to the similarities and differences between one's ethnic culture and the new environment.
   Part IV (125-155) subsumes Chapters 7 and 8. Chapter 7 (127-151) surveys the major social and economic changes that bear heavily on the social and psychological state of the two communities in juxtaposition. Portis-Winner shows that global modernization has had an opposing impact on the elder generations between the two communities, while showing much affinity in the impact on the youth. Changes in values and traditions between and within these ethnic communities serve to support Portis-Winner's claim about the dynamic nature of ethnicity, boundaries of which are expanded, crossed, and re-evaluated on constant basis. By analogy, ethnic narrators in this study are seen as human signs indexing ethnicity -- an intertextual and interwoven phenomenon that comprises a complexity of identities. The author further equates ethnic actors with actors in a theater, both of which, she claims, are able to move from one world to another and therefore become transfigured or transnational.
   Portis-Winner concludes the book in Chapter 8 (153-155) with a discussion of polysemous and polyfunctional nature of cultural texts. The two main points, which I derive from her study, can be encapsulated in the following thought: 1.) in order for ethnographic studies to be of value, ethnographers must work to unearth the inner point of view and formulate their conclusions after having considered a network of cultural texts, and 2.) every culture and its ethnic identity are amalgams of polysemous and polyfunctional properties of its cultural texts, which are dynamic in nature, and no view of `society' holds permanently true across time and space. Which way a tradition is going to be impacted is unpredictable. Some values and traditions may be maintained, other lost, and still many simply altered to reflect and adapt to the changes of the new environment and the new times.
   This book provides a fine synopsis of the essential aspects of a thorough ethnographic study. Portis-Winner set out to conduct a heuristic ethnographic fieldwork study, which in turn provided her with the necessary experience to help define criteria for a better way of conducting ethnographic research. She accomplishes this by intimately studying two related ethnic groups during a span of 30 years. The longitudinal study affords her a quasi-insider perspective of the ethnic group and provides access to invaluable ethnic sources. This is exactly the strength of her approach and only enhances our trust in her evaluation. Because of its multi-disciplinary nature, "Semiotics of Peasants in Transition: Slovene Villagers and Their Ethnic Relatives in America" should be of interest to semioticians, ethnographers, as well as linguists and linguistic anthropologists. I also highly recommend this book to a common reader, who will find the nostalgic essence of the migrants all too familiar.
   [Tamara Grivièiæ, University of Colorado, Boulder]

4 comments about Colloquial Slovene (Colloquial Series).

1. This book is quite basic and should give the reader a good introduction to the slovene language, but it is only that. The small glossary at the end of the book helps with gender and conjugation, and most of the general rules for grammar are introduced. If you really want to learn Slovene, I suggest you start with this book, then get a dictionary like Komac's (which wont tell you anything about conjugation or gender) and finally an extensive grammar guide like Peter Harrity's book (which fills in the complex gaps left behind by the other two books). I suppose if you don't want to spend so much money, just buy this book, but do get the audio tapes so you can understand the pronunciation and get some good practice in.

   The book is very readable, but contains exercises at the end of each lesson (with answers at the end of the book). It is set up much like a textbook and includes some penned illustrations to keep the mood light. Don't expect it to take you long to make it entirely through the book, though. Actually this book will get you through all of the essentials for a ski trip or a short holiday. Enjoy!




2. The book is well organised, well written and accessible. It covers all the basic vocabulary you need as a tourist and provides a good introduction to the language. It is largely jargon-free and you don't need to know any complicated grammatical terminology to use the book. The tapes/CDs are excellent - don't order the book without them if you want to get the most out of this teach-yourself course. The one big weakness - and it is a very big weakness - is that the book does not contain any information about word stress. Since there are no clear rules for word stress, the learner encounters many new words in the text (often not included on the tape) but without knowing how to pronounce them properly. Adding accents to denote the word stress would transform this from a good to an excellent book.



3. Of all the language courses produced by Routledge, this one is probably one of the least helpful. This is all the more unfortunate as there are no other courses in Slovene available. Routledge has published some excellent Colloquial courses on Slavic languages, such as Colloquial Czech, Colloquial Russian and Colloquial Ukrainian. Unfortunately, all the Colloquial courses from the former Yugoslavia leave much to be asked for. Colloquial Slovene, Colloquial Croatian and Colloquial Serbian are all below the usual "Colloquial-standard".
   
   For a total beginner looking for a phrasebook, this course might be of some use. It does include some basic expressions and words. However, if that is all you're looking for, you will be better served the Slovene phrasebook published by Berlitz. Not only is it much cheaper, it also includes a better pronunciation guide and far more vocabulary than this course.
   
   If you're interested in acutally learning Slovene, this course won't be able to help you. I have listed the major problems you will face
   
   Pronunciation
   Slovene pronunciation is not easy. Stress can fall on any syllable of the word. Get it wrong, and you might say another word than the one you intended. Every phrasebook or course in Slovene I've come across shows the stressed syllable of each new word. Colloquial Slovene does no such thing, you have to guess.
   Another problem is that the vowel "e" can be pronounced in different ways in Slovene. Again, phrasebooks such as the one published by Berlitz or courses published in German show the pronunciation of "e". In short, you cannot know how any word in this course is to be pronounced. The recordings will help you, but it's not always easy for beginners to pick out the right syllable to stress.
   
   Grammar
   The grammar part is what could set this course aside from a mere phrasebook. Unfortunately, the grammar part is very limited. The concept of aspect is almost totally excluded. If you speak any Slavic language, you will already know how crucial aspects are. If you're a beginner, know that you will never be able to speak a Slavic language without mastering this quite complicated feature. Ignoring the whole thing makes this course easier. It also renders it almost worthless for anyone interested in learning to speak Slovene. The conjugation of nouns is dealt with, but that's almost all there is. If you have access to Colloquial Czech (the grammar is very similar), pick it up and compare it's detailed and user-friendly approach to this course. It is astonishinh that two courses with such a variation in quality are published in the same series.
   
   Vocaulary
   Complete Colloquial Czech and you will know well over 2.000 words. Complete Colloquial Slovene, and you will not know even 900 words.
   
   In short, this course is too little of everything. Too little help with the pronunciation, too little explanations of the grammar and way too few words.
   
   Routledge, the publisher of this course, has also published a very extensive Slovene grammar, written by Peter Herrity. When the time comes for the next edition of Colloquial Slovene, I hope he is given the task of writing it, that he starts from scratch and takes his guidelines from Colloquial Czech rather than from this book.



4. I'm sad to say that this course will be of no use to those wanting to learn Slovene. The aim of this review is to illustrate its shortcomings and suggest improvements that could be made.
   
   Problem 1 - no accents
   This problem alone is enough to render the book almost useless. In Slovene, any syllable of a word may be stressed. Get it wrong and you may end up saying a completely different word. This is especially evident in the case of the letter 'e', representing different sounds in Slovene. Apart from being stressed or unstressed, it can be an open e or a closed e. It might also be a schwa sound, the sound found in words such as English 'the'. In other words, how will you pronounce the common word 'vecer' (evening)? There are eight(!) options available... And what about the word 'svet'? Is it the Slovene word for 'holy' or for 'advice'? Almost all courses and books on Slovene make use of accents to indicate the pronunciation, since it is impossible to predict. The only two exceptions are this book and Teach Yourself Slovene by the same author. I never thought I'd say a language course in which you will have to guess the pronunciation of each and every word.
   
   Problem 2 - Very limited vocabulary
   The reviewer Gwilym mentioned how very limited the vocabulary of this course is compared to Colloquial Czech. The same goes for almost all the Colloquial courses on Slavic languages. Colloquial Czech, Colloquial Ukrainian, Colloquial Bulgarian, Colloquial Slovak, Colloquial Russian are all excellent courses with a well-suited vocabulary. Colloquial Serbian is decent enough. Only Colloquial Polish and Colloquial Croatian are a bit off the mark and then Colloquial Slovene that cannot even be compared to the other courses.
   
   So only 1 star to this course, that star is for a decent (but not great) explanation of the grammar. Two stars off for the very limited vocabulary and two more for the lack of accents.
   
   I'm glad that Routledge offers many excellent courses in Slavic languages and I can only hope that they will one day publish a Slovene course worhty of their reputation.

1 comments about Basic Reference Grammar of Slovene.

1. As its title indicates, A Basic Reference Grammar of Slovene aims to provide a basic reference grammar for the Slovene language.

   Slovene, or Slovenian, is a small Slavic language of Alpine and Central Europe, with about two million speakers in Italy, Austria, Hungary and the Republic of Slovenia.

   The book's approach includes coverage of the major parts of speech (nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs), as well as additional information on sentence structure and word order.

   While the text is heavy on grammatical forms with numerous tables and side-notes explaning exceptions and irregularities, treatment of more complex concepts, such as verbal mood and aspects, is lighter.

   Verbal aspect in particular requires more explanation than it receives here; those learning Slovene as their first Slavic language might want to find a good Serbian or Croatian grammar to supplement this text, as the handling of aspect in these languages is very similar to that of Slovene.

   In all, the book provides a very accurate foundation for the study of Slovene grammar; a comprehensive grammar in the English language is still to be written.

   The authoritative reference for Slovene grammar, Slovenska slovnica (Joze Toporisic, Maribor: Obzorja, 1984) is available only in the Slovene language.

   The Hippocrene Slovene-English / English-Slovene Dictionary, available on Amazon.com (ISBN: 0781802520), is an essential companion to this text.

1 comments about The Day Tito Died: Contemporary Slovenian Stories.

1. Drago Jancar is the most well-known living Slovenian author. His books are translated in more than 20 languages but not in English (yet)! You have to read Lela B. Njatin's weird scenes from the warzone and Central European minimalism by Andrej Blatnik. THE DAY TITO DIED is the only anthology of Slovenian short stories available in English. Grab a copy while the stock lasts

No comments about A Learner's Dictionary of Slovene: With Words in Their Inflected Forms.

1 comments about Talk Now! Slovenian: Essential Words and Phrases for Absolute Beginners (Talk Now!).

1. For a beginner this cd helped with pronunciation of the words. The people talk fast and when I first started I had to listen to them pronounce the words several times before I understood how to say them. I wish there was a way to slow them down or click on the words so they can pronounce them separately. I also wish there were more phrases, there are only about 20 phrases and it would be nice to have more. I bought this cd with another book with Slovene phrases (Lonely Planet's Fast Talk Slovene) and it was a nice addition to the book but not sufficient enough to learn Slovene with just the cd.

1 comments about AFTERWARDS: Slovenian Writing 1945-1995.

1. "Yugoslavia is a chaotic part of the European world. To me it also seems ungovernable. And it also seems to me, and possibly I exaggerate, that because a metaphor for the deeper chaos of the world can be sensed here, all are washing their hands of it." (Drago Jancar's "Memories of Yugoslavia", in this volume). Given this ungovernable union, as Jancar described, it is easy to see how Slovenia could have been lost in the mess of Yugoslavia's messy break-up. Though Slovenia was the instigator of the break-up, its war lasted only ten days, and Slovenia was virtually free of the warfare and chaos that ensued when Yugoslavia descended into the turmoil of breaking apart.

   Although Zawacki's compilation of works does lack certain things (and the foreword points this out), such as women writers and a vast selection of good translations from the original Slovenian, overall this is a good collection of/introduction to a variety of Slovene writers as well as a varied overview of different genres (essays, short stories, poetry). Among the best of what is offered here include Drago Jancar's "Memories of Yugoslavia", the excerpt of "Pilgrim Among the Shadows" by Boris Pahor, who manages to strip down ethical matters to the basest considerations.

   Beyond this, the poetry in the collection gives only a taste of some of the rich imagery and even in some cases subtle but clear national pride that resides within much of Slovenian literature. I recommend Edvard Kocbek ("The Lippizaners", "Song About Man"), Dane Zajc ("You are Not"), Tomaz Salamun ("I and Thou"), Milan Dekleva ("The Origin of Language"), Boris A. Novak ("Interior" and "Exile") and Maja Haderlap ("Nothing Remains").

   Much can be said of the Slovenes and their resilience, maintaining a national language, culture and identity despite being somewhat obscured by its own associations. First it was obscured by its Austro-Hungarian ties and later by its part in the Yugoslavian union. Indeed, though it is perhaps not the best example, Slovenia is to many a small, unseen and misunderstood place. In fact, some national leaders have visited Slovenia, claiming they were visiting Slovakia! I cannot count the times I have had to explain in detail where Slovenia is.

   Nevertheless, this book, though not perfect nor exhaustive, is an excellent introduction to a rich literary culture.

4 comments about Slovene: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars).

1. This is the most comprehensive Slovene grammar reference, ideally suited for the student of Slovene.It has the distinction of being the first major Slovene grammar for the English speaker. Professor Herrity has stated in a recent interview (with Jana Valencic in Slovenija magazine, Summer No.2/2002) how this work is different to other grammars; "I wanted to write a grammar that was descriptive of the spoken language by educated Slovenes, that is, to provide a precise account of actual usage."

   The author has achieved this brilliantly. The book is structured in thirteen chapters, with: phonology, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections, word order, and word formation". In each chapter the points of grammar are illustrated with examples of usage; subtleties of Slovene are indicated, with descriptions of literary, and colloquial language, and archaic words. Furthermore, stress is indicated on all Slovene words in the grammar.
   I am an instructor of Slovene, and course writer, and have found it provides a base for teaching Slovene grammar and as a reference for both the teacher and the learner. Before this work was published, I had to search laboriously through all available Slovene grammars, written in Slovenian, which consisted of mainly rules, and had to glean, interpret, translate and research the usage for everyday and formal language, and constantly seek advice from native speakers. The most suitable Slovene grammar which I could refer to till now is the standard grammar book written by Dr. Anton Bajec 'Slovenska slovnica' (Ljubljana, 1968) - it has been reprinted several times. In Australia, Peter Herrity's book is the grammar reference in the secondary school curriculum.
   This book is an indispensable tool for the study of Slovene, and I wish to express my appreciation for Peter Herrity's invaluable scholarly contribution to Slovene studies.




2. If you speak English and already have a Slovene/English dictionary (like Komac) and/or lesson book like (Albretti) and you want to complete your knowledge of the language, buy this book. But don't buy it if you are looking merely for either of the above.



3. Absolutely the BEST grammar book available for English speakers who are intermediate or advanced Slovene learners! I know of no other Slovene language book that is geared towards advanced and intermediate learning. Slovene is an extremely difficult language which requires in-depth explanations for sufficient understanding. Grammar in particular requires a great deal of instruction. This book is the best on the market and will help the student of Slovene go further than any other book on the market.



4. The other reviewers have said it all - this is as good as a grammar could possibly get. Peter Herrity is an inspired linguist with an excellent knowledge of Slovenian and an equally excellent talent of passing on what he knows. Unfortunately, there is no good course in Slovenian to go with this excellent grammar. Both Colloquial Slovene (also published by Routledge) and Teach Yourself Slovene are so bad they defy belief. As Peter Herrity is already writing for Routledge, I pray he will accept to write the next edition of Colloquial Slovene - should it ever emerge. In the meantime, this is the only available book for those interested in the Slovene language.

1 comments about Eastern European 12 Language Phrasebook (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian and Ukrainian)(Phrasebooks S.).

1. This guidebook is a handy, compact reference for simple survival and simple courtesy-based conversation. It is suited for the traveler who intends to visit the countries that feature these 12 languages, but not for the student who is trying to learn one particular language. Alternatively, the book will serve well the student of a language who needs a quick reference for simple phrases, should he stumble.
   
   The book features simple greetings and situational phrases, such as at the airport or the restaurant, along with a brief history of each language. It also has a section devoted to telling time, which I found lacking, since it did not cover all the times of the day (just the times within 9 o'clock, and how to say "noon," "afternoon," and "evening," for example). One of the book's strengths is its phonetic pronunciations for each translated phrase. Although I found some pronunciations were incorrect (in the Lithuanian section), it will help you in a bind.

3 comments about Fast Talk Slovene (Lonely Planet).

1. This little guide has been very useful in this wonderful country. Slovenian people understood me very well.



2. We visited Slovenia for five days recently and this book was useful for sharing common curtosies (i.e., please, thank you, hello) and deciphering menu items. It's very small and was easy to take along in a pocket or purse. Many people in the larger towns and cities speak English and most signs, menus, etc are translated in English but it was nice to be able to learn a few phrases in Slovene to show our appreciation to the people we met.



3. Although it speaks sadly of my language skills, I found that I really didn't need much more that the Slovenian in the main Lonely Planet guide to Slovenia. Most Slovenians speak English and almost half of the songs I heard on the radio and at concerts there were in English. While I a firm believer in trying to learn the language and culture of the places that one visits and lives, for short trips, you probably do not need this book.