Prof. Dr. Mirjana Mencej

Curriculum vitae

Mirjam Mencej

Born: Ljubljana, Slovenia, 29/2, 1964.

•           Contact details:

Mailing address:          Mirjam Mencej

                                    Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

                                    Faculty of Arts

                                    University of Ljubljana

                                    Aškerčeva 2

                                    1000 Ljubljana

                                    Slovenia

Telephone:                  00386 1 4362695 (home)/ 00386 1 2411520 (at work)

E-Mail:                        mirjam.mencej@guest.arnes.si ; mirjam.mencej@ff.uni-lj.si

 

•           Knowledge of languages:

 

fluent: English, Croatian/Serbian, German, French.

passive: Macedonian, Bulgarian, Russian.

 

•        Main interests: folklore, belief narratives, witchcraft, the dead, vernacular religion.

 

•          Degrees:

2000          Ph.D. in ethnology, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana

1996          M.A. in ethnology, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana

1989          B.A. in Slovene Language and Literature and Sociology of Culture, Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana

 

•         Professional Status and Affiliation:

 

2011                  full professor of Folkloristics at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

2007-2011        associate professor at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

2002-2007        assistant professor at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

1999-2002        assistant lecturer at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

1993-1999        young researcher at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

1991-1993        postgraduate student at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural anthropology

 

 2012-2015        member of the Commission for Quality at the Faculty of Arts

 2009-2011        head of the Department

 2009-2011        member of Administration board at the Faculty of Arts

 2008-2011        member of the Systemization commission at the Faculty of Arts

 2009                 chair of The Board of Awards for Students at the FF, UL

 2008                 member of the Board of Awards for Students at the FF, UL

 2005 - 2009      deputy Head of the Department

 2003 - 2012      member of the Senate of the Faculty of Arts

 2003 - 2009      member of the Commission for Undergraduate and Master’s studies at the FF, UL

 

•          Other academic activities:

2020-   member of the Executive Committee of the Commission for Folkloristics of the International Committee of Slavicists

2018-   member of the Scientific board of the Center for the Study of Modernity and the Rural World, Telciu, Romania

2016-    member of the Executive Committee of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research

2013-2016, 2016-2021 Chair of the Belief Narrative Network Committee (BNN) of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR)

2007-    member of the Executive Committee of Traditional Cosmology Society

 

•       Membership in Editorial boards:

2021 -   member of the Editorial board of the journal Makedonski folklor / Macedonian Folklore, Skopje, North Macedonia

2021-    member of the Editorial board of the journal Etnološka istraživanja / Ethnological Research, Zagreb, Croatia

2021 -    member of the Editorial board of the journal Svetovi / Worlds, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2015 -    member of the Editorial board of Sator. Artikleid usundi- ja kombeloost, Estonia

2013-     member of the Editorial board of the journal Fabula, Berlin, New York: de Gruyter

2013-     member of the Editorial board of the book series of Slovenian Ethnological Society

2009-     member of the Editorial board of the journal Ethnoanthropozoom, Skopye, Macedonia

2008      member of the Editorial board of the journal Kodovi slovenskih kultura (Codes of Slavic Cultures), Belgrade, Serbia

2007-     member of the Editorial board of the journal Cosmos, Edinburgh, Great Britain

2007-     member of the Editorial board of book series Zupaničeva knjižnica, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2006-     member of the Editorial board of the journal Ethnologia Slovaca et Slavica, Bratislava, Slovakia

2002-     member of the Editorial board of the journal Studia mythologica Slavica, Ljubljana-Udine, Slovenia/Italy

 

•             Teaching Experience:

Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana:

2010-         Folkloristics, Introduction to Mythology, European Traditional Folk Beliefs, Ethnology of European Witchcraft, Seminar in Folkloristics, Contemporary Urban Folklore;

1999-2010        Folkloristics, Comparative European Mythology;

1998-1999        Seminar on Anthropology of Religion, Seminar on Ethnology of Slavic Peoples;

 

Elsewhere:

From February 2008 - 2018  appointed visiting professor at the PhD program of the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Zagreb, Croatia.

May 2017     University of Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina

May 2017      University of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

September 2016  University of Turku, Finland

April 2014       University of Edinburgh, UK

May 2007       University of Mannheim, Germany

May 2006       Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

2005-2006      Visiting professor of Folkloristics at the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Skopje, Macedonia

October 2005 University of Belgrade, Serbia

October 2002   Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany

April 2001 Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

November 1996 Russian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Moscow, Russia

 

•          Grants and travel stipends:

2020            Humboldt alumni fellowship

                   (Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung, Regensburg, 1 February-23 March 2020)

2015            Humboldt alumni fellowship

                    (Institute Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Academy of science Göttingen,

                    Germany, 8 February - 8 March 2015)

2014            Royal Society of Edinburgh fellowship

                    (University of Edinburgh, 7 April – 2 May 2014)

2013            Humboldt alumni fellowship

                    (Institute Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Academy of science Göttingen,

                    Germany, 23 February 2013 - 22 March 2013)

2008             Humboldt alumni fellowship (University of Mannheim, Germany, 15 February 2008 - 15 May 2008)

2007             Fellowship of Traditional Cosmology Society

                    (University of Edinburgh, 8 – 29 April 2007)

2006             CEEPUS II Mobility Grant (University of Bratislava, May)

2002-2003    Humboldt fellowship  (Institute Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Academy of science Göttingen,

                    Germany, 1 February 2002 - 31 May 2003)

1998             Fellowship of the Austrian Institute for Southeastern Europe (Wienna, May 1998)

 

•          Fieldwork:

2019 (1- 8 July) Bosnia and Herzegovina

2018 (20 – 30 June) Bosnia and Herzegovina

2017 (20 May – 20 June) Bosnia and Herzegovina

2016 (1 February-25 April, August) Bosnia and Herzegovina

2013 - 2015     Kozjansko, Bizeljsko, Obsotelje; Slovenia

2010-11           Ljubljana; Slovenia

2001                Hrvaško Zagorje; Croatia

2000-2001       Kozjansko, Bizeljsko, Obsotelje; Slovenia

2000-2001       Poreče; Macedonia

 

•            Projects:

2018-2019 leader of the bilateral project between Slovenia and the USA: Contemporary Forms of Post-Socialist Self-Articulation: Consumption, Belief, and Dwelling.

2016-2017 member of the bilateral project between Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: War as a turning point in evaluating past and contemporary experiences.

2015-2018 member of the ERC project „East-West”. Vernacular religion on the boundary of Eastern and Western Christianity: continuity, changes and interactions (ERC project ? 324214).

2004-2008, 2009-2014, 2015-2020 member of the program group Slovenian identities in the context of European and global space (Slovenia).

2008-2013 member of the project Cultural animalistic: literary, folkloristic, ethnological and culture-anthropological perspectives (Institute of Ethnology and Folklore, Zagreb, Croatia).

2008-2011 leader of the project Comparative analysis of construction and redefinition of spatial concepts in processes of integration of Slovenia into supranational frameworks (Slovenia)

2008-2010 member of the project Archive and Catalogue of Portuguese Legends (Faculdade de Cięncias Humanas e Sociais, University of Algarve, Portugal).

2007-2008 member of the project State and cultural border in Southeastern Europe (Slovenia).

2004-2006 leader (in Portugal: Francisco Vaz da Silva) of a bilateral project The Concept of Space and Time in Eastern- and Western European Folklore (a joint project with the Faculdade de Cięncias Humanas e Sociais, University of Algarve, Portugal).

2004-2005 leader (in Serbia: Ljubinko Radenković) of a bilateral project The Concept of Space and Time among South Slavs (joint project with The Institute of Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia).

2000–2001 member of a project Traditional Culture near Sotla river and Tourism in the Villages (a joint project with The University of Zagreb, Croatia).

2000–2001 member of a project Heritage for the Future: Supervising, Documentation and Evaluation of Cultural Heritage of the Region of Kozjansko.

2000-2001 member of a project Traditional Culture in Slovenia and Macedonia (bilateral project with the University of Skopje, Macedonia).

 

•         Organising experience:

 

2022 member of the Programme Committee of the International conference Contemporary Serbian Folkloristics 12 (Tršić, Serbia).

2021 organiser of the international conference Death and the dead amidst us: death in contemporary society, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, (Ljubljana, Slovenia).

2021 organiser (together with Judit Kis-Halas) of the international conference Vocation, mission, profession – vernacular experts in the context of alternative spirituality in Europe (Ljubljana, Slovenia).

2021   organiser of the 2nd conference of Slovenian folklorists (Ljubljana, Slovenia).

2021 member of the Programme Committee of the 18th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research Encountering Emotions in Folk Narrative and Folklife (Zagreb, Croatia).

2021 leader of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference Fear of the Other at the 8th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research Encountering emotions in folk narrative and folklife (Zagreb, Croatia).

2019 leader of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference Belief Narratives in Folklore Studies: Narrating the Supernatural (Guwahati, Assam, India).

2019 co-leader of the programme- and organising committee of the conference Other in folkloristic and ethnological perspective (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

2019 co-leader of the program- and organising committee of the conference 25 years of Folklore studies at the Department of Ethnology and Culutral Anthropology (1st conference of Slovenian folklorists)

(Ljubljana, Slovenia)

2018 leader of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference Human-Animal Relationships in Belief Narratives at the International Society for Folk Narrative Research’s interim conference Folk narrative in regions of intensive cultural exchange (Ragusa, Italy).

2017 member of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference of the conference Verbal Charms and Narrative Genres (Budapest, Hungary).

2017 coorganiser of a conference Traditional culture, folklore and identity (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

2016 leader of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference at the joint International Society for Folk Narrative Research and American Folklore Society’s congress (Miami, Florida, USA).

2015 member of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference Beliefs in Discussion at the interim ISFNR conference (Ankara, Turkey).

2014 leader of the program- and organising committee of the conference Slovenian narrative folklore: about what, why and how to understand it?  (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

2014 leader of the Programme Committee of the BNN conference Nature Spirits: Continuity and Change (Zugdidi, Georgia).

2014 member of the Programme Committee of the conference Sacrifice and Divination, organised by the BNN conference and the University of Pécs (Pécs, Hungary).

2010 member of the program committee of the international symposium Beyond Essentialisms (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

2007 leader of the program- and organising committee of an international interdisciplinary conference on The Concept of Space and Time in European Folklore (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

2003  leader of  the organising committee of a symposium How to Think about Heritage? (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

1998  member of the organising committee of an international symposium Ethnological and Anthropological Perspectives of Death (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

For complete bibliography see: https://bib.cobiss.net/bibliographies/si/webBiblio/bib301_20220315_163721_14359.html

Monographs:

2019 (together with Marijana Belaj and Zvonko Martić) Topografije svetoga na području Buškoga Blata. (Topographies of the sacred on the territory of Buško Blato). Zagreb: Croatian Ethnological Society. ( https://hrvatskoetnoloskodrustvo.hr/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Topograf… )

2017 Styrian Witches in European Perspective. Ethnographic Fieldwork. London: Palgrave Macmillan / Springer.

 2013  Sem vso noč  lutal v krogu. Simbolika krožnega gibanja v evropski tradicijski kulturi.  (I was wandering in circles the whole night long. The symbolism of circular movement in European traditional culture). Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU.

2010  Pripovedi s Kozjanskega in Obsotelja (Narratives from Kozjansko and Obsotelje regions). Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts.

2007  Po poteh zgodb (On the paths of tales). Podsreda: Kozjanski park.

2006  Coprnice so me nosile. Raziskava vaškega čarovništva na podeželju vzhodne Slovenije ob prelomu tisočletja (Witches led me astray: Research of witchcraft in the rural eastern Slovenia at the turn of the Millennium). Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts.

2001   Gospodar volkov v slovanski mitologiji (The Master of the Wolves in Slavic Folklore). Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts.

1997 Voda v predstavah starih Slovanov o posmrtnem življenju in šegah ob smrti (Water in Traditional Slavic Notions of Afterlife and in Slavic Funeral customs). Ljubljana: Slovenian Ethnological Society.

 

Edited books:

2021   coeditor (with Willem de Blécourt) Werewolf Legends. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming)

2010 coeditor (with Dan Podjed) Ustvarjanje prostorov (The Making of Spaces). Pontes academici. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana)

2008 Space and Time in Europe: East and West, Past and Present. Zupaničeva knjižnica, no. 25. Ljubljana: Oddelek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo, Filozofska fakulteta (Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana).

 

•          Editor of scientific journals:

2019    Guest editor of a special issue of the journal Folklore, Electronic journal of Folklore no. 77

2010-2014 Editor-in-chief of the journal Cosmos, Edinburgh, UK

•           Articles

2022

Werewolves as Social Others. Contemporary Oral Narratives in Rural Bosnia and Herzegovina. In: Werewolf Legends. Willem de Blécourt and Mirjam Mencej, eds. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming).

Življenje s korona virusom v internetni folklori [Life with Corona virus in Internet Folklore]. Studia Mythologica Slavica 25 (forthcoming)

Pripovedovalci in pripovedovalke zgodb o čarovništvu [Narrators of bewitchment narratives and their repertoires]. In: Tra ricerca sul campo e studio a tavolino. Contributi per i cento anni dalla nascita dell’accademico Milko Matičetov / Med terenom in kabinetom. Ob 100. obletnici rojstva akademika Milka Matičetovega. Marija Stanonik and Han Steenwijk, eds. Padova: Coop. Libraria Editrice Università di Padova. Pp. 425-440.

2021

The dead, the war, and ethnic identity : ghost narratives in post-war Srebrenica. Folklore, ISSN 0015-587X, 2021, vol. 132, no. 4, str. 412-433. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0015587X.2021.1905380, doi: 10.1080/0015587X.2021.1905380.

Magic and Hodžas as magic specialists in contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina. Godišnjak, Centar za balkanološka ispitivanja, Centre d'etudes balkaniques, Zentrum für Balkanforschungen 49: 171-196.

2020

Čarovništvo – diskurz ali praksa? (Witchcraft – a discourse or a practice?) Studia mythologica Slavica  23: 137-158.

2019

A Werewolf as Religious and Ethnic Other in a Herzegovinian legend. Folklore, Electronic Journal of Folklore 77: 91-114.

Bosnian shehidi. Traditional narratives and their contemporary uses. In: Present and Past. Contemporary and Historical Perspectives in the Anthropological Study of Religious Life. Éva Pócs, Ágnes Hesz, eds. Budapest: Balassi 2019.

Circular Movement in ASC, Legends and Magical Practices. In: Body, Soul, Spirits and Supernatural Communication. Éva Pócs, ed. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2019. Pp. 310-340.

Mythical, beings sanctioning the breaking of taboos on spinning. In: The Magical and Sacred Magical World. Éva Pócs, ed. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2019. Pp. 298-329.

2018

Jósok mint ellenboszorkányok a 20. századi Kelet-Szlovéniában. In: Áldozat, divináció, istenítélet : vallásetnológiai fogalmak tudományközi megközelítésben, (Tanulmányok a transzcendensről). Éva Pócs, ed. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó. Pp. 307-339.

Something Came Over Him. Narratives on Being “Carried by Witches” and Altered States of Consciousness.  Preternature, Vol. 7, No. 1: 50-87.

Magic and counter-magic in twenty-First-Century Bosnia. In: Cultures of Witchcraft in Europe: Middle Ages to the Present. Jonathan Berry, Owen Davies and Cornelie Usborne, eds. London: Palgrave Macmillan / Springer. Pp. 249-268.

2017

»Verovanje« v zgodovini folkloristike. Konceptualizacija in terminologija. (“Belief” in the history of folkloristics. Conceptualisation and terminology.) Traditiones 46/1–2: 55–68.

Kísértetek az egyetemen. Ethnographia : a magyar néprajzi társaság folyóirata 128 (3): 455-474.

How and Why to Talk about Witchcraft? Discourses on Witchcraft and Uses of Bewitchment Narratives in 21st Century Rural Eastern Slovenia. Temenos 53/1: 143-179. https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/65139

2016

Discourses on witchcraft and uses of witchcraft discourse. Fabula 57(3-4): 248-262.

2015

Unwitching. The Social and Magical Practice in Traditional European Communities. Western Folklore 74.2 (Spring 2015): 115-159.

Security Guards as Participants in and Mediators of Ghost Tradition. Fabula 56(1/2), 2015: 40-66.

Körmozgás módosult tudatállapotban az elbeszélésekben és a mágikus gyakorlatban. In: Test, lélek, szellemek és természetfeletti kommunikáció : vallásetnológiai fogalmak tudományközi megközelítésben.. Pócs Éva, ed. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó 2015. Pp. 530-556.

Ustvarjanje prostora, obredi domestifikacije: kroženje (The making of space. Rituals of domestifications.) In: Balkanskii tezaurus : načalo : tezisy i materialy, 7.-9. aprelja 2015 goda (Balkanskie čtenija, 13). Sedakova, i. a., Civ´jan, Tat´jana Vladimirovna, Makarcev M. M., eds. Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN, 2015. Pp 166-171.

Origins of Witchcraft Accusations. Studia Mythologica Slavica 18/2015: 111-130.

2014

The Symbolism of the Directions of Circular Movement. In: Za etnologijata: bezbroj pragovi sme preminale (Collection of articles dedicated to 40 years of scientific and research work of Professor Aneta Svetieva). Ljupčo S. Risteski, Ana Aštalkovska Gajtanoska, eds. Skopje: Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Faculty of Mathematics, University St. Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia. Pp. 199-222.

Belief in stories about witches in contemporary Slovenia. In: 15th Congress of The International Society for Folk Narrative Research (June 21-27, 2009 Athens). PLEMMENOS, Ioannis (ed.), TSICHRITZIS, Georgia (ur.). Narratives across space and time : transmissions and adaptations : proceedings of the 15th Congress of The International Society for Folk Narrative Research (June 21-27, 2009 Athens), (Publications of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre, 31). Athens: Hellenic Folklore Research Centre, Academy of Athens, 2014, vol. 2. Pp. 489-507.

2013

Simbolika obredov cirkumambulacije v tradicijskih skupnostih (The symbolism of circumambulation rituals in traditional communities), Studia Mythologica Slavica 16, 2013: 125-48.

Slovenskie predstavleniji : o durnom glaze v evropejskom kontekste. (Slovenian beliefs about evil eye in European context.) In: Tolstaja, Svetlana M., Agapkina, Tat´jana Alekseevna, eds. Ethnolinguistica Slavica: k 90-letiju akademika Nikitii Il´iča Tolstogo. Moscow: Indrik, 2013, pp 130-151.

Govor in tišina v kontekstu čarovništva (Speech and silence in the context of witchcraft). In: SEDAKOVA, I. A., CIV´JAN, Tat´jana Vladimirovna, MAKARCEV, M. M., eds. Balkanskaja kartina mira sub specie pjati čelovečeskih čuvstv : tezisy i materialy, 26.-27. marta 2013 goda, (Balkanskie čtenija, 12). Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN: Centr lingvokul'turnyh issledovanii "BALCANICA": Universitet Dmitrija Požarskogo, 2013, pp. 47-54.

2012

Envie et sorcellerie dans la Slovénie rurale. Ethnologie française 42, vol. 2: 313-23.

Nadnaravne kazni kršitve prepovedi predenja (Supernatural punishments for breaking the taboo of spinning). Studia mythologica Slavica 15: 185-200.

Spaces of passage into supernatural time. Tautosakos darbai 38: 30-48. http://www.llti.lt/failai/07_mencej.pdf

Životinja u predajama o vješticama (The animal in the narratives about witches). In: Književna životinja 2, Kulturni bestijarij, (Biblioteka Nova etnografija). MARJANIĆ, Suzana, ZARADIJA KIŠ, Antonija, eds. Zagreb: Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, 2012, pp. 77-97.

2011

The Role of Gender in Accusations of Witchcraft: the Case of Eastern Slovenia. Český lid 98 (4): 393-412.

Connecting Threads. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore 48: 55-84. http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol48/mencej.pdf.

Krožno gibanje kot tehnika preobračanja človeka v volka (Circular movement as a technique of turning to a wolf). In: Salix sonora: pamjati Nikolaja Mihajlova. Zav'jalova M. V., Sedakova I. A. (eds.). Moscow: Centr lingvokul'turnyh issledovanij "BALCANICA"; Centr balto-slavjanskih issledovanij; Institut slavjanovedenija RAN: Probel, 2011. Pp. 126-144.

Životinja u predajama o vješticama (Animals in the narratives about witches). Zarez (27. November 2011, year 13) 320: 23-24.

Witches in the shape of lights and fires. In: Balkanskii spektr : ot sveta k cvetu : mednarodna konferenca, Moskva, 22.-24. mar. 2011], (Balkanskie čtenija, 11). Sedakova I. A., Civ´jan, Tat´jana Vladimirovna, Makarcev, M. M. (eds.). Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN: Centr lingvokul'turnyh issledovanii "BALCANICA", 2011. Pp. 34-39.

2010

Chrześcijańska i predchrześcijańska koncepcja wilczego gospodarza (Christian and prechristian conception of the Master of the Wolves), Gniazdo, 2010, no. 1(8): 27-36.

Simbolika niti in predenja v evropski folklori, Studia mythologica Slavica 13: 151-170.

A fonástabuk megesértőit büntető mitikus lények (Mythical Beings Sanctioning the Breaking of Taboos on Spinning). In: Mágikus és szakrális medicina : vallásetnológiai fogalmak tudományközi megközelítésben, (Tanulmányok a transzcendensről, 7). Pócs Éva (ed.). Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, cop. 2010. Pp. 154-183.

Pripovedi s Kozjanskega in Obsotelja (Narratives from Kozjansko and Obsotelje regions). In: Pripovedi s Kozjanskega in Obsotelja, AE gradiva, no. 2. Mencej, Mirjam (ed.). Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2010. Pp. 134-171.

Gibanje med prostori v evropskem tradicijskem pogledu na svet (Moving between spaces in European traditional worldview). In: Ustvarjanje prostorov (Creating spaces), Pontes academici. Mencej Mirjam, Podjed Dan (eds.). Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete; Prague: Filozofická fakulta Univerzita Karlova; Bratislava: Filozofická fakulta Univerzita Komenského; Krakow: Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2010, 15-56.

2009

Spinning taboos in Europe. In: Socijalni i duhovni aspekti na materijalnata kultura (Social and spiritual aspects of material culture). Svetieva, Aneta, ed. Skopje: Prirodno-matematički fakultet, Institut za etnologija i antropologija, Univerzitet Sv. Kiril i Metodij, 2009. Pp. 135-58.

»V gostje pa takrat prisla bom, kadar trikrat svet obšla bom….« Kroženje desetnikov kot način vstopanja na drugi svet. (“I will visit you when I encircle the world three times ....« Circular voyage of the tenth child as a way of entering another world.) In: Etnolog Vitomir Belaj : zbornik radova povodom 70. rođendana Vitomira Belaja. Petrović Leš, Tihana (ed.). Zagreb: FF Press, 2009. Pp. 183-213.

Wolf holidays among Southern Slavs in the Balkans, Acta Ethnographica Hungarica 54: 337-58.

Witches, magic and fairies in Macedonia and Slovenia. In: Šmitek, Zmago, Svetieva, Aneta (eds.). Macedonian lifeworlds: from mythic landscape to the state. Saarbrücken: VDM, 2009. Pp. 43-79.

Konceptualizacija prostora v pripovedih o nadnaravnem poteku časa (Conceptualization of space in narratives about supernatural lapse of time), Studia mythologica Slavica 12: 187-206.

Narrating about witches. In: Erzählkultur: Beiträge zur kulturwissenschaftlichen Erzählforschung: Hans-Jörg Uther zum 65. Geburtstag. Brednich, Rolf Wilhelm (ed.). Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009, 207-22.

(together with Kehnel, Annette). Representing eternity: circular movement in the cloister, round dancing, winding-staircases and dancing angels. In: Self-representation of medieval religious communities: the British isles in context (Vita regularis, 40). Müller, Anne, Stöber, Karen (eds). Münster: LIT, 2009, 67-97.

Spinning through the time. In: Perehody. Peremeny. Prevrašenija : tezisy i materialy, (Balkanskie čtenija, 10). Sedakova, Irina A., Civ´jan, Tat´jana V., Makarcev, M. M.., Sidneva, S. A. (eds.). Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN: Centr lingvokul'turnyh issledovanii "BALCANICA", 2009, 136-40.

2008

The night is yours, the day is mine! Functions of stories of night-time encounters with witches in eastern Slovenia, Estudos de literatura oral 13/14 (2007/2008): 189-206.

Duši v vetre (Souls in a wind). In: Etnolingvistička proučavanja srpskog i drugih slovenskih jezika : u čast akademika Svetlane Tolstoj (Srpski jezik u svetlu savremenih lingvističkih teorija, knj. 3). Piper Predrag, Radenković Ljubinko (eds.). Belgrade: SANU, Odeljenje jezika i književnosti, 2008, 227-44.

Pozicija pripovedovalca v naracijah o čarovništvu : problemi v komunikaciji med terensko raziskavo čarovništva (The position of a narrator in the narrations about witchcraft: the problems in communications in the fieldwork). In: Slovenski folklor i folkloristika na razmedji dva milenijuma : zbornik radova sa makedonskog naučnog simpozijuma održanog 2-6. oktobra 2006. godine, (Posebna izdanja SANU, Balkanološki institut, 101). Radenković, Ljubinko (ed.). Belgrade: Balkanološki institut SANU. Pp. 323-37.

Walking in circles. In: Space and Time in Europe: East and West, Past and Present. Mirjam Mencej (ed.). Ljubljana: Faculty of Arts. Pp. 35-65.

Podkovana čarovnica in druge povedke o coprnicah v vzhodni Sloveniji (The witch bridle and other witch legends in eastern Slovenia), Studia mythologica Slavica 11: 197-216.

Čarovništvo v Križnikovem gradivu (Witchcraft in Gašper Križnik’s work). In: Stanonik, Marija (ed.). Gašper Križnik (1848-1904) in njegov čas. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. Pp. 183-95.

Witchcraft in eastern Slovenia and western Macedonia: a comparative analysis. In: Post-Yugoslav lifeworlds: results of the Slovenian/Macedonian ethnological and anthropological research project 2000-2002 (Zupaničeva knjižnica, no. 15/I). 2nd ed. Šmitek, Zmago, Svetieva, Aneta (eds.) Ljubljana: Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, 2008, 37-67.

Witchcraft in Eastern Slovenia. In: Pócs Éva, Klaniczay Gábor (eds.). Witchcraft mythologies and persecutions (Demons, spirits, witches, vol. 3). Budapest, New York: Central European University Press. Pp. 295-314.

2007

Night witches in rural eastern Slovenia in the context of Slavic and European parallels. Ethnologia slovaca et slavica 32, 2007: 45-58.

Telesni načini škodovanja čarovnic (Bodily ways of witches’ bewitchments). Studia mythologica Slavica 10:  207-27.

The Christian and pre-Christian conception of the Master of the wolves. EthnoAnthropoZoom http://www.iea.pmf.ukim.edu.mk/EAZ/EAZ_05/EAZ_2004_PDF/Mencej_Mirjam_Eng.pdf.

The Slavic Summer/Winter Opposition in the Pastoral Year and the Christian and Pre-Christian Figures Identifiable as the Master of the Wolves, Cosmos: 79-111.

Uloga predaje o gospodaru vukova u strukturi ljetnog ciklusa (The function of a folk belief of the Master of the wolves in the structure of an annual cycle). In: Kulturni bestiarij (Cultural bestiarium). Marjanić, Suzana, Zaradija Kiš, Antonija (eds.). Zagreb: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada. Pp. 149-66.

2006

Soldat und Tod (AT 1082a), Enzyklopädie des Märchens : Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung. Berlin; New York: W. de Gruyter, 1977-<2004>, bd. 12, 860-62.

Regionalne raziskave čarovništva danes. Na primeru vzhodne Slovenije (Regional researches of contemporary witchcraft. A case study in Eastern Slovenia), Studia ethnologica Croatica 17: 199-219.

Vaško čarovništvo na pragu tretjega tisočletja (Village witchcraft at the turn of the millenium). Glasnik Slovenskega Etnološkega Društva 46,  No. 2: 11-14.

''Ja, tam je en takšen, ko zna.'' Vedeževalci - nasprotniki čarovnic na slovenskem podeželju (Yeah, there’s someone who “knows”. Soothsayers as counterwitches in rural Slovenia), Studia mythologica Slavica 9: 203-22.

The role of legend in constructing annual cycle. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore 32: 99-128. http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol32/mirjam.pdf.

Nesnovna kulturna dediščina Kozjanskega in Obsotelja in njena uporaba v turizmu (Intangible heritage of Kozjansko and Obsotelje region and its use in tourism). In: Mesto in trg na meji : 9. vzporednice med slovensko in hrvaško etnologijo : [9.] hrvatsko-slovenske etnološke paralele, (Knjižnica Glasnika Slovenskega etnološkega društva, 38). Černelič Krošelj, Alenka (ed.). Ljubljana: Slovensko etnološko društvo, 2006. Pp. 55-80.

2005

Coprnice in coprniki: vloga žensk in moških v kontekstu čarovništva (The role of men and women in the context of witchcraft), Zbornik Soboškega muzeja 8: 341-65.

Vaška coprnica (Village witch), Etnolog 15: 245-80.

Funkcije povedk o nočnih srečanjih s čarovnicami in njihova vloga v konstrukciji prostora in časa (The function of legends about night encounters with witches and their role in construction of space and time), Studia Mythologica Slavica 8, Ljubljana-Udine, 167-86.

Čarovništvo kot temelj za razvijanje lokalne identitete (Witchcraft as the basis for the development of local identity). In: Dediščina v očeh znanosti. Jože Hudales, Nataša Visočnik (eds.) Ljubljana: Faculty of Arts. Pp. 155-66.

Witchcraft in Eastern Slovenia and Western Macedonia – a comparative analysis. In: Post-Yugoslav  Lifestyles Between Tradition and Modernity. Zmago Šmitek, Aneta Svetieva, eds. Ljubljana: Faculty of Arts. Pp. 37-67.

2004

„Coprnice so me nosile.” Nočna srečevanja s čarovnicami (“I was led astray by witches”. Nocturnal encounters with witches), Studia Mythologica Slavica 7: 107-42.

„Vem..., pa vendar“. Verovanje v precepu med etnologom in njegovim sogovornikom (I know…, but…”, Folk belief caught between the ethnologist and his informant), Etnolog 14: 175-86.

Verovanja o svetlosnim pojavama na istočnom delu Slovenije (Folk beliefs about “Ignis fatuus” in eastern Slovenia), Kodovi slovenskih kultura 9: 249-62.

Water and death in Slavic folk beliefs and customs. In: Fifor, Mihai (ed.). Symposia: Journal for studies in ethnology and anthropology. Craiova: Aius: Center for Studies in Folklife and Traditional Culture of Dolj County, 2004, pp. 183-97.

2003

Raziskovanje čarovništva na terenu. Čarovništvo kot večplasten fenomen (Researching witchcraft in the field.  Witchcraft as a complex phenomenon), Studia Mythologica Slavica 6: 163-80.

Zakopavanje predmetov. Magična dejanja v ruralnem okolju vzhodne Slovenije (Burying objects. Magical acts in the rural environment of eastern Slovenia), Etnolog 13:  411-33.

2002

Legends, Incantations, Beliefs and Customs related to the Master of the Wolves, Slavica Gandensia 29: 65-82.

Master of the wolves in the Slavic folklore. In: Baskar, Bojan, Weber, Irena (eds.). MESS. Vol. 4, Mediterranean Ethnological Summer School, Piran, Pirano, Slovenia 1999 and 2000, (Zbirka Županičeva knjižnica, št. 7). Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo, 2002. Pp. 219-44.

2001

Čas v folklori = time in folklore. In: Šmitek, Zmago, Brumen, Borut (eds.). Zemljevidi časa: zbornik ob 60-letnici Oddelka za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo (Maps of time) (Zbirka Županičeva knjižnica, vol. 5). Ljubljana: Oddelek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo, Filozofska fakulteta, 2001. Pp. 61-76.

Pustne šege (Carnivals), Revija za starše, vzgojitelje in učitelje (Journal for parents, educators and teachers), February, p. 11.

Prekletstvo nad otroki v južnoslovanski slovstveni folklori (The Curse upon Children in Southern Slavic Folklore), Raskovnik: 110-16.

Predkrščanska podoba Volčjega pastirja (The Prechristian Image of Wolf Shepherd), The Cultus of Saints on Balkans, Liceum 6, Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Science and Arts. Pp. 107-21.

Volčji pastir v kontekstu dosedanjih raziskav na področju mitologije. Studia mythologica Slavica 4: 159-87.

2000

Pomladna praznovanja (Spring Festivals), Revija za starše, vzgojitelje in učitelje) (Journal for parents, educators  and teachers), April 4-5.

Novoletna praznovanja (New Year Festivals), Revija za starše, vzgojitelje in učitelje (Journal for parents, educators and teachers), December, 10.

Funkcija Gospodarja volkov v povedkah, zagovorih, verovanjih in šegah (The Function of the Master of the Wolves in Folktales, Incantations, Beliefs and Customs), Etnolog 10, 2000: 163-78.

?????????? ???????? ????????? ? ???? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ????? ? ????? ??????? (Slavic Folk Beliefs about Water as a Boundary Between the World of the Living and the World of the Dead), ??????????????, Moscow: Russian Academy of Sciences 1 (January-February): 89-97.

Pastirji – čarovniki (Shepherds – Sorcerers), Studia Mythologica Slavica 3, 2000: 115-24.

1999

Mitična oseba Šent v slovenskem izročilu (The Mythical Being »Šent« in Slovenian Folklore), Studia Mythologica Slavica 2: 197-203.

???????? ???? ? ????????? ? ?????? ??????? ??? ??????? (Lameness in the Legends about the Wolf Herdsman), Kodovi slovenskih kultura 4, Delovi tela (Body Parts): 213-19.

Verovanje o vodi kot meji med svetovoma živih in mrtvih / Beliefs about Water as a Boundary between the World of the Living and the World of the Dead, 5th - 8th of  November 1998: International Symposium Ethnological and Anthropological aspects of the Researches of Death, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Etnolog  9, 1999: 195-99/ 200-4.

1998

Das Wasser als Grenze zum Jenseits in Slowenischen Volksliteratur, Studia Mythologica Slavica 1, 1998: 205-24.

1996

Sv. Nikolaj alias Veles pri Slovanih (Saint Nicholas alias Veles in Slavic Beliefs), Glasnik slovenskega etnološkega društva 4: 17-20.

Pomen vode v Svetem pismu Stare zaveze (The Meaning of Water in Old Testament), Bogoslovni vestnik 3: 269-84.

Vrba - posrednik između ovog i onog sveta (Willow as a Mediator Between the World of Living and the World of Death); Kodovi slovenskih kultura 1, Biljke (Plants) (Belgrade): 31-5.

Predstavy o živote po smrti u starých Slovanov (The Life after Death in Ancient Slavs' Beliefs), Slovenský národopis 3 (Bratislava): 286-301.

1995

Duša umrlega kot žival pri starih Slovanih (The Soul of the Dead as an Animal in Traditional Slavic Beliefs), Anthropos 5-6: 198-212.

Mitski pomen vode v pogrebnih šegah (The Mythical Meaning of the Uses of Water in Funeral Customs), Etnolog 5: 223-40.

Preučevalci slovanskega verovanja o onstranstvu (Researchers of the Slavic Belief about the Other World), Glasnik slovenskega etnološkega društva 1:  3-7.

Gora v slovenskih ljudskih pesmih (The Notion of a Mountain in Slovenian Folk Poems), Glasnik slovenskega etnološkega društva 1: 12-3.

 

•         Conferences attended:

2021

5-8 September 2021: Encountering emotions in folk narrative and folklife, 18th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research, Zagreb, Croatia.

Paper: The fear of the dead in post-war Srebrenica

 

May 2021 International conference Death and the dead amidst us: death in contemporary society, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana.

Paper:  Ghost stories in post-war Srebrenica.

 

8 June  Symposium Znanje, življenje in večnost: simpozij v spomin Andražu Žvabu [Knowledge, Life and Eternity: Symposium in Memory of Andraž Žvab], Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Ljubljana, Kranj.

Paper: O diplomskem delu Andraža Žvaba [On Andraž Žvab’s BA Thesis].

 

3 December 2021: Aktualne raziskave v slovenski folkloristiki [Contemporary Research in Slovene Folkloristics]. 2nd conference of Slovene folklorists. Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana.

Paper: Vloga pripovedi o duhovih v družbenem, kulturnem in religijskem kontekstu [The role of ghost narratives in social, cultural and religious context]

 

2020

 

19 May 2020: Vsakdanje življenje v času epidemije. Nove izkušnje, etnografija in refleksija. International conference at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Ljubljana. Ljubljana.

Paper: Življenje s korona virusom v internetni folklori [Life with corona-virus in the internet folklore]

 

2019

 

Belief narratives in folklore studies: narrating the supernatural. International conference of Belief narrative network (BNN) of International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR), Guwahati, India, 6- 8 February, 2019.

Paper: Oral legends about Muslim martyrs and their appropriation by the popular magazines.

 

Narrative culture in space, Slovenska Bistrica, 10 – 11 June, 2019.

Paper: The role of narratives about fairies in structuring space.

 

Drugi v folkloristični in etnološki perspektivi, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, 13 December

Paper: Volkodlaki v Bosni in Hercegovini : socialni in etnični drugi [Werewolves in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Social and Ethnic Others].

 

Konstituiranje slovenske slovstvene folkloristike : ob stoletnici rojstva akademika Milka Matičetovega (10. 9. 1919 - 5. 12. 2014). International conference, SAZU, Ljubljana, 10 – 11 September, 2019.

Paper: Pripovedovalci zgodb o čarovništvu in njihovi repertoarji [Narrators of witchcraft stories and their repertoires]

 

2018

 

Human-Animal Relationships in Belief Narratives. Belief Narrative Network conference at the ISFNR interim conference. Ragusa, Italy, 12-16 June 2018.

Paper: Social uses of narratives about werewolves

 

2017

 

From humanities to social sciences: visionary experience in cross-disciplinary perspective. Workshop, Central European University, Budapest, 3-5 July 2017.

Paper: Visions of Mary in Bosnia and Herzegovina - between faith and national identity.

 

Present and past: contemporary and historical perspectives in the anthropological study of religious life: a conference on the anthropology of religion, International conference, Budapest, 5-7 May 2017

Paper: Ancient graves and recent deaths on a Bosnian highway.

 

 2016

 

Wild or Domesticated. Interdisciplinary conference, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 20-22 September 2016

Paper: Narratives about Night Witches and Altered States of Consciousness.

co-leader of a workshop "The mind's involvement with spiritual and supernatural realities"

 

ISFNR congress, Miami, 19-22 October 2016

Paper: The underlying experience of narratives on “being carried by witches”

 

2015

 

Homo narrans. Humans and their World as Represented in Narrative, Athens, 25-26 November, 2015.

Paper: Discourses on witchcraft and uses of witchcraft discourse.

 

Faith and doubt. International conference. Pécs Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pécs, Hungary, 16-18October, 2015.

Paper: Belief and Disbelief in Witchcraft Narratives.

 

2014

 

Sacrifice, ordeal, divination, at the Pécs committee of the Hungarian academy of sciences, Pécs, Hungary. 12 - 14 December, 2014.

Paper: Soothsayers as Counter-witches.

 

Oral folklore: folkloristic aspects and interdisciplinary vision. 13-14 November 2014. Zagreb, Croatia.

Paper: Conceptualisations of folk belief and belief narrative in the history of Folkloristics.

 

Nature spirits: continuity and change, Conference of Belief narrative network of ISFNR University of Zugdidi, Zugdidi, Georgia, 1-4 October 2014. Zugdidi: University of Zugdidi: ISFNR Belief Narrative Network, 2014.

Paper: Circular movement of nature spirits.

 

Ghosts, The traditional cosmology society, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 12 April 2014].

Paper: The rise, spread and decline of ghost stories attached to the building of the Department of ethnology and cultural anthropology at the University of Ljubljana.

 

Slovenian narratives : about what, why and how to understand them? Ljubljana: Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, 4 April 2014]. Ljubljana.

Paper: Sem vso noč lutal v krogu : simbolika krožnega gibanja v folklornih pripovedih (Symbolism of circular movement in folk narratives.)

 

2013

 

Folk Narrative in the Modern World: Unity and Diversity, 16th Congress of ISFNR, Vilnius, 24.-30. June 2013

Paper: Ghosts at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology. Guards as Bearers and Controllers of Tradition.

 

2012

 

“Body, souls, spirits and supernatural communication”, Pécs: University of Pécs, Hungary

Paper: Circular movement in ASC, legends and magical practices.

 

“Ethnolinguistic. Onomastic. Etymology.”, Ekaterinburg: Uralian federal University, Russia

Paper: Symbolism of a direction of a movement in Slavic and Indo-European context.

 

2011

 

“Animals in art and archaeology and in myths, tales and legends”, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, Celtic and Scottish Studies, Scotland

Paper: Turning into a wolf.                                                                    

 

“Balkanskii spektr : ot sveta k cvetu”, Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN, Russia.

Paper: Witches in the shape of lights and fires.

 

2010

 

“Über Grenzen” (48. Deutscher Historikertag 2010), Berlin: Humboldt Universität, Germany.

Paper: Bonnets, hoods and hats in history and folklore: Little Red Riding Hood as an example.

 

“Beyond essentialisms”, Ljubljana: Department of ethnology and cultural anthropology, Slovenia

Paper: Defining space and other functions of memorates about night witches

 

“Magical and sacred medical world”. Pécs, Hungary

Paper: Mythical beings sanctioning the breakings of taboos on spinning.

 

“Narratives across space and time: transmissions and adaptations”, ISFNR Congress, Athens, Greece Hellenic folklore research centre, Academy of Athens, Greece.

Paper: Belief in stories about witches in contemporary Slovenia.

 

2008

 

“Social and Spiritual Aspects of Material Culture”, Skopje: Department of ethnology and anthropology, Republic of Macedonia

Paper: The meaning of taboos on spinning in annual cycle.

 

2007

 

“The Concept of Space and Time in Europe” Ljubljana: Department of ethnology and cultural anthropology, Slovenia

Paper: Circular movement in European concept of space and time.

 

“Saints’ days and other markers in the ritual year”, Edinburgh: Celtic&Scotish Studies, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Paper: Wolf days and wolf saints in Slavic tradition.

 

2006

 

“Slavic folklore and folklore studies at the turn of the millennium”, Belgrade, Serbia

Paper: Position of the informant in narrations about witchcraft. Breakdowns of communication during fieldwork.

 

 „A town and a village at the border”, Podsreda, Slovenia-Croatia

Paper: Legends about space and places in the Kozjansko and Obsotelje regions

 

2005

 

“Folk narrative theories and contemporary practices: 14th Congress of the International society for folk narrative research (ISFNR)”, Tartu, Estonia.

Paper: The role of the legend in constructing annual cycle

 

2004

 

“Death and the Orient”, Craiova, Rumania

Paper: Water and death in Slavic folk beliefs and customs

 

“Magic and shamanism”, Motovun, Croatia

Paper: Magic and shamanism in Slavic folk tradition

 

“Gašper Križnik and his time”, Kamnik, Slovenia

Paper: Witchcraft in Križnik’s work

 

2003

 

“How to think heritage? About “our” and “other” heritage in Slovenia”, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Paper: Witchcraft as heritage

 

2001

 

“Times, Places, Passages: Ethnological Approaches in the New Millennium” (SIEFF congress), Budapest, Hungary

Paper: Legends, Incantations, and Beliefs as Supporters of Time Division

 

2000

 

 “Maps of Time: Cultural and Social Dimensions of Time”, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Paper: The Time in Folklore

 

1999

 

6th Mediteranean Ethnological Summer School, Piran, Slovenia

Paper: The master of the wolves – a mythical person in the context of Slavic seasonal cycle

 

»Demons, Spirits, Witches, Popular Mythology and Christian Demonology«, Budapest, Hungary

Paper: Cursed children in folk literature

 

1998

 

“Ethnological and anthropological approaches toward death”, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Paper: Belief about water as a boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead

 

1995

 

"Religion and Folklore”, Bankya, Bulgaria

Paper: The mythical meaning of the (usage of) water in funeral rites