Sworn Virgins of the Balkan Highlands

Abstract

Once widely spread in the Dinaric Mountains part of the Balkan Peninsula swearing to virginity was a social and cultural custom recorded among all groups inhabiting the area. In the absence of a capable adult man in the household, a daughter would take over his social role by ‘becoming’ a man. The standard explanation is that the function of this practice is enabling the continuation of the household’s economic, social, and religious activities. We argue that this explanation fails. A better explanation is that, because the lack of a particular kind of a man (competent and honourable) was perceived as a shame in these societies, the primary reason for swearing to virginity was saving family honour.

Včasih široko razširjena prisega nedolžnosti v Dinarskem gorovju na Balkanskem polotoku je bila družbeni in kulturni ritual, dokumentiran med vsemi skupinami na tem območju. Po tem ritualu naj bi hči, če v družinskem gospodarstvu ni bilo sposobnega odraslega moškega, prevzela njegovo družbeno vlogo, tako da je 'postala' moški. Po standardni razlagi je funkcija te prakse omogočiti nadaljevanje gospodarskih, socialnih in verskih dejavnosti gospodinjstva. Avtorja menita, da ta razlaga ni ustrezna. Po njunih ugotovitvah pa je glavni razlog za prisego nedolžnosti reševanje družinske časti, saj je odsotnost posebne vrste moškega (sposobnega in častnega) v teh skupnostih sprejeta kot sramota