On funeral, memorial and calendar rituals in the serbian Banat: field research in 2023

The article reflects the results of an expedition to the villages of the South Banat district of Serbia, during which the author visited 11 Romanian, 4 Serbian villages and two villages with a mixed population. The article examines the calendar rituals of the Romanians of the Serbian Banat in comparison with the rituals of the Banat Serbs, with special attention paid to the funeral and memorial practices of the Romanians of the Banat. Serbs follow the Julian church calendar, Romanians follow the New Julian church calendar. The Christmas customs of the two nations differ significantly. Serbs and Romanians celebrate Easter at the same time. The period from Maundy Thursday to Monday of St. Thomas Week is associated both with Romanians and Serbs with numerous funeral rites. In Romanian funeral and memorial rites, in contrast to Serbian ones, instrumental music, in particular fanfare plays a significant role. Until recently, a common element among Serbs and Romanians was the voting for the deceased (Serbian: naricanje, Romanian: bocet).