Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Time and social networks
110 Rajkó Muršič ly brought to an end not only socialism, but its unique (post)socialist “public culture" as well. And this brings us into the seemingly turbulent last decade of the century. Trate is now a part of the typical northeast Slovene scenery within the urban-rural continuum, with well-designed, clean and neatly arranged suburban private houses. The most visible characteristics of the surroundings are the freshly mown lawns at the front of the private houses. CZD’s song entitled “Pokozlane Trate” (Vomiting Trate/Vomited lawns) throws an ironic light on the emerging small-townish Europeanism. People in Trate were anxious about the changes following the fall of socialism and the economic crisis in the late eighties and the early nineties. Some of them searched for jobs in Austria or found other ways of earning some money. Generally, the situation is not too dismal, although the village is facing the problem of ageing and depopulation. If the paper mill, Paloma, in the neighbouring community of Sladki Vrh goes bankrupt, the fate of the people around Trate would become uncertain. Thankfully, this is not the end of the story. The semi-rural area near the border is a place with a highly developed alternative culture. The mature scene - led by the middle-age rockers, with the support of some younger people - simply moved to another venue in the village of Ceršak, some 10 km from Trate. Under the leadership of a member of CZD, Dušan Hedl, they established a genuine cultural centre in a private house near the border. Eternal underground: A new public culture and private initiative The alternative rock scene in Trate came to an end when the venue in the old mill was given back to the pre-war owners. The Act of Denationalisation, passed in 1991, was among the typical counter-revolutionary acts with which a new postcommunist elite was made. Its members were heirs of those individuals whose property was confiscated or nationalised after WWII. The policy of giving the pre-war property back to
