A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 21. (Békéscsaba, 2000)

Szendrei Eszter: Society-ethnographical data about Méhkerék

Szendrei Eszter Society-ethnographical data about Méhkerék - Eszter Szendrei Résumé The objective of the study is to examine social-ethnographically the Roumanian native tongued population of Méhkerék in Békés County. Priority of the examination is to present those changes leading to the end of the closeness of the settlement that lived in endogamy in ethnical, local and confessional terms. We get a picture about the society of the village considered as ethnical island till the 1970s through an examination of the economic, property and religious features. On the basis of the historical data we need to emphasise primarily the significance of the orthodox church and the changing economic factors shaping the social life of the village. Beside the blood-relative, marital and family-organisational connections corresponding to the clan-like style of living the analyses present the operation of the family as economic unit, as well as the role of the members of the patriarchal family in the family and the work-organisation. Examination of the match-making and the marital relations supports the views formed on the changing social life of the Roumanian community in Méhkerék. Translated by Attila В. Kis Eszter Szendrei Márki Sándor Museum Sarkad Kossuth Street 26 5720 144