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
78 Davide Torsello these tables tojoin or chat with others during the formal part of the event demonstrates that there was little space for socialization outside the kin sphere. This was a time when proper behaviour and family cohesion had to be manifest. Villagers commented positively on the success of the event and the very news that I had participated reinforced my position in the village. Trying to provoke some comment on the families who attended the evening, I asked my hostess why certain families were so compact at the celebration and others not, or were even absent. She replied: You know, not all like to show themselves at such occasions. I’m too old for it, but we used to go there in the past. Now it's only the big families who go there, those who give their support to the association. It’s not money; I’m also a member and pay the fees. They’re those who need to be on the front stage. They’ve nothing to hide in their past. They’re all very respected families. Intrigued by the idea of what she meant by “respected families", I asked further. She explained: These are all village families who once had or now have a good position. They are not richer than you and me. They are simply trusted and respected because people know who they are or who they were in the village before. One of them was a rich peasant, another is the clerk, and another owns the noodle factory. People trust them because they have done something for the village. Generalized trust may be constructed in different ways when the sphere of social interaction enlarges beyond the family. Social reputation, status and the family’s economic condition are factors which, being subject to historical change, determine social evaluation of individual personalities. The concomitance of these factors (or values) leads villagers to trust certain people more than others, especially when they are seen as contributing to the public good of the community (such as the noodle factory owner). This creates the split between the two positions at the festival, the village
