Men and irons. Introduction into the immaterial universe of blacksmithing. Studies and documents

1. The main subject of our research is knowledge. It stands behind all the gestures a blacksmith makes when processing the metal. It has a specific content and a particular manner of mental organization, externalized and put into practice during a process that we usually call technology, but which also has the features of performance. It is exercised in a certain space under certain conditions. It is accompanied by a whole gallery of sounds, rhythms and images. It customizes the blacksmith to other craftsmen and to those who are the beneficiaries of his work. It gives him power.

3. Men and irons. Introduction into the immaterial universe of blacksmithing. Studies and documents Laura Jiga Iliescu (coord.) Nicolae Teodoreanu Monica Beatrice Bercovici Bucharest, Curtea Veche Publishing House Romanian-English versions ISBN : 978-606-588-265-2.

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5. NICOLAE TEODOREANU, Blacksmith’s ear for music or about the involvement of acoustic elements in iron processing technology. Experimental study The study approaches the phenomenon of acoustic signalling, as nonverbal communication between artisans, and the spectral features of iron in blacksmiths’ perception.

10. LAURA JIGA ILIESCU, The iron methamorphosis, as expressed in two groups of narratives: ATU 330A, ATU 753 The study identified and analyzes the religious and symbolical values ascribed to the ironsmith, as expressed in oral narratives (fairytales, legends)

12. LAURA JIGA ILIESCU, Why does the blacksmith strikes only the anvil and not the iron piece? I. Ritualisation of gesture; II. Applying knowledge “The devil is gnawing the chains throughout the year and he would escape on Easter Day if the blacksmiths didn’t hammer the anvil once with no purpose at all.” The study has two parts. The first one concerns the ritual gesture, with eschatological function of striking only the anvil and not the iron piece, gesture attested in the Caucasian, Romanian and few other cultures. The second one starts from the reason the blacksmiths give to the same gesture: “It’s time for thinking”. The study tries to decipher this “time for thinking” from the cognitive anthropology perspective and experiments the folkloristic concept of mental text expressed during performance in the case of iron processing.

13. LJ.I: When you are working why do you sometimes strike the anvil and not the iron piece? Why don’t you always strike the iron piece? I.O. : Not to hurt it too much [He laughs]. I do this in order not to skip the rhythm. ‘Cause I move the iron piece and I’m thinking: I have to do this and that. (I.O., Vadu, octombrie 2011, fond AIEF d.a. WS750126)  L.J.I: Do you happen to strike only the anvil, without having a piece of iron on it? C.B.: Well, how shall I put it? [...].That is the thinking time from hand to thought. (C.B., Călceşti, octombrie 2010, fond AIEF d.a. WS216404)

15. MONICA BEATRICE BERCOVICI, LAURA JIGA ILIESCU: Verbal expressions of knowledge. Corpus of documents and glossary The corpus represents a selection of inedited documents of oral culture created during the last three years of fieldwork. The documents are structures in a thematic collage, with typologically features, of the cognitive expressions and cognitive tools involved in the handiwork of iron processing. This is a manner whereby the relation between invariance and personal creativity can be caught.

16. LAURA JIGA ILIESCU, Iron, Blacksmiths, Landscapes and …. Us: fieldwork report and its documentary value The study analyses the documentary values of the field diary