ABSTRACT
In the general study of peasant life, Atany fits into the broad area of “Central Europe beyond the Alps.” Where the peasants have combined agriculture and stock raising for many centuries, where they formerly lived in the bondage of serfdom, and where they have been attempting for several generations to adapt their rural traditions to the conditions of increasingly industrialized national economies and urbanized societies. For the traveler who comes to the village by road, however, the church tower and the rooftops of Atany present a unique silhouette. Inside the village one notices the uniform whiteness of the whitewashed houses, the dark attire of the older women, the words spoken in a particular dialect, and the antiquated forms of address. Atany was regarded as a well-to-do village in the neighborhood since it contained fewer “very poor” and also fewer “very rich” people than the surrounding communities.
