Paper short abstract:

This presentation aims to highlight the way laments of the Yezidi community of Armenia, delocalized from the ritual space through displacement and new technologies, gain a new dimension in which shared memories are shaped by sounds and poetics.

Paper long abstract:

In the Yezidi community of Armenia, laments for the dead can be heard in daily life as well as in all funerals. The massive emigration during the post-soviet period did not stop the vitality of this pratice but it gave to the ritual a new space, spread out over borders and timescales.

This new space can be defined by the creation of a non physical locality. People quite often attend to funerals via mobile phones (listening to laments and sometimes even performing them). Funerals are also filmed by the family and sent to the relatives abroad. Finally, laments for heroes are not only sung in funerals, but also recorded in studios and sold in mp3 compilations on street markets.

Delocalized from the funeral space and time, laments for the dead become part of a shared memory.