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- Convenors:
-
Laurent Fournier
(University Cote d'Azur)
Irina Sedakova (Institute of Slavic Studies, Moscow)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Performativity and ritual
- Location:
- G23
- Sessions:
- Thursday 8 June, -, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Prague
Short Abstract:
The traditional knowledge concerning rituals is disappearing and a lot of rituals are facing uncertainty. This panel will address the changes that have been experimented among the traditional communities. It will also try to understand better the role of the researcher in the observed changes.
Long Abstract:
The traditional knowledge concerning rituals is disappearing with the elder generations and there is often a lack of fundament for the younger generations. Due to this situation, a lot of rituals have become uncertain, as scholars already noted since the beginning of the XIXth century. However there has been an increase of creativity and thus a growth of the improvisation in the holidays. Newest challenges — COVID19 pandemic and extraordinary waves of migration - also give a strong feeling of uncertainty, sometimes leading to the invention of new rituals. The gender questions, with the newest modification of male-female binary opposition, are part of this uncertainty. And yet there is a sort of constancy, solidness of the tradition, which is still present. How do these aspects coexist in concrete rituals? What sort of changes have been experimented, accepted or discussed among the traditional communities? This panel calls for case studies addressing both continuities and changes in calendric or life-cycle rituals in the beginning of the XXIst century. In a more self-reflexive way, it would be interesting to understand better the role of the researcher in the observed changes. Is the researcher called to participate in the changes and the new improvisations? What are the differences of perception of the uncertainties according to the age or to the gender of the researcher? Comparing older archival notes with what we can observe now may enable to understand better the improvisation and the constancy in the ritual year itself.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 8 June, 2023, -Laurent Fournier (University Cote d'Azur)
Paper short abstract:
According to Arnold Van Gennep rituals should be studied as living facts. By taking various examples, we will propose a dynamic theory to encompass the various factors that control the birth and death of ritual behaviors.
Paper long abstract:
According to Arnold Van Gennep rituals should be studied as living facts. From this point of view, ethnology and folklore are distinct from history, which studies past events. The living character of folklore necessitates paying attention to the life cycles of customs. In every era, there is a certain creativity that needs to be interpreted. By taking various examples, we will propose a dynamic theory to encompass the various factors that control the birth and death of ritual behaviors.
Anamaria Iuga (National Museum of the Romanian Peasant)
Paper short abstract:
The paper examines the changes that occurred in the development of the "Ploughman" ritual (celebration of the first man that plough his land) in some Transylvanian communities: its turn into a local festival, but also an adaptation of the custom in order not to be lost, changing the main performers.
Paper long abstract:
At the beginning of Spring, (second day of Easter, or 23rd of April–St. George feast), in some communities in Transylvania (Romania), it is celebrated "The Ploughman", honouring the first man to start ploughing his land. The custom, bearing several names, but with a similar structure, was attested in many communities by Traian Gherman (a research conducted in 1930s, but published in 1981), and other researchers. It suffered many changes, especially during communism, when it disappeared in most of the communities (due to collectivisation, or mechanization of agriculture, or political/religious persecution). Only in a few communities the custom still exists, although changed. In Maramures region (northern Romania) it was turned into a local festival: in 1970 (Hoteni village); or it was re-performed as local festival in 1996 (Surdesti village), after being abandoned since the late 1950s, performed once in 1968 for research purposes (film at the Ethnography and Folklore Research Institute; Bucharest). In some villages in Fagaras region it was not been turned into a festival, but, since early 1990s, it was performed by the group of young lads (performers of Christmas carolling ritual in Winter), who in Spring celebrate their leader ("vataf") as "Ploughman" in some communities, as a result of the ritual revival. The paper presents the custom, examines the changes that occurred in time and the factors (e.g.: involvement of researchers, local intellectuals, or members of the communities) that influenced the revival of the custom, but also focuses on the meanings of the customs today, for the communities.
Corina Sirbu (National Museum of the Romanian Peasant)
Paper short abstract:
A significant moment in pastoral life in Romania is the milk measurement, "Sambra". Over the last 60 years, a local event has been organized by the political authority in Oas County, in addition to private omologue "sambra". Their interactions shed light on the social uncertainty of local cultures.
Paper long abstract:
One of the most significant moments of pastoral life in Romania is that of milk measurement, named "Sambra". It is an event organized in the spring, before the sheep are taken to the mountains. On this occasion, every sheep owner, after the milk of his sheep is weighed, finds out the amount of cheese he will receive at the end of the season. "Sambra" involves ritual aspects and ceremonial expectations, but also moments of entertainment. Over the last 60 years, a local event has been organized by the local political and administrative authority in Oas County (north of Romania), in addition to private omologue events. Given that migration (and emigration) for work has reached extremely high levels in the area, the two complementary types of sambra annually stage both the practices of regional traditions related to shepherding, as well as forms of political instrumentalization of them. The processes of cultural fusion and metissage that arise from here shed light not only on the dynamics of local social systems but also on the social precariousness and uncertainity of their local cultures.
Mare Kõiva (Estonian Literary Museum)
Paper short abstract:
I take a look at larger groups of beliefs and rituals: the living tree, the human -tree relationships, , the concept of one’s own tree and one’s own plant, and their role in the rituals and healing of the arc of life.
Paper long abstract:
The boundaries of living and inanimate between the human and animal, human and plant worlds have provided food for thought over the centuries, and several older ideas have reappeared in new forms of religion and ritual. Namely, ideas about the life of trees and plants, the possibility of communication with trees and other connections between people and plants are visible in today's culture. Based on approach of T. Agapkina, O. Loorits, I. Paulson, I take a look at larger groups of beliefs and rituals: the living tree, the human doppelganger in the form of a tree, the concept of one’s own tree and one’s own plant, and their role in the rituals and healing of the arc of life. The role of trees versus forests in today’s national identity. The custom of planting a name tree for important events in life (birth, wedding). A direct connection was believed to prevail between a person and his named tree: based on the growth of the tree and its condition, the fate of a person was predicted, including diseases and his death (if the tree is stunted or dries up, then the same will happen to a particular person). I will briefly describe the main features of the custom in 1940-1990 and the continuation of life in the contemporary religiously diverse environment. Places of worship, including trees as part of national identity, cause heated debate and protest, including related to climate and Green Movement activities.
The report is based on older manuscripts and data from new surveys. There are parallels to the phenomena of earlier religion in today’s culture.
Dalia Senvaitytė (Vytautas Magnus University)
Paper short abstract:
The conference report intends to present an analysis of the ritual annual holidays of modern pagan religious communities and the changes in their rituals in Lithuania. Based on ethnographic research, newly organized celebrations, and emerging trends in performed rituals will be presented.
Paper long abstract:
All cultural phenomena inevitably change over time. Changes affect all areas of human life, including well-known "traditional" holidays. This report based on newly conducted ethnographic field research is planned to present the changes in ritual annual holidays in contemporary Lithuanian “native faith” communities. Recently introduced holidays (autumn and spring equinoxes, the festival of the love goddess Milda, the festival of the Sun, and others) will be described, as well as specific new ritual trends spreading in more “traditional” holidays (for instance, Midsummer celebration) in these communities and their celebrations will be discussed separately. The dissemination of new “spiritual practices” (yoga practices, gong music therapy, retreats, etc.) in communities and their annual holiday rituals will be represented. It is also planned to debate the reasons for this change. The impact of new holidays introduced by Lithuanian modern native faith pagans on the general concept and practice of Lithuanian traditional holidays will also be reviewed.
Alexander Novik (Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences)
Paper short abstract:
The study is devoted to the analysis of the revitalization of the celebration of Christmas/the birth of a new tradition of seeing off the old year and welcoming the new year among the Albanians of the Balkans. A significant role is played by the factor of the prestige of the "sacred family house".
Paper long abstract:
Albanians in the Western Balkans traditionally practice Sunni Islam (the majority of believers, in Albania 56%) and Christianity in the forms of Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Accordingly, it was impossible to talk about “uniform” rites of the ritual year before - until the beginning of the 21st century. In Albania, unlike in Kosovo and North Macedonia, the ritual practices of the population were greatly influenced by militant atheism, which formally banned religious institutions from 1967 to the early 1990s. After the abolition of all prohibitions, new forms of the ritual year began to take shape. So, the most important event for everyone without exception - both Muslims and Christians, unbelievers and atheists - was the gathering of the family and family visits and meals at the end of the year, the peak of which falls on New Year’s Eve from December 31 to January 1. People of all ages and social status, living both in Albania itself and working abroad (primarily in the EU countries and the USA), contribute to the construction of a new tradition, which has its own specifics in villages and cities. A significant role in the change of ritual practices was played by: 1) the factor of the prestige of the sacred locus – family house; 2) the mechanism of revitalization of tradition, which is activated in the event of artificial interference in the ritual sphere; 3) voluntary or involuntary desire of various communities to museify the past and to construct the future.
Anastasia V Shevchenko (Université Côte d'Azur)
Paper short abstract:
The ritual of burning a boat on the eve of the day of Saint Devota in Monaco complements the present secular practices of instilling a sense of national belonging. It also points to the possibilities for local celebrations to survive transformations without losing its deep meaning for the community.
Paper long abstract:
Saint Devota's Day, the patroness of the Principality of Monaco, is celebrated with two days of festivities. The transformation of the tradition into a ritual of burning a boat was rooted as an integral part of national unity by intellectuals of the early 20th century. It has proven itself to be creatively productive for the education of national identity and instilling a sense of belonging to children from the age of 4-6 years through active participation in the ritual, as qualitative data shows. The symbolic and dominant content complements the existing secular practices of educating cultural identity, regardless of the presence religious beliefs.
There is, in addition, a further transformation of the ritual towards secularism, associated with modern communication systems, as well as security requirements. Many Monegasques, along with a deep association with the Saint as part of cultural identity, at the same time tend to see this ritual, in addition to initiating new generations, as an opportunity for a more extensive range of participants and guests of the Principality to participate in the local wealth, which in turn produces a beneficial effect on territorial valuation. The tradition based not only on the need to generate the symbolic wealth of the territory, but also to preserve community's identity from blurring, is offered to a broader public without any apparent risk of losing meaning and intimacy. We consider it an unusual phenomenon, which we propose for further study.
Irina Sedakova (Institute of Slavic Studies, Moscow)
Paper short abstract:
The paper analyzes women’s attitudes towards folk calendric and life cycle rituals in the war novel Pirey (Wheat-grass) by Macedonian writer P. M. Andreeski. In the time of uncertainty and ordeals folk means of supporting health and well-being in the family give hope and become more popular.
Paper long abstract:
In his novel Pirey (Wheat-grass) the prominent Macedonian writer Petre M. Andreeski (1934–2006) describes traditional life and customs of a remote village in Macedonia during the Balkan war at the beginning of 20th century. One of the major heroines is Velika whose life starting from her wedding with Ion until her death is depicted in detail with a lot of folklore and ethnographic details on the life cycle and calendric rituals, folk medicine and beliefs. While Ion is fighting as a soldier at the war, Velika with other countrywomen in the village is going through ordeals, famine, and epidemic, her four children die one after another. In the time of uncertainty the irrational folk means of supporting health and well-being of the family, well preserved in the patriarchal village, are supposed to give even more hope and become more popular.
Another aspect is that lack of the relevant products for celebrating Christmas and Easter make the women to forget about the time as such, which shows, firstly, the importance of the culinary food for the festivals of the ritual year, and secondly, the role of the rituals as markers of the calendric time.
Arūnas Vaicekauskas (Vytautas Magnus University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper will discuss the various transformations of the dressing of the Shrovetide effigy, which took place in the long perspective of the time. Starting with changes in the understanding of the meaning and ending with differences in the impact of science, local ethnography and public needs.
Paper long abstract:
Shrovetide (Lith. Užgavėnės) is one of the most important and popular festivals in Lithuania. Complex of the ritual structures of the festival were equal to or even more complex than those of the most important festivals of the calendar cycle. We have at least two traditions of this festivity today in Lithuania. They differ between himself in the scales of the preserving of the rural rites and new inventing. One of them we hardly but still can name as the living tradition. The next we will find in a big cities or Open-air museums. It is not hard to understand that the last is much more adopted to the consumer needs of nowadays society. But if to look from the long perspective of the time - both of them lost many from agricultural rites and gained a lot of new treats.
The transformations of the Shrovetide rites started much earlier than our written sources can to reach. And we can state that not only in XXI century could seem that rites of the agricultural festivals will disappear from our cultural map. From the other hand, historic transformations of the ritual tradition often show not degradation, but in contrary - its vitality and ability to adopt to the challenges of the time. So in this paper we will touch some points of the “uncertainty” and “constancy” of the one of the most transformed in time Shrovetide custom – The dressing and destroying of the effigy.
Giovanni Kezich (UMSe rete etnografica etc. Provincia Autonoma di Trento) Antonella Mott (Provincia autonoma di Trento)
Paper short abstract:
An upsurge of traditional masqueraded winter rituals has been on its way throughout Europe since the mid 1970s, gaining momentum up to present, with old rituals being revived and new ones created, within significant processes, on both ethnographic and socio-anthropological grounds.
Paper long abstract:
Current paradigms of “change” at the periphery of society tend to focus on the demise of traditional lifestyles as a response to modernization and economic transformation. This paper will follow instead John W. Cole remarks (1996), as to the specific effects of the new economy in the perspective strengthening of the local community, which in many cases happens to overcome the transformations endowed of new tools for survival as a corporate unit. In this perspective, the revival of traditional masquerading, which can be seen as a consistent phenomenon throughout Europe from the mid-1970s, can be envisaged as a specific marker of a revival of local identities. Thus, following Gerald W. Creed (2011) ground-breaking work on the transformation of the Bulgarian traditional masquerades as a specific response to changes in the socio-political sphere, the paper will try to investigate this topic on a European scale, with a specific focus on the masquerades seen and documented in the course of “Carnival King of Europe” research project (2006-).
References:
Gerald W. Creed (2011) Masquerade and Postsocialism: Ritual and Cultural Dispossession in Bulgaria. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Giovanni Kezich (1996) The hidden ecology. Conversating con J.W.Cole in Trento” in SM Annali di San Michele 9-10 /1996-97