Sound mimesis in shamanhood

Shamanism in various cultures shows great diversity.Hoppál 2005: 15] In some cultures, the music or songs related to shamanistic beliefs or practice may intentionally mimic natural sounds, sometimes with onomatopoiea. [http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pressematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf Hoppál 2006: 143] ]

Of course, in several cultures, imitation of natural sounds may serve other functions, not necessarily related to shamanism: practical goals as luring in the hunt;Nattiez: 5] entertainment (katajjaqs of Inuit).Nattiez: 5] [http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/inuit.htm Deschênes 2002] ]

Localities

Sami

This holds e. g. for shamanism among Sami groups. Some of their shamanistic beliefs and practice shared important features with those of some Siberian cultures.Voigt 1966: 296] Some of their yoiks were sung on shamanistic rites,Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 56, 76] this memory is conserved also in a folklore text (a shaman story).Voigt 1966: 145] Recently, yoiks are sung in two different styles, one of these are sung only by young people. But the traditional one may be the other, the “mumbling” style, resembling to magic spells.Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 64]

Several surprising characteristics of yoiks can be explained by comparing the music ideals, as observed in yoiks and contrasted to music ideals of other cultures. Some yoiks intend to mimic natural sounds. [http://www.uit.no/ssweb/dok/Somby/Ande/95.htm Somby 1995] ] This can be contrasted to bel canto, which intends to exploit human speech organs on the highest level to achieve an almost “superhuman” sound.Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 74]

Siberia

Shamanism in Siberia is far from being homogeneous. In some of the various cultures there, mimicking natural sounds can be present: some instances of overtone singing, and also certain shamanic songs of some cultures can be examples.

Samoyedic

The seance of Nganasan shamans were accompanied by women imitating the sounds of the reindeer calf, (thought to provide fertility for those women).Hoppál 2005: 92] In 1931, A. Popov observed the Nganasan shaman Dyukhade Kosterkin imitating the sound of polar bear: the shaman was believed to have transformed into polar bear. [http://haldjas.folklore.ee/~aado/tent.htm Lintrop] ]

Obi-Ugric

A Russian traveler described a Khanty shamanic séance: it took place in the birch bark tent in full darkness. Only the song and the dombra music of the shaman could be heard: he invoked his spirits. It was mimicked as if the direction of the sound were moving: it sounded as if the shaman had flown around in the tent and left. Later, the voices of various animals (cuckoo, owl, hoopoe, duck, squirrel) could be heard. Then it was imitated as if the shaman had flown back into the tent, singing his song. [Vitebsky 1996: 89]

Altai

Among several peoples near the Altai Mountains, the new drum of a shaman must go through a special ritual. This is regarded as “making the drum alive”: the tree and the deer who gave their wood and skin for the new drum narrate their whole lives and promise to the shaman that they will serve him. The ritual itself is a libation: beer is poured onto the skin and wood of the drum, and these materials “come to life” and speak with the voice of the shaman in the name of the tree and the deer. Among the Tubalar, this means literally the imitation of the behavior and the voice of the animal by the shaman. [Eliade 2001: 164 (= Chpt 5 discussing the symbolics of shamanic drum and costume, the subsection about the drum)]

In a Soyot shamanic song, sounds of bird and wolf are imitated to represent helping spirits of the shaman.Diószegi 1960: 203]

Notes

References

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* The book has been translated to English: cite book |last=Diószegi |first=Vilmos |title=Tracing shamans in Siberia. The story of an ethnographical research expedition |others=Translated from Hungarian by Anita Rajkay Babó |publisher=Anthropological Publications |location=Oosterhout |year=1968
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* Translated from Eliade 1983.
* The title means “Shamans in Eurasia”, the book is published also in German, Estonian and Finnish. [http://www.akkrt.hu/main.php?folderID=906&pn=2&cnt=31&catID=&prodID=17202&pdetails=1 Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian)] .
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*. The songs are [http://www.ubu.com/ethno/soundings/inuit.html online available] from the ethnopoetics website curated by Jerome Rothenberg.
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* Translation of the original: cite book |last=Vitebsky |first=Piers |title=The Shaman (Living Wisdom) |year=1995 |publisher=Duncan Baird
* The title means: “The magic drum and the clairvoyant women. Sami folktales”, the series means: “Tales of folks”.

External links

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