detelic-the magical and aesthetic in the folklore of balkan slavs

8/13/2019 Detelic-The Magical and Aesthetic in the Folklore of Balkan Slavs

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T H E M GIC L N D ESTH ETICIN TH E FOLKLORE O F B LK N SL VS

Papers of International Conference

BelgradeLibrary Vuk Karadi1994


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39

The Magical and Aesthet icinthe FolkloreofBalkan Slavs, Belgrade , 1994, pp . 3 9-4 4.

Mirjana DeteliWHAT DOES LITERATURE DO TO MAGIC AND WHY(on example of epic poems about heroic weddings with obstacles)

If,by a chance orGod 's will, circum stance s should occu r unde rwhich it d be suddenly possible togather together w hole m agic practice,everything that is called magic allover theworld, that occasion shouldunbiasedly show thatmagicisnot, system,atleast nota system like anyof those which we arecomm only u sed to,as religious, scientific, literary,and alike. This enormous data base could offer but two generalconclusion: 1)tha t worldisruled bya potent and hidden powerofchaosand 2) that special people and special knowledge exist that can control thispower in som eb od y's favor or against it. Main obstacle tostructuring sucha system is not the modest number of its elements, buttheir sca rcesemiosis on the base of which no model of universe could bereconstructed specific enough as to be called magical (orpertainingtomagic). On the other hand, itcould alsobeshow n tha t magic itself is veryflexible which enables it toitany system when need be. Inthat case,thesystem supplies thecontext andadditional semiosis, which it shouldbydefinition beableto do anyway. Thereforethecreolization ofmagicandreligion, magic and ri ual, even magic and science be co m es possible.Submitting itself tothii andsimilar proce dures, magic d oesn 't looseitsinitial, code information, it even doe sn't integrate completely intonewcontext, and doing so it remains recognizable (asapractice oratechnic)invarious typesof contexts. Keeping thisinmind, we could almost say thatmagic isolder tha n any system, orthat theforminwhich it reachesuscomes from animaginary pro tosystem abou t which we shall never kftowanything at all.At this particular pointit isvery important for the topic tobearinmind that magic, being flexible, might enter theprocessofiiterarymodelingand that there it shouldkeepitscode information.As faras itconcern s Serbian oral epic, this information can neitherbe transferred into poem nor read outof it directly. Magical acts, objects,powersorbeing s couldbem entioned, even dramatized inthe po em,butthere they usually remain on the surface, they are not its subject, and theydo not participate inthe literary modeling procedure . Inother w ords, theymay beapart of its idiom, but they are never the element of its structure.Specific rules of epic literary modeling, which doesn't choose for itsoriginala partof real lifebut a ready-made non-literary model, ask foraquite different approach tothe material. Therefo re magic as atopic, if itshould reach the poem atall, must enter the procedureas apart of sucha


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4m od el This is m ost easily observed when the original is ch os en am on g theblocks of complex ritual behavior (as weddings and funerals usually are).Glued to some of the rituals which are numerous on such occasions, amagical act, deed or an object might - on the basis of choosing from theoriginal - enter the process of literary modeling. In that case they shareoriginal's destiny itself: they are exposed to the influences of literary norm,they suffer its domination, and they gain a new, literary function. Codeinformation,-which is carried on from the former context, doesn't get lostbut is transferred to margins and, therefore, is no more easily reached.Being only the readers and interpreters of an epic poem, we are nevergiven the opportunity to spot the epic in the making, but we can always tryto reconstruct it. An example of such a reconstruction is presented in thiswork.

Poems about heroic wedding with obstacles form a specific type inSerbian oral epic. They sha re the sam e original, namely the gro om 's textof the wedding ritual. Among the given elements, as the process ofmodeling continues, they choose only some, and always the same: askinggirl's hand in marriage, gathering of wedding guests, and two kinds ofobstacles (in front of bride's home and on the way to groom's house).Th ese few points are considered obligatory and no po em can omit them byany means. However, when it comes to the structuring the poem itself,rules are not as strict: any particular poem is free to organize its material asit's pleased, which leaves us with only three poems with identical structure{enidba Duanoua, Vuk 11,29; Zenidba Sibiryanlri Jan/ca; MH 1,70;Zenidba Mata Srijemca, MH 1,71). That which distinguishes them amongthe others is the role of mediator in person of the third nephew.In po em s with this kind of structure, t he third n eph ew is firstmentioned as the youngest brother and the best hero who tends sheephigh in the mountains. The image of the nobleman-shepherd thus formedrepresents a union of two figures of different background, with the firstcoming from the fairy tale (the third son, seemingly incompetent, proves tobe the best), and the second probably from the ancient tradition of divineshepherds.The ancient, mythical image of the god-shepherd is so widespreadwe can almost consider it universal. It is present in the traditions of variouspeoples, whereas the classical cultures offer us a direct coupling of anobleman-shepherd in the figure of Tsar Edipus, Paris, Tsar David andother similar figures, correspondent to whom (according to somecharacteristics) are the Serbian heroes St.Sava (by legend) and PrinceMarko (in the epics).As regards Serbian traditionary culture, the mythical layers on theface of the shepherd are recognizable primarily in his magical and ritualfunctions at Christmas. The shepherd is the authentic, archaic visitor, andin that function, wrapped in animal skin, he performs the ritual slicing ofthe first piece of bread kneaded for the fertility of the cattle, he slaughtersthe sacrificial sheep of keeps the head of the Christmas roast-meat, whichis described in literature as characteristic of a mythical, i.e. divine being.Regardless of this, the shepherd is in many respects considered


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4exceptional in folk tradition. Above all/th e shep herd sp en ds his time in themountain, which is, by definition ( desolate highland ) a mythical, chthonicsp ac e. As a being ad apte d to life in such a place, h e acq uires so m e of itstraits, and is thus often brought into connection with fairies (either marriesthem or keeps company with them) and with magic, as magical knowledgeand powers are ascribed to him (understanding the language of animals,knowing medicinal and miraculous herbs, soothsaying around the cattlean d its owner, com m unic ating with the sprites of the water, forest, fieldetc.). Because of all this, the shepherd is both a necessary and dangerousfigure, very close to the notion of sacredness in the original sense of theword (formidable, dangerous), thus his ambivalent nature is reflectedchiefly in the infeasibility to link him simply to any side of an entire series ofoppositions which regulate man's social and cultural status (human-animal, cultural-natural, community-individual, etc.). Contrary to this, hisposition is quite definite in the spatial divisions of this kind, as it is linked tothe mountain, which is unequivocally a savage, desolate and chthonicplace, the habitat of animals and unnatural beings, equivalent to the otherworld. Viewed from this perspective, it is clear why the figure of theshepherd in our poems had to be balanced with the figure of thenobleman. As a mediator in the own and alien relationships performing adelicate duty of surmounting obstacles in front of bride's house, where theown is by definition in the open and ineffective, and thealien in closedsp ac e and in the a dvan tage - the m ediator must be sovereign in bothterrains and wont to the rules of conduct in both types of situations. Thecombination nobleman-shepherd meets these requirements andneutralizes all the essential oppositions: closed-open, cultural-natural, city-field and, finally, own-alien (noblem an: own, she pherd : seemingly alien).W e are left with the question why po em s abou t heroic w eddingswith obstacles specifically need the shepherd to be the bearer of theprinciple of open space, when almost none of his specific attributes areactivated in the epic division of roles, and when we can think of at least twoother figures, equally good, in similarfunctions the hunter and outlaw (e.g.both united in the hero of the poem John nd theGiants Chief,Vuk 11,8;MH 1,45). Although one can never be to careful in approaching such adelicate issue, we opine that the answer must be sought in the substanceof a poem's narration, i.e. in the fact that their subject is a wedding. Inaddition to everything that is linked to him in the diverse layers oftraditionary culture (as we have just mentioned), the shepherd occupies aplace both as a figure and a mas in the ancient and deepest layers of thewedding ritual complex. We must remember that one of the oldest imagesof the go d-s hep her d is linked to the myth ab out T am m uz an d Ishtar (Osirisand Isis, Adonis a nd Aphrodite), an d thro ugh him to th e cults offertilityandof th e d ead (in the im age of god who dies and resurrects) until an im age isformed in direct sequel of the master of the underworld as the divineshepherd of dead souls and psychopompos. Both of these mythic lines -the line of the nuptials of the divine ancestors and the line of mediationbetw een the two worlds - are preserved in Serbian ethnic spa ce. During theLent wedding processions, for example, the ritual masks of the


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43oniy inStephen Dushan s Wedding*, protecting the bride, or aiming to seizeher, is an unnaturalchthonicbeing (the obstinate Arab, Balako the Duke,dragon, giant), etc. As the groom's representative, the mediator is the onemost competent to form a sequence contrary to this one - which he does,at theonlypossiblepoint: when he confronts the bride (male-female), byday (day-night) and in the light (light-dark) and when he discloses hisgolden face before her (sun-moon, solar and lunar cycles). It remains to beseen why this is theonlymoment the mediator is required to show his lightside. First of all, if this detail were absent , h is dual m as k would be entirelysuperfluous. But the mask is a very serious thing which renders certainpowers to its subject, including the strength and sacredness of the figure itassumes, the right to behave in accordance with it and to fight against it. Itis very hard to believe that its misuse could by any means be performed infolklore. In our case, considering the antagonism of the participants in themarital drama, the mask enables the mediator to respond to any challengean d to neutralize its negative effect without cha ngin g its cod e, i.e. byexhibiting himself as superior in the opponent's terrain. This kind ofparrying is best seen in the first and third points of the proposed chthonicsequence: if the bride's country over the sea is equivalent to the otherworld, so is the shepherd's highland, to the same extent; if the origin of thefantastic tree-headed being is chthonic, so is the shepherd's, as we sawearlier. So, why then, is it necessary to reveal the golden face beforeRoksana, the bearer of a chthonic sequence? Mostly because the solarcomponent in Milo's mask is apparent (and the chthonic one is real), thusits revealing in only this case is probably a response to an illusion similar inkind. And, indeed , the bride - to whom this action is directed - is not in hernature a chthonic being. During the wedding she is t onepointexposedto the influence of chthonic powers, but she does not belong to themeither before of after. In other words, we might regard her chthonicqualities as apparent and temporary, just as the solar figure of themediator's mask is defined as apparent and temporary.

This mythical game of illusion and truth, so appropriate to thenuptials of divine ancestors which generated the very idea of weddingritual, is used by epic as a base upon which to build and complete thepa ttern of royal weddin g. T o fulfill this aim, epic h ad to start from a fac t(which in real life is by now loosing its proper meaning) that under givencircumstances, one or more times during the wedding, its participants puton the masks with different chthonic characteristics. But what in livingpractice is easily overlooked and explained by m ere it should be done ,it's good , it's for the best , is the fact that thes e m ask s are perform ed tocounteract the magically potent person - the bride. As a being dangerousboth for herself and the others, bride is always veiled (her eyes are both thetarget and the source of mighty spells), and when the liminary faze is over,this mask is changed for the mas of a married woman {kaica, proceolje,tmelje).In afore mentioned poems, bride's dangerous position is expresseddirectly, as a menace coming from her family:You'll neither leave nor live,


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detelic-the magical and aesthetic in the folklore of balkan slavs

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