Babbo natale giustiziato : le riflessioni di Lévi-Strauss sulla storia culturale di uno dei più complessi ibridi culturali

Peer reviewe

Kullervo: Victim of a Failed Education or a Warrior comparable with Herkules? : Artistic Interpretations of the Myth of Kullervo, part I: Elias Lönnrot, Zachris Topelius, Fredrick Cygnaeus, Robert Wilhelm Ekman and Carl Eneas Sjöstrand.

Peer reviewe

The Forestland’s Guests : Mythical Landscapes, Personhood, and Gender in the Finno-Karelian Bear Ceremonialism

The goal of the thesis is to provide new approaches for the interpretation of the elaborate Finnish and Karelian bear ceremonial’s songs, which were intensively collected in the 19th Century and in the early 20th Century. The study aims to furnish a better understanding of the meanings of the ceremonial taking in consideration the context of folk beliefs at the time. The chapters will cover all the ritual phases, adapting the classic Hallowell’s typology to the Finno-Karelian case. However, each chapter aims to provide some answers to the main research questions. Why did the bear hunt require such a complex ritualized reciprocity? How were the passages of borders between the village and the forest ritualized? How and why were the forest, its spirits and the bruin personalized? Why do many Bear Songs contain references to wedding songs? How did the Christian faith and the rich cattle holders’ beliefs communicate with the hunter’s rituals, forming a historically stratified tradition? The study reveals that the vernacular definitions of the bear’s personhood changed often in the ritual phases: it was the offspring of the forest spirits or a hunter’s relative; a bride or a groom; a boy or a respected elder. On a general level, the bear had a shifting double identity: it was strictly bounded to the family of the forest spirits, but at the same time the hunter emphasized its human features to make the ritual communication easier and to transform the bruin into the guest of honor of the village feast, in which the bear meat was consumed. The hunter’s self could also change in the ritual: in the songs, he presented himself as a mighty man protected by mythic iron belts and shirts; as a handsome and mimetic seducer of female forest spirits, or as a humble orphan who needed their guidance. During the feast, the roles of the women toward the bear also varied: the mistress warmly welcomed the bruin as a guest or groom, but the women were also guided to protect the cattle. The landscapes acquired mythic features and they could be presented as welcoming or dangerous. These apparently kaleidoscopic changes followed a precise ritual logic: they were elaborate rhetorical devices to make the 'guests' – the bruin and the forest spirits – behave or react in certain ways in different ritual phases and to influence their perception of the hunters’ actions.Tutkimus tarkastelee suomalaisten ja karjalaisten karhuseremoniaan liittyviä runolauluja osana kansanuskoa ja sosiaalista kontekstia. Tutkimuksessa analysoidaan kronologisesti karhunmetsästykseen liittyvän seremonian vaiheet kokonaisuudessaan, laulut pyyntiin lähtemisestä ja vaaroihin varautumisesta aina kaadetun karhun lihan rituaaliseen syömiseen ja kallon petäjään ripustamiseen. Näitä monimuotoisia ja pitkiä runolauluja kerättiin intensiivisesti 1800-luvulla ja 1900-luvun alkupuolella. Tutkimus luo kokonaiskuvan karhuseremonian eri vaiheiden merkityksistä osana kansanomaista uskonnollisuutta ja elinkeinoa. Tutkimuksen pääkysymykset ovat: miksi karhunpyynti vaati niin monimutkaisen rituaalin? Miten ja miksi kylän sekä metsän välisen rajan ylittäminen ritualisoitiin ja metsä, sen haltiat ja karhu personifioitiin? Entä miksi monet rituaaliset karhuvirret sisältävät viittauksia häälauluihin? Millä tavoin kristinusko, vauraiden karjankasvattajien ja tietäjien uskomukset vaikuttivat metsästäjien rituaaleihin muodostaen monitasoisen ja historiallisesti kerrostuneen perinteen? Tutkimus osoittaa, että karhun identiteetti muuttui rituaalin eri vaiheissa: runolauluissa karhu esiintyi milloin metsänhaltioiden jälkeläisenä tai metsästäjän sukulaisena, milloin taas morsiamena tai sulhasena, pikkulapsena tai kunnioitettuna vanhuksena. Karhu oli tiukasti sidoksissa metsänhaltioiden sukuun, mutta samaan aikaan metsästäjä korosti sen inhimillisiä piirteitä, jotta kommunikointi karhun kanssa rituaalin aikana oli mahdollista. Karhunpeijaisissa kaikille kyläläisille oli tarjolla kaadetun karhun lihaa, vaikka samaan aikaan runolauluissa karhu kuvataan elävänä päävieraana, jolle tarjotaan olutta ja kunniapaikka pöydässä. Lopuksi karhun kallo ja luut palautettiin takaisin metsään karhun myyttisille syntysijoille ja kallo ripustettiin petäjään, jotta elämänkierto ja karhun uudelleensyntyminen olisi mahdollista. Karhuvirsien analyysi osoittaa, että myös metsästäjän identiteetti vaihteli rituaalin aikana. Runolauluissa hän esitteli itsensä väkevänä miehenä, jota myyttinen ”rautapaita” tai ”rautavyö” suojeli, toisinaan taas komeana, naispuolisten metsänhaltioiden viettelijänä, milloin nöyränä orpona, joka tarvitsi metsänhaltioiden opastusta saadakseen saalista. Peijaisten aikana myös naisen rooli suhteessa karhuun vaihteli. Runolauluissa emäntä toivotti kontion lämpimästi tervetulleeksi vieraana tai sulhasena, mutta toisaalta miehet ohjasivat naisia myös suojelemaan kylän karjaa karhulta. Karhuvirsissä metsä sai vaihtelevia myyttisiä piirteitä: se esitettiin vaarallisena, pimeänä Pohjolana, joka muuttui ”mieluisaksi Mehtolaksi”, kun naispuoliset metsänhaltiat hyväksyivät metsästäjien läsnäolon tai jopa rakastuivat heihin. Runolaulujen draamalliset käännekohdat noudattivat tarkkaa rituaalista logiikkaa: ne olivat taidokkaita retorisia keinoja, joiden perimmäinen tarkoitus oli saada peijaisten kutsuvieraat eli kontio ja metsänhaltiat suopeiksi metsästäjien toimille sekä käyttäytymään että reagoimaan halutulla tavalla rituaalin eri vaiheissa. Seremonian tarkoitus ei ollut pelkästään metsänhaltioiden ja karhujen koston välttäminen, vaan myös heidän miellyttäminen, kunnioittaminen ja viihdyttäminen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että karhuseremonian keskeinen tavoite oli saada peijaisten kunniavieras, karhu, tuntemaan olonsa juhlassa niin tervetulleeksi, että se halusi tulla taloon uudelleen vieraaksi. Tämä tarkoitti, että kylän metsästysonni oli turvattu myös tulevaisuudessa

The Finno-Karelian bear skull rituals : Bringing the bruin home to ensure its regeneration

This chapter aims to analyse the second stage of Finnish and Karelian bear ceremonialism – the songs and rituals performed during the bear feast in the village of the hunters. The feast in which the bear meat was eaten received a ritual “voluntary visit” of the bruin to the village. During the bear feast, the killed bruin was treated as a groom or a guest of honour participating in a marriage or a drinking party: The hunters stressed the humanlike features of the bear to accomplish a successful ritual exchange. The introduction of the killed bear into the village was even presented as the bear’s wedding, representing a partial and mimetic unification of the people of the forest with the human community. However, the people never forgot the potential dangerousness of the entrance of the bear into the village, or the bear’s alterity. The arrival of the killed bear in the village resembled its attack on cattle, so the hunters encouraged the young women to protect the cows. The bear feast reveals the complexity of the relationship between bears and women, who sometimes refused to eat bear meat. Bringing home killed game animals, and in particular the bear, could cause supernatural illnesses. To avoid these risks, the bear was pleased with songs and offerings of ale, and the eating of the meat and organs was made possible by performing protective rituals. Particularly important was the ritual of eating the powerful organs of the head of the bear (the ears, eyes and tongue), connected to a deep form of bodily and spiritual communion between humans and bears.Peer reviewe

I rituali della caccia all’orso in Finlandia e Carelia: credenze, canti, incantesimi e riti magici

The Finnic rituals of the bear hunt are a fascinating topic for anthropologists, ethnologists and folklorists. The abundant ethnographic material and rituals songs transcribed by ethnographers in the xix and xx centuries in several areas of Finland and Carelia permit quite a realistic and complete reconstruction of every phase of the rituals, including the preparations. In the Finnic regions the bear was considered both human-like and supernatural, as it was strongly connected with female guardian spirits of the forest, who where its mothers, protectors and mistresses. The bruin itself was believed to be always “innocent”, but also a powerful seer (tietäjä) with a sharp hearing and sight: it was able to follow all the ritual actions of the hunters, to listen their songs and prayers and also to wreck magically the riffles or to divert the flight path of bullets. In order to leave to the bear hunt, the hunters should carefully find the den of the bear, empower magically themselves, the weapons and dogs. Leaving the village, several liminar rituals and spells were performed to avoid the risks of contagious by the forest force (metsän väki or viha) and the effect of “evil-eyes”. The hunt was considered a travel into a marvellous and dangerous Otherworld (often defined Tapiola, the realm of the forest master Tapio). In the first part of the ritual particularly important were the songs and prayers dedicated to the forest masters and mistresses: their wrath could be fearsome, but they were sharing a “moral code” that the hunter was supposed to know well. The attitude of the hunter was both humble and seductive, as the forest itself was considered as a female “being” who accepted the hunters “falling in love” with them. Songs were dedicated also to the bear: “origin spells” to control it and sweet words to wake up it from the den after the final den. The kill of the animal was completely negated by the hunters: the bear fell from a branch. After that, the hunters continued to sing for the bear as it was still alive. The second part of the ritual was the “mirror” of the previous phase: this time the “guest of honour” that should be accepted in the human village is the bear. Similar liminar rituals followed the entrance of the bear into the gates and house. The feast where the bear meat was consumed was presented as “marriage”, “dinner” or “drinking feast” of the bruin. Finally, the bear skull was hung to a pine branch, but the hunters continued to sing about the “good life” of the bear in the spot. The role of women in the initial and final phases of the ritual is particular interesting, as their magic power was considered often opposed to the forest “force”. As a such, the rituals tried to transform a kill into its opposite: a celebration of life and union between the people of the forest and the village. For this reason, reference to marriage, sexuality or romantic love are quite abundant. Performing all the hunt rituals, the hunters should please with sweet songs and acts both the bear and its powerful guardian: the whole ritual was performed “in exchange” of a bear – delivered from the “granary” of the “ranch” of the forest masters - and the songs were supposed to be not only long, respectful and precise, but beautiful and poetically elaborated. The presence of a skilful seer or singer in the hunting group was an important prerequisite for a successful chase and feast

Uomini e orsi

Il tempo del Carnevale rappresenta il momento “selvaggio” della fine dell’inverno e dell’inizio della nuova stagione, caratterizzato dall’irruzione di figure di confine, maschere animali, personaggi che richiamano il mondo dei morti e che portano con sé il germe della forza vitale, l’energia che produce il risveglio della natura e preannuncia la crescita e la fertilità dei nuovi raccolti. Questo mondo selvaggio si presenta sotto le forme di una contiguità tra l’uomo e l’animale: i travestimenti, le maschere, alludono a un mondo in cui le caratteristiche proprie dell’umano e dell’animale si confondono e si intrecciano. Tra queste figure spiccano in modo particolare quelle dell’Uomo Selvaggio, l’essere umano che assume attributi e aspetti del mondo animale, e l’orso, l’animale che più di tutti si avvicina all’uomo e sembra presentarne un’immagine deformata. Si tratta di figure simboliche che provengono da tempi e spazi lontani per raccontare qualcosa che appartiene alle nostre origini comuni. L’orso assume attributi e funzioni simili in contesti molto diversi, quali il mondo dei Sámi in Finlandia o i cacciatori-raccoglitori del Nord America, rappresentando il confine tra il mondo della natura e il mondo umano, tra l’animalità e la faticosa costruzione dell’umanità; un processo che è perdurato per secoli, forse per millenni, e che ancora non può dirsi compiuto