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Folklore 68 came out!
We are happy to present to you the latest issue of Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore 68, with Janika Oras as the guest editor. This special issue is a continuation to Folklore 67, dedicated to oral singing traditions.
The first two articles of this issue observe Seto culture from different perspectives. Andreas Kalkun, in his article “Introducing Setos on Stage: On the Early Performances of Seto Singing Culture”, paints a colourful picture of the appropriation of Seto culture by the entrepreneurial and creative local elite of the neighbouring areas of the Seto region, who aspired to stage exoticism of the late nineteenth century.
The next article, continuing with the Seto theme, is Žanna Pärtlas’ “On the Relict Scales and Melodic Structures in the Seto Shepherd Tune Kar’ahääl”. The author shows the extensive variation of the musical scales of herding songs, which have survived in the oral tradition until the present day. The results of her analysis have inspired the author to improve the existing theories on the processes of scale formation.
Another music-related article, “Historical Skolt Sami Music and Two Types of Melodic Structures in Leu′dd Tradition” by Marko Jouste discusses the individual leu′dd song tradition that is central to the Skolt Sami culture. Jouste introduces the model of fragmentary phrase structure, characteristic of the earlier leu′dd, and demonstrates how the living song tradition has incorporated melodies and other musical features from the neighbouring cultures while preserving its main characteristics and identity.
In the second part of their co-authored article, “Star Bride Marries a Cook: Processes of Change in the Oral Singing Tradition and in Folk Song Collecting on the Western Estonian Island of Hiiumaa. II”, Helen Kõmmus and Taive Särg take a closer look at the songs of Hiiumaa Island, giving examples of unique hybrid forms characteristic of the region, which have developed as a result of a longer coexistence of different styles.
Aado Lintrop in his article “Where Do Songs Come From? An Attempt to Explain Some Verses of Regilaul” directs his attention to the former magic function of objects depicted in verses about singing skills. These objects bestowed the singer with the power to recreate and perform long epic texts. The author discusses the religious background of the imagery in Estonian regilaul by pointing out parallels with several shamanic cultures. The article titled “How Old Is Runosong? Dating the Motifs of Burial-Related Folk Songs by Using Archaeological Material” by Pikne Kama approaches the Estonian singing tradition from an archaeologist’s perspective, searching for manifestations of period specific tangible culture and burial practices behind the poetic images of songs related to death and burial.
The last article in the issue, titled “The Motif of Apple in Different Cultures and Its Usage in Anatolian Folk Songs”, by Ahmet Emre Dağtaşoğlu, discusses the motif of apple frequently encountered in different times and cultures. The author points out its meanings in different cultures and analyses this motif in the context of Anatolian folk songs, introducing the relations of this motif therein and in other cultures.
The news section of the issue presents two conference overviews, two book reviews, and introduces some thoughts evoked by a doctoral dissertation defence at the University of Tartu.
