Setu itkukultuur

Abstract

Tutkimus käsittelee Viron kaakkoiskulmassa elävien setukaisten itkukulttuuria. Setukaiset kuuluvat niihin itämerensuomalaisiin, jotka ovat omaksuneet ortodoksisen uskonnon, mutta säilyttäneet suomalais-ugrilaisen kielen ja esikristillisen itkuperinteen nykypäivään asti.

Tutkimuksessa on käytetty holistista menetelmää, mikä käsittelee itkua osana setukaisten kulttuuria. Artikkeleissa etsitään vastauksia kysymyksiin minkälaiset ovat itkujen poeettinen ja musiikillinen rakenne ja millä tavalla itkuissa tulevat esiin setukaisten kulttuuriset koodit.

Väitöskirjasta löytyy itkujen kansanomainen luokittelu, mikä on yhditetty musiikillisen ja siirtymärituaalista lähtevän luokituksen mukaan. Itkutekstien pohjalta on rakennettu itkumalli, jossa on kuusi variaatioina toistuvaa osuutta. Itkun musiikillista rakennetta on tutkittu kolmella tasolla, jotka liittyvät metriikkaan, rytmiikkaan ja äänenkorkeuteen. Tuloksena on tunnistettu ne pysyvät jaksot, joiden avulla itkijät ovat rakentaneet itkuja.

Itkututkimuksesta ja siihen liittyvistä nuotinnuksista ovat hyötyneet monet virolaiset säveltäjät. Tulevaisuudessa olisi tutkimuksesta hyötyä myä itkukulttuurin kaupunkilaistuneille harrastajille.

The dissertation "Setu lamentign culture" is based on holistic approach, regarding laments as a part of common Setu culture, and a lament singer as an integral configuration organised by this culture. The traditional Setu culture as we know it today has developed during several millennia in the agriculturist and cattlebreeding society typical to the North-European forest zone. The cultural individualisation of the Setu people, characterised among else, by a lamenting tradition kept alive right into the end of 20th century has been a long-termed process influenced first and foremost by Finno-Ugric as well as Baltic and Slavic contacts.

The object of study is a traditional text carried by an individual representing a concrete social group. Lamenting can be regarded as an act of communication enabling the lament singer to contact the other members of the group and foster the development of the group as a whole, while the process serves to mould the singer's own identity as well. The articles to follow seek an answer to (1) what ideas rule the life of a Setu lament singer and (2) what codes determine the structure and contents of the laments. The analysis of the lament vocabulary demonstrates that the language of the lament is used to build up a new psychological, mental and social reality both inside the lament-singer and in her environment.

The analysis the musical structure of Setu laments demonstrates that the lamentsinger's conception of pitch structure, being considerably more heterogeneous than the linguistic and metric characteristics. It seems that the laments, carrying a pre-Christian worldview, could survive but one stylistic change, exchanging their lament-specific musical form for a song-specific one. Now, however, the laments are on their way out together with the rapid retreat of the lamenting tradition in Setumaa.

If a listener is unfamiliar with the lamenting culture he/she may develop a repulsive or ironic attitude to the laments. Yet, composers and interpreters can interpret what is behind the laments, thus taking their emotional message home to the modern listener by means of well-known musical means. It is only natural that part of the original information gets lost on the audience, yet new meanings will be added to sustain communication. This nourishes our hope that even though lamenting is disappearing from the traditional village culture, laments will not altogether disappear from the Estonian cultural landscape, reappearing in a new context created by professional musicians of today.