10.26262/SMB.V1I1.7764
Akoyunoglou, Mitsi
Exploring the Function of the Female Lamenter in the Bereavement Process: A Case Study in Chios Island
Series Musicologica Balcanica
2020
Greek lament, Chios Island, bereavement, death rituals, narrative approach.
2020-07-14
2020-07-14
2020-08-31
2020-08-31
en
Article
45-1030-7764
338-357 Pages
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Lamentation dates back to ancient Greece and has survived through the centuries primarily as an exclusive tradition of women. It can be described as a controlled performative act of memory and mourning that has been closely associated with all stages of the death rituals. Nowadays it is a ritual performed in just a handful of Greek villages. The present study focuses on a 91-year-old female lamenter from Mesta, a village in Chios Island. The function of her role as a female lamenter in the bereavement process of self and others is examined through biographical narrative interviews. Biographical narrative analysis, as a tool to explore and gain insight about a human experience, allows for a closer investigation of the lamentation experience; it does so by reaching back in time through establishing a narrative connection to the role of the lamenter and interpreting her function within the bereavement process of self and others. Following a thematic analysis of the narration, it appears that the lamenter, through the semi-structured and semi-improvised moiroloi, becomes the bridge between the living and the dead, communicates the pain, expresses the inner tension and, as a result, may facilitate the mourner to reach catharsis.
Series Musicologica Balcanica, Vol 1, No 1 (2020): Modus-Modi-Modality