What is it about?
Applying the theory of performativity to a comparatiove analysis of folklore traditions unveils certain rituals associated with clothing and adornment that shed light on the underlying sociocultural context
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Why is it important?
Folklore rituals have been analyzed from ethnographic, sociological and ethnomusicological points of view. However, little is said of what cultures spanning different locations and languages might share. In ballad stories, for instance, the focus tends to be on the Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, or Germanic-derived traditions. Yet, the Spanish and English worlds do share certain cultural traditions and dress-related rituals that are highlighted and can be tracked in oral compositions.
Perspectives
I compare popular ballads from the English-speaking world with their counterpart in Spanish, "romances". The chapter brings to the fore certain traditions, particularly taboos and expectations around clothes, that have shaped our cultures and that may still be alive.
Dr Ana Belén Martínez García
Universidad de Navarra
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Symbolic Use of Dress: Related Ritual in English and Spanish Oral Traditions, January 2016, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9781848885325_013.
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Resources
Abstract/excerpt from Brill.com and DOI for original chapter
Oral poetry has always been associated with performance. That is not to say some way along the process of creating/re-creating and singing a ballad, the songs can also bear printing. However, the role of the performer is crucial for any scholar to be able to classify a particular poem as ‘oral.’ The fact that costume may be considered performative and meaningful has recently taken on vital relevance, as contemporary research demonstrates, e.g. Peter McNeil’s revision of Roland Barthes’s views on the semiotics of fashion. Before that, some authors had already claimed that clothes might be a mechanism through which we ‘fabricate our selves.’ At the same time, discussing ritual usually entails an anthropological approach, in the sense that orality makes use of oral and gestural signs. In this chapter, I will argue that dress-related ritual in the ballad universe is of outmost importance and worth a detailed account. Taking a look at how these oral traditions are permeated by the symbolism of such rites, I claim that there must be a connection between now and then. Thus, if the poems are still being sung, so should the rituals be alive. In order to test my hypothesis, I will employ sociocultural semiotics together with New Historicist readings, offering an encompassing overview that aims to be multidisciplinary. The way that characters perform dress-related rituals affects what the audience perceives, which could significantly vary depending on the geographical context. Quite tellingly, the listeners, far from being passive recipients, in turn influence the ballad, having an actual historical impact on the narrative. Undoubtedly, the performativity of dress is here inexorably linked to the story-making process.
Information on the reprinted edited volume (2019)
Inhabiting the Meta Visual: Contemporary Performance Themes Editors: Helene G. Markstein and Arthur Maria Steijn Theatre and the many varied expressions of performance practice in live and mediated performance forms, are by their nature inter-disciplinary. The goal of this volume is to develop discussion with a focus on the visual aspects of performance brought See More E-Book Availability: Published ISBN: 978-1-84888-532-5 Publication Date: 22 Jul 2019 Symbolic Use of Dress: Related Ritual in English and Spanish Oral Traditions By: Ana Belén Martínez García Pages: 115–128
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