Folklore Electronic Journal of Folklore http://www.folklore.ee/folklore Printed version Vol. 68 2017 Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum Estonian Institute of Folklore Folklore Electronic Journal of Folklore Vol. 68 Edited by Mare Kõiva & Andres Kuperjanov Guest editor: Janika Oras ELM Scholarly Press Tartu 2017 Editor in chief Mare Kõiva Co-editor Andres Kuperjanov Guest editor Janika Oras Copy editor Tiina Mällo News and reviews Piret Voolaid Design Andres Kuperjanov Layout Diana Kahre Editorial board 2015–2020: Dan Ben-Amos (University of Pennsylvania, USA), Larisa Fialkova (University of Haifa, Israel), Diane Goldstein (Indiana University, USA), Terry Gunnell (University of Iceland), Jawaharlal Handoo (University of Mysore, India), Frank Korom (Boston University, USA), Jurij Fikfak (Institute of Slovenian Ethnology), Ülo Valk (University of Tartu, Estonia), Wolfgang Mieder (University of Vermont, USA), Irina Sedakova (Russian Academy of Sciences). The journal is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (IUT 22-4, IUT 22-5), the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies), the state programme project EKKM14-344, and the Estonian Literary Museum. Indexed in EBSCO Publishing Humanities International Complete, Thomson Reuters Arts & Humanities Citation Index, MLA International Bibliography, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Internationale Volkskundliche Bibliographie / International Folklore Bibliography / Bibliographie Internationale d’Ethnologie, Open Folklore, DOAJ, C.E.E.O.L., ERIH Plus, Scopus Editorial address: Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore Vanemuise 42–235 51003 Tartu Estonia phone: +372 737 7740 fax: +372 737 7706 e-mail: [email protected] home page: http://www.folklore.ee/folklore All rights reserved © Estonian Literary Museum Estonian Institute of Folklore Authors Design Andres Kuperjanov According to Creative Commons licence BY-NC-ND 4.0 ISSN 1406-0957 doi:10.7592/FEJF2017.68 www.folklore.ee/folklore CONTENTS Introducing Setos on Stage: On the Early Performances of Seto 7 Singing Culture Andreas Kalkun On the Relict Scales and Melodic Structures in the Seto 43 Shepherd Tune Kar´ahääl Žanna Pärtlas Historical Skolt Sami Music and Two Types of Melodic Structures 69 in Leu′dd Tradition Marko Jouste Star Bride Marries a Cook: The Changing Processes 85 in the Oral Singing Tradition and in Folk Song Collecting on the Western Estonian Island of Hiiumaa. II Helen Kõmmus, Taive Särg Where Do Songs Come From? An Attempt to Explain Some Verses 115 of Regilaul Aado Lintrop How Old Is Runosong? Dating the Motifs of Burial-Related 131 Folk Songs by Using Archaeological Material Pikne Kama FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD The Motif of Apple in Different Cultures and Its Usage 169 in Anatolian Folk Songs Ahmet Emre Dağtaşoğlu NEWS IN BRIEF The 10th Colloquium on Proverbs. Liisa Granbom-Herranen 187 Oral and Written in Culture: Connections and Collisions. Hegely Klaus 188 Some Thoughts Evoked by Reading Reet Hiiemäe’s Doctoral Dissertation. Merili Metsvahi 191 Folklore 68 5 BOOK REVIEWS A Jungian Interpretation of the Phenomenon of Heavy Metal. Lozanka Peycheva 195 The History of Metaphors? Jonathan Roper 196 www.folklore.ee/folklore https://doi.org/10.7592/FEJF2017.68.kalkun INTRODUCING SETOS ON STAGE: ON THE EARLY PERFORMANCES OF SETO SINGING CULTURE Andreas Kalkun Abstract: The article introduces the choirs who were active in Räpina Parish, south-eastern Estonia, in the late nineteenth century, and toured Estonian towns with their concerts in which they impersonated Setos. The performances of the “Setos” were entertaining or commercial, and humorous dialogues and plays in the Seto language1 or its imitation were as important as the music at these per- formances. The “Setos” and the “Seto language” were presented to the audiences as a curiosity next to other entertaining attractions. The performances of Seto culture by men from Räpina Parish followed the traditional models of represent- ing exotic cultures at the time. On the one hand, the peculiar construction of Seto culture by the “Setos” from Räpina represented a revival of the imagined past and, on the other hand, it was a demonstration of ethnic culture foreshadowing the modern folklore movement in the commercial space between folk tradition and elite culture. The early performances of the Seto singing culture represent the searches coinciding with the period of national awakening in Estonia and the curious detours from own national heritage to explore the close Others, the Seto people, though in a very peculiar manner. Keywords: commercial demonstration of Seto culture, impersonating Setos, Räpina Parish, Seto folklore, singing and drama societies In September 2008, the Republic of Estonia submitted an application for the Seto polyphonic singing culture to be included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On 30 September 2009, the committee convened in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and decided to in- scribe 76 cultural phenomena, including the Seto leelo, or the Seto polyphonic singing culture, in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Seto singing culture became the third item from the Republic of Estonia to be included in this list.2 Towards the end of the nineteenth century, when knowledge of Seto culture reached the wider literate circles in Estonia through the mediation of folklorists and linguists,3 the first performances of Seto culture and choir singing were organised on stage outside the Seto region. Curiously, though, instead of Setos, http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol68/kalkun.pdf Andreas Kalkun the performers at these first staged performances of Seto music and culture outside their home region were Estonians impersonating Setos. According to several late nineteenth-century reports, some choirs from Räpina Parish in Võru County (i.e. the areas neighbouring the Seto region) performed in differ- ent parts of Estonia as Setos, wearing ethnic Seto clothes, performing music advertised as Seto folk music or humorous dialogues in the Seto language. Such cultural appropriation or fakelore-related demonstrations of Seto culture were organised outside the Seto region since their target audience were people who had not seen or heard it before and, for obvious reasons, there was no need for these in the Seto region where folklore lived its “first life”. The performances were organised by Estonians who were able to see value in the uniqueness and exoticism of this “archaic” oral culture and quite adequately perceived which part of Seto culture would be appealing for and well-received by the audiences of other cultural backgrounds. The Estonians performing Seto culture probably knew well what needed to be done to adapt the lived tradition for the stage. This type of performance was usually commercial in nature as it was organised for profit or for raising funds for charity. The men from Räpina who performed as Setos also took part in the first Estonian song festivals (see Põldmäe 1969, 1976), which, regardless of the entertaining and commercial elements, were viewed as a serious patriotic activity. After the incorporation of Seto areas in the Republic of Estonia in 1919, the polyphonic Seto choirs with their attractive ethnic clothing and “exotic” voices4 were often chosen to represent the indigenous or traditional Estonian culture. From time to time there have been some pesky voices asking who the Seto women represent when they perform on stages in Paris or Helsinki. Is it Estonian or Seto culture? Why should Seto culture represent Estonian culture (see, e.g., Salve 2000: 55; Piho 2003)?5 It is, however, even more difficult to answer the question about who the men from Räpina represented for the late nineteenth-century audiences as they travelled around the country performing these “Seto” songs and culture. Did they represent the “prehistoric Estonian culture” that was depicted through Setos, “the backward kin brothers” of Es- tonians, or simply some exotic and attractive Others, who were deployed for a comical effect for the Estonian audiences? In the following I will introduce popular demonstrations of Seto culture and singing by non-Setos outside the Seto region in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. My focus is on the displays of Seto singing culture organised for entertaining or commercial purposes. Information about the performances and concerts is traced in newspapers, memoirs, and contemporary documents. The article aims to identify the repertoire and performance style of the concert 8 www.folklore.ee/folklore Introducing Setos on Stage: On the Early Performances of Seto Singing Culture performances, to introduce the discussions prompted by these performances, and the reception of “Setos” by the Estonian audiences. I will also explore the possible contexts and causes of this phenomenon. SETOS VS ESTONIANS FROM RÄPINA PARISH: THEIR IMAGE AND DIFFERENCES IN THE SINGING TRADITIONS AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY In the nineteenth century, the prevalent theory was that Setos were Estonians who had once emigrated from their homeland to escape slavery and had been Russianised by the Russian Orthodox Church (Kreutzwald 1953: 105, 108; see also Lillak 2014; Hagu 1978: 618; Mägiste 1957: 170–173; Tampere 1956: 275–277). Researchers of language and folklore viewed Setos as “the perfect primal Estonians” with their preserved archaic quality, which would be useful