15th Congress of the ISFNR ABSTRACTS Congress Abstracts Acovitsioti-Hameau, Adamandia (Le Val, France) Nemrod in Southern France : Huntsmen’ s Narratives and the Structuring of the Rural Society In southern France, hunting is a popular practice that contributes to asserting territorial and social membership. This assertion comes up with good knowledge and frequenting of free and wooded land and with circulation and consumption of this land’s products : game but also plants, mushrooms and herbs that accompany them and make them better. These acquisitions, mutual gifts and invitations, implicate the rural society in its whole and reflect perceptions and relationships among different groups and persons. Hunting stories participate in the constitution of a reference set that sums up and perpetuates in a standardizing way the image the inhabitants of rural areas have for themselves and for others. Narratives collected in the Var region, in Provence’s hinterland, illustrate this tendency. Exploits or adventures of the wild boars’ pursuit teams (battue), of solitary huntsmen and of bird game’s specialists are amplified to enormity but made also to look like jokes by the actors themselves and their fellows as well as by other teams of neighbouring places. The inevitable opposition between huntsmen and representatives of public order is the subject of several stories based on cunning but where both parties have no illusions about each other. An atmosphere of excess and prank during convivial meals among collègues (men that go hunting and have fun together) is emphasized in order to differentiate these groups from the rest of the local inhabitants as long as their meetings last. Composed of codified patterns and diffused through country land, taken up by papers’ chronics, related in the bars and, sometimes, in the evening village meetings, these stories crystallize the image of the enthusiastic Provence native, who enlarges true facts and speaks about them as proud as a coq (he does a galèjade), who dramatizes voluntarily everyday life (he does an estrambord), who impresses his public as well as himself. Passionate and obstinate as Nemrod but less stubborn and absolute than their biblical ancestor, southern huntsmen use narratives to draw attention and admiration, to provoke astonishment but also to bring release to their audience, a release that is the stronger and the more welcome the more the story is exaggerated. Alembi, Ezekiel (Nairobi, Kenya) Symbols, Images and the Kenyan 2007 General Elections Campaigns Kenya’s 2007 December elections which were characterized by stiff competition for nearly all positions ended with disputed presidential results which led to post election 15th Congress of the ISFNR violence and political crisis. Noticeably, the pre-election and post-election periods had the politicians employing images and symbols to characterize their visions, strategies and opponents. This paper discusses the content and context of the political discourse expressed through images and symbols used during the 2007 Kenyan general election campaigns and the post-election violence and peace process. Behind these images and symbols is a layer of hidden meaning that requires careful literary interrogation. The paper contributes not only to examining the political discourse and issues in Kenya from different perspectives (historical, legal, literary, economic and religious) but also enriches the corpus of knowledge on symbols and images. Given the contextual foundation of symbols and images, this paper will be informed by the theory of hermeneutics. This theory will enable the paper to probe images invoked during campaigns such as “horse versus donkey,” “horse versus chameleon,” “Tsunami,” “River Nile,” “Mt. Kenya mafia,” “Kitchen cabinet” and “People from the lake” and the images and symbolic acts used after the election such as “thieves” and an activist chaining himself at the police headquarters in Nairobi. Images, symbols and symbolic acts will be gathered from electronic and print media. The interpretation will be based on a deep reading and discussion of the context and issues at hand, requiring deep knowledge of the political history of Kenya and contemporary issues such as “Tsunami” and “mafia.” This will get me into extensive research on the images and the issues in Kenya’s socio-economic and political life. This then means that I shall discuss and interview a number of people (including politicians who used the images) who are well informed about Kenya’s political history. I shall also draw on written works on Kenya’s political history. Alexakis, Eleftherios (Athens, Greece) Women, Snakes and Water. “Paradise Lost” at Mourgana in Thesprotia, Greece. In this paper we analyse certain legends dealing with the formation of the physical landscape of the area of Mourgana in Thesprotia, Greece. Such legends depict the mythological thought and ideology of gender held by the inhabitants of the village of Milia (formally Kostana) in the province of Filiates belonging to the Prefecture of Thesprotia. Our approach is structural-functionalist with emphasis upon structuralism. In particular, our research reveals the following: 1. A negative attitude towards certain female imaginary beings. 2. A positive attitude towards snakes as bearers of life, fecundity and fertility of the earth. 3. Our interpretation relies upon the imaginary and in general, the symbolic system of the inhabitants of the area. The paper employs data deriving from ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the summers of 1982 and 2002. Al-Razi, Alim (Dhaka, Bangladesh) 15th Congress of the ISFNR The Transformation and Adaptation of Community People Through Cultural Politics in Bangladesh Bangladesh has a long traditional background of practising different types of folk performances. Monihazra Puja is one of them. To celebrate “Pohela Boishakh” as a new bangla year and say goodbye to the last year, the community people of Nagar vadgram village arrange traditional performances named Baiddyar Gaan, Kali katch, Pori Katch, Hor-Gouree Natch and Moni Hazra Puja. Generally, it is arranged to express worship to the Gods. Though they arrange Baidyar Gaan, Monihazra Mela as a religious event is performed in a completely secular form. Baiddyar troupe visits every courtyard to ask for money by presenting dance and song. In the Baiddyar Gan, the sorrow, pains and deep feelings of female baiddya are exhibited for the long absence of male baiddya. Young people present it in a team once in a year at the Pohela Boishakh observance. In the afternoon they arrange a show where bloody works caused by evil are shown. Though it is not a ritualistic presentation, I would like to say that it is a great performance that represents the worst work done by influential persons in society. In this paper I attempt to address the following questions: How did they do it one and half hours at a stretch? What are their beliefs? What was their hidden transcript? Do they have any personal aspiration which has not been fulfilled yet? Moreover, this paper attempts to examine how this practice merges with the local community. Who are the direct patrons of these performances? Who play a major role in selecting the issues for representation in the performances? In this paper I have sought to investigate the moral and social values of this performance. Peoples’ profiles have been sketched out by following their demographic and historical biographies as well as their transformations and adaptations. Andersen, Lene (Copenhagen, Denmark) Contemporary Storytellers and Traditional Folk Narratives in Denmark This paper will present a study of the relation between today’s storytellers and folk narrative tradition. The study is based on interviews with storytellers and analyses of their stories and it aims to look upon how today’s storytellers use and understand traditional folk narratives. A century ago, folklorists like Evald Tang Kristensen (1843-1929) collected folktales and legends among the rural population of Denmark. Evald Tang Kristensen feared that people would soon forget the old stories because rural life was changing in consequence of development of society and he wanted to record and publish the narratives before it was too late. In the middle of the 20th century, the living tradition of telling folk narratives had died out. Recently, a growing interest in storytelling has emerged in Denmark. Storytelling festivals are arranged up and down the country and people attend courses in order to learn the art of storytelling. Some of the storytellers are ordinary people who like to tell stories in their spare time while other storytellers are professionals who make a living by telling stories. 15th Congress of the ISFNR Some of the contemporary storytellers distance themselves from the narrative tradition and what they call “cute” folktales. At the same time, other contemporary storytellers read the old stories recorded by Evald Tang Kristensen and other folklorists of the 19th century. Some of them are inspired by the old narratives and use folk tradition to justify their stories. For example, they state that they have not invented their stories. They emphasize the authenticity of their stories by arguing that once upon a time people actually believed in them. Androulaki, Maria (Athens, Greece) Μήνιν άειδε θεά (Sing, Goddess, of the Wrath of Achilles): From the Homeric Incipit to the Concept of the Musical "Skopos" and of the "Mandinada" in Greek Folk Music One of the most recurring features of ancient Greek music is its relation to memory. According to mythical narratives the knowledge of an instrument and the ability to sing is a gift by gods to men, preserved through memory and transmitted by means of music. This concept is implied by Homer in the very first words of his Iliad, where he refers to the element of connection between a god, the poet and his poetry. The same model concerning the gift of singing can be traced in Greek island folk music, where the concept of the musical "skopos" (air or tune) functions as a vehicle for the production and oral transmission of the "mandinada" (improvised rhyming couplet, produced in the course of performance).