SINGING THE VILA SINGING THE VILA: SUPERNATURAL BEINGS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR TRADITIONS By DORIAN JURIĆ, M.A., B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Dorian Jurić, February 2019 Ph.D. Thesis – D. Jurić; McMaster University – Anthropology McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2019) Hamilton, Ontario (Anthropology) TITLE: Singing the Vila: Supernatural Beings in the Context of their Traditions AUTHOR: Dorian Jurić, M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor John Colarusso NUMBER OF PAGES: xiii, 453 ii Ph.D. Thesis – D. Jurić; McMaster University – Anthropology DEDICATION Tatjani Da ti razigraju maštu kao što su meni. iii Ph.D. Thesis – D. Jurić; McMaster University – Anthropology ABSTRACT This thesis presents a critical overview of a supernatural being, the South Slavic vila, as she figures in the oral traditions of Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian peasants collected in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The thesis returns to the conceptual frame of older primary texts (here titled survey studies) used by comparative scholars and updates this work with the knowledge gleaned from a century of research and theory in the fields of folkloristics and historical anthropology. These materials are presented in a distributive frequency analysis model such as those often employed by the Historical-Geographic school of folklore research, but the study is built on a foundation informed by the insights of Milman Parry and Albert Lord’s researches into the diffusion of oral traditions. These traditions are further refined by focusing on the singers, storytellers and believers who used the vila in an emic manner balanced at a nexus point between artistic innovation and traditional dictates. The data is also further contextualized with a focus on the embedded nature of these cultural expressions and a clear portrait of the contexts surrounding their collection and publication in a wider cultural sphere. The aim of the thesis is to present a comprehensive description of the vila’s role in oral traditions to serve as a primary source for scholars doing comparative or interpretive work, as well as to provide a clearer picture of the contexts of the materials to refine such research. In doing so, this thesis produces a comprehensive method and model that can be applied to other supernatural beings, repatriates oral arts back to their original purveyors by undoing academic silencing of subaltern voices and returns critical context to inherited traditions once stripped of them by romantic academic theories. iv Ph.D. Thesis – D. Jurić; McMaster University – Anthropology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without a network of many people who supported me in immeasurable ways over the last six years. I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. John Colarusso for his impressive knowledge, tireless patience, careful guidance and limitless support through my years of study. Such exceptional mentors are rare in this profession. My deepest thanks go to my current committee members Dr. Naomi McPherson for her years of critical insight, aid and support and her keen attention to detail and to Dr. Andrew Gilbert for the many opportunities he has generously offered, his input and guidance and his constant devotion to pushing me forward and challenging my boundaries. I also owe a great debt of gratitude to former committee members. To Dr. Ellen Badone who has continued to show an interest in my work and to guide my thinking and to the late Dr. Dean Miller who did not live to see the final draft of this thesis. His warm humour and patient support will be missed. I must also thank Dr. David Mandić for his insights into some of the more difficult quandaries produced by translating obscure 150-year-old dialects. It would have been impossible to conduct this work without the very generous access I was provided to the ethnological archives at the Croatian Academy of Science and Art and support extended to me by the group of scholars working there. My thanks go out to Dr. Luka Šešo and Dr. Jakša Primorac for their insights, support and guidance, and particularly to Dr. Klementina Batina whose friendly conversation, exhaustive knowledge of the archive, and trust in my work made the research process much easier. I must also thank Dr. Tanja Perić-Polonijo and the late Akademik Dr. Ivan Cifrić for their thoughtful discussions. Thanks are also due to Tamara Runjak for her help in the library and to Goran for his humorous conversations. My time in Zagreb was made more joyous by the love and friendship of Drs. Ema and Zvonimir Lisac, our first kumovi and dear friends. We shall forever remember our lovely discussions around your dinner table. My PhD project could also not have been possible without the financial support of McMaster University, our Department of Anthropology and the School of Graduate Studies as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I would also like to thank those scholars who have guided me through their writing and inspired my own approach to the world of vernacular tradition and anthropology. R. F. Burton, D. Bynum, A. Dundes, G. Dumézil, C. Ginzburg, V. St. Karadžić., A. Lord, L. Marjanović, U. Marzolph, M. Murko, J. L. Perkowski, H. Rebel, and M. R. Trouillot; it is amazing what fine teachers those you have never met can be. Finally, I would like to thank my wonderful family for their love and support through all my years of sitting in libraries reading stacks of books. Most importantly I must thank my asistentica, ljubav, i majka našem djetetu, my wife Marina for her tireless patience, aid, support, guidance, hard work and bravery. This thesis would not exist without her truly endless support and generous help. v Ph.D. Thesis – D. Jurić; McMaster University – Anthropology TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page…………………………………………………………………………………..i Notes………………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………..ix List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..x List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………..…xi Guide to Pronunciation…………………………………………………………………..xii Declaration of Academic Achievement…………………………………………………xiii Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Survey Studies and the Problem with Studies of the Vila............................................ 5 What Remedy Does this Thesis Offer? ...................................................................... 19 The Materials and their Sources: Folklore Collecting in BCMS Regions ................. 22 On Theoretical Paradigms: Returning to Survey Studies with Modern Insights ....... 31 On Oral Traditional Art in BCMS Speaking Regions and the Divisions of Genre ... 37 On Divisions of Genre in this Thesis ......................................................................... 43 Methodologies and Critical Considerations ................................................................... 49 The Process of Song and Tale Analysis ..................................................................... 51 On Analysis of Motifs and Terminology ................................................................... 55 On Regional Analysis ................................................................................................ 60 A Note on Limitations ............................................................................................... 62 A Note on Translations and Citation.......................................................................... 63 This Thesis ................................................................................................................. 65 Chapter 1: The Vila in Informant Descriptions ............................................................ 67 Regular Motifs ........................................................................................................... 68 Irregular Motifs .......................................................................................................... 81 The Vila in Topogonic Descriptions .............................................................................. 87 vi Ph.D. Thesis – D. Jurić; McMaster University – Anthropology Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 2: The Vila in Song ............................................................................................ 91 The Vila in Narrative Song ............................................................................................ 92 Regular Motifs in Narrative Songs ............................................................................ 98 Regular Motifs that are Also Found in Lyric Songs ................................................ 145 Irregular Motifs ........................................................................................................ 188 The Vila in Lyric Songs ............................................................................................... 198 Regular Motifs ......................................................................................................... 200 Regular Motifs that are Also Found in Narrative