Женске песме: осврт на родну димензију усмених лирских песама
Women’s Songs: Notes about Gender Perspective of Oral Lyric Songs

Summary/Abstract: The paper connects Vuk Karadzic term women’s songs with contemporary gender studies. The fact that oral texts depend on context relativize oppositions male/female in the sense of culture/nature, public/private, mind/body. Some of the folklore genres are dominantly created and transmitted by women. On the other hand, female scientists, during field work, have difficulties writing down man’s texts. Bearing that in mind, it is clear that gender aspect of oral creation, as well as of field work, is important. Heterogeneous oral lyric corpus forms diverse cultural models and confirms cultural heterarchy. Within these models maidens and women are marked by diverse attributes – as obedient and submitted, as well as disobedient and powerful. Special attention is paid to Karadzic's indirect definition of religious sphere as women’s. At the same time, the ritual function, in diverse perspectives, is subversive and confirms the existing order. The ritual masks are observed as a typical example of relativisation of gender identities, especially within the process of ritual inversion.

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