The art of sound transformation of the shaman in the Nganasans rituals

Abstract

Shamanic rite as a complex phenomenon requires interdisciplinary study from the point of view of different scientific disciplines (like as Ethnography, Religious studies, Philology, Art, Psychology and other sciences). As a syncretic phenomenon of early art, shamanic ritual combines different types of art — music, poetry, theater, pantomime, dance, arts and crafts. This article discusses the musical aspect of the shaman ritual in the ritual’s context that takes into account the ideological significance of music in the ritual, because the music plays an important role in the transfer of the sacred content of the ritual. The article is based on the author’s field materials (Nganasan shaman rituals by Tubiaku Kosterkin and by Diulsymiaku Kosterkin, which were recorded in 1989 and 1990), scientific literature. The article discusses in detail the techniques of musical expressiveness in the rite, through which the shaman embodies the images of his spirit assistants, as well as creating an ecstatic atmosphere of the ritual. It is recognizable by hearing some melodies-leitmotivs of main shamanic helper-spirits (these leitmotivs are musical markers attached to each of shamanic helper-spirits); onomatopoeic signals imitating the voices of the zoomorphic helper-spirits of the shaman (animals and birds); ritual musical instruments and phonoinstruments (a drum with a drumstick, shaman staff, shaman’s costume pendants etc.); polyphonic texture of ritual singing, built on the principle of responsoria (a solo singing shaman alternates with an ensemble singing of shaman assistants). In conclusion, the article emphasizes the sacred role of music in the shaman rite. The music is a mediator between the supernatural and the real worlds, it helps for shaman performs his ritual function (shaman’s transformation into supernatural beings due to the sound of shaman songs, onomatopoeia, instrumental ringing).