Oldal 86 [86]
JOHANNA DOMOKOS
mans side and takes the other cane for himself. Ihis event marks the end of
the liminal phase, enhancing the feeling of a dream made real, and it also adds
a visual dimension to the poetic message.
CONCLUSION
Just as Noh theater embodies the ancient, intuitive, and syncretic worldview
of Japanese culture, the singing tradition of yoiking embodies timeless Sámi
culture. Noh is fundamentally a symbolic theater with primary importance
attached to ritual in a select aesthetic atmosphere. So, too, is the yoik. Ihe com¬
bined yoik and Noh traditions in the plays of both Okura and Valkeapaa give
unique manifestations to a series of scripted ritual elements. As this analysis
has pointed out, many of the structuring elements of Noh in Okura’s play can
also be found in Valkeapää’s piece. The structure of the storyline is the same in
both plays, and, as demonstrated, they follow the yagen Noh play pattern. In
both plays we find the roles of the waki, the shite, and the chorus, who together
carry out the verbal and musical dialogues. Both texts manifest the poetic style
of Valkeapää and its major themes: dreams, reindeer herding, wandering in
the tundra, the rise and fall of nations, the cycles of nature and life in general
etc. — which are all central themes of the Noh tradition as well. This random
thematic coincidence proves the thesis that transcultural ritual patterns are
more easily transferred if they contain substantial content elements that are
similar.
The poetic and musical elements structuring both plays, the storyline fol¬
lowing a fixed pattern, and the stage instructions for how to carry out the
dialogues, all belong to what we have termed scripted rituality. These fixed
elements contribute later to the staging of the play as well as to the rituality
of theater.
The present study aimed to highlight some relevant events relatable to the
concept of scripted and embodied rituality as well as liminality. Given that per¬
formances and their concepts arise out of the encounter between the artistic
“sender” and the audience “recipient,” who negotiate and regulate their rela¬
tionship in different ways, scripted and embodied rituality, of course, cannot
be nailed down to simple interpretations. Instead, these ritualities themselves
continuously bring forth the meanings that come into being for the human
actants involved in the performative event. This essay took liminality as a
constitutive characteristic of performative events such as writing, reading,
staging, or participating in a performance. Scripted and embodied rituality
were exemplified in the narrative and dialogic structure of the play and its
performance, both showing a strong authorial and directorial intention to
aesthetically accommodate the performative events for the local audience. Let
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