Page 63 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 63
mythical tradition in the stone ...
tried to demonstrate the connection of the tradition of the Babas with the Paleolithic im-
aginary).
Jelka Vince-Pallua (1995–1996, pp. 289–290) suggests linking this tradition to a kind
of genius loci and local (Mediterranean) female cults. However, even more convincing is the
interpretation of Raymond Delavigne, who links the French folklore and rituals of kissing
La Vieille on entering a specific area (mostly towns, also area of oysters’ field) to a remnant
of a certain initiation rite (Delavigne, 1982, p. 422).
The rituals surrounding the Babas can be interpreted in the context of a territorial
rite de passage, linked to a specific point in the landscape in relation to leaving one’s own or
entering the territory of another. But at the same time, the rituals together with the gro-
tesque children’s folklore of fearing the Baba are also linked to rites of passage between dif-
ferent social positions in a person’s life: it was only when the children grew up that they
were allowed to pass Baba on their way to a certain part of the territory for the first time,
to a town, or out of the valley etc. Because they feared kissing the old snotty Baba, chil-
dren remained quietly at home when their parents went to a nearby town to run their dai-
ly errands. But when they were old enough to be able to help them, the frightening stories
about Baba disappeared. Stanislav Renčelj gives an account of the childhood fear of the
Baba from Trieste:
And the children were afraid /of Baba/. And then, when they became adults, they realized, that
it’s just a fairy tale and when the girl was 14, 15 years old, she was already good to carry things on
her head and her mother said, come with me /to Trieste to help/. And she said, but where is she
/Baba/?... And then she was gone /Baba/ (Hrobat, 2010, p. 187).
John B. Smith notes that this kind of threating folklore figures functioned as an ef-
fective element of the social control of children, for example preventing them from straying
into the unknown in their adventures. He interprets Perchta, a similar figure to our Baba
or to Pehtra Baba, as an effective element of a threat to children. She would punish sloven-
liness, sloth, disobedience, and other similar socially unacceptable behaviours and would
also impart work ethics (Smith, 2004, pp. 167–86). Similarly, the terrifying and hideous-
ly snotty, muddy Baba proved to be effective in controlling and restricting children’s move-
ments in the local environment.
On the example of the Khanty people in Siberia, Peter Jordan notices that the mate-
rial artefacts together with the elements of the landscape have no inherent meanings un-
less they are reproduced through social practices. It is the landscape imbued with meaning
that guides actions relating to tenure, gender pollution etc. and complete with zones of de
facto and de jure exclusion (Jordan, 2003, pp. 279–280). For example the ritual exclusion
from certain sacred sites does not depend only on one’s gender but also on the person’s his-
tory (if the person was recently to a cemetery, they are perceived as unclean) (Jordan, 2003,
p. 227). »Thus, there is nothing of essential significance about a place or thing and sets of
meanings must be created and sustained through direct (e.g., ritual visits) or indirect ac-
tions (e.g., routine avoidance) (Jordan, 2003, p. 227).« The material does not have any de-
terministic force, but it can be interpreted as »physical resources to be drawn up and en-
culturated by the social collective, which in turn enculturates the individual subject(s)«
(Jordan, 2003, p. 280). From this perspective, the tradition of kissing Babas gives meaning
61
tried to demonstrate the connection of the tradition of the Babas with the Paleolithic im-
aginary).
Jelka Vince-Pallua (1995–1996, pp. 289–290) suggests linking this tradition to a kind
of genius loci and local (Mediterranean) female cults. However, even more convincing is the
interpretation of Raymond Delavigne, who links the French folklore and rituals of kissing
La Vieille on entering a specific area (mostly towns, also area of oysters’ field) to a remnant
of a certain initiation rite (Delavigne, 1982, p. 422).
The rituals surrounding the Babas can be interpreted in the context of a territorial
rite de passage, linked to a specific point in the landscape in relation to leaving one’s own or
entering the territory of another. But at the same time, the rituals together with the gro-
tesque children’s folklore of fearing the Baba are also linked to rites of passage between dif-
ferent social positions in a person’s life: it was only when the children grew up that they
were allowed to pass Baba on their way to a certain part of the territory for the first time,
to a town, or out of the valley etc. Because they feared kissing the old snotty Baba, chil-
dren remained quietly at home when their parents went to a nearby town to run their dai-
ly errands. But when they were old enough to be able to help them, the frightening stories
about Baba disappeared. Stanislav Renčelj gives an account of the childhood fear of the
Baba from Trieste:
And the children were afraid /of Baba/. And then, when they became adults, they realized, that
it’s just a fairy tale and when the girl was 14, 15 years old, she was already good to carry things on
her head and her mother said, come with me /to Trieste to help/. And she said, but where is she
/Baba/?... And then she was gone /Baba/ (Hrobat, 2010, p. 187).
John B. Smith notes that this kind of threating folklore figures functioned as an ef-
fective element of the social control of children, for example preventing them from straying
into the unknown in their adventures. He interprets Perchta, a similar figure to our Baba
or to Pehtra Baba, as an effective element of a threat to children. She would punish sloven-
liness, sloth, disobedience, and other similar socially unacceptable behaviours and would
also impart work ethics (Smith, 2004, pp. 167–86). Similarly, the terrifying and hideous-
ly snotty, muddy Baba proved to be effective in controlling and restricting children’s move-
ments in the local environment.
On the example of the Khanty people in Siberia, Peter Jordan notices that the mate-
rial artefacts together with the elements of the landscape have no inherent meanings un-
less they are reproduced through social practices. It is the landscape imbued with meaning
that guides actions relating to tenure, gender pollution etc. and complete with zones of de
facto and de jure exclusion (Jordan, 2003, pp. 279–280). For example the ritual exclusion
from certain sacred sites does not depend only on one’s gender but also on the person’s his-
tory (if the person was recently to a cemetery, they are perceived as unclean) (Jordan, 2003,
p. 227). »Thus, there is nothing of essential significance about a place or thing and sets of
meanings must be created and sustained through direct (e.g., ritual visits) or indirect ac-
tions (e.g., routine avoidance) (Jordan, 2003, p. 227).« The material does not have any de-
terministic force, but it can be interpreted as »physical resources to be drawn up and en-
culturated by the social collective, which in turn enculturates the individual subject(s)«
(Jordan, 2003, p. 280). From this perspective, the tradition of kissing Babas gives meaning
61
