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User:Tiamut/Palestinian folklore

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Palestinian folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, and customs, comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of Palestinians. This body of cultural expression is intimately related to life on the land of Palestine, and was traditionally produced by the fellahin, village dwelling, agrarian based workers. Prior to the Nakba, which rendered the majority landless, 80% of Palestinians farmers and pastoralists who lived off the land.

Overview

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The contributions of the 'nativist' ethnographies produced by Tawfiq Canaan and other Palestinian writers and published in The Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society (1920–1948) were driven by the concern that the "native culture of Palestine", and in particular peasant society, was being undermined by the forces of modernity.[1] Salim Tamari writes that:

"Implicit in their scholarship (and made explicit by Canaan himself) was another theme, namely that the peasants of Palestine represent—through their folk norms ... the living heritage of all the accumulated ancient cultures that had appeared in Palestine (principally the Canaanite, Philistine, Hebraic, Nabatean, Syrio-Aramaic and Arab)."[1]

The folklorist revival among Palestinian intellectuals such as Nimr Sirhan, Musa Allush, Salim Mubayyid, and the Palestinian Folklore Society of the 1970s, emphasized pre-Islamic (and pre-Hebraic) cultural roots, re-constructing Palestinian identity with a focus on Canaanite and Jebusite cultures.[1] Such efforts seem to have borne fruit as evidenced in the organization of celebrations like the Qabatiya Canaanite festival and the annual Music Festival of Yabus by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture.[1]

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Religion as constitutive of individual identity was accorded a minor role within Palestinian social structure until the latter half of the 19th century.[2] Cross-cultural syncretism between Islamic and Christian symbols and figures in religious practice was common in the Palestinian countryside, where most villages did not have local mosques or churches.[2]

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Maqams were an essential part of folk religion in Palestine, with locals attaching immense importance to them. Villagers would pay tribute to local patron saints at maqams – domed single rooms often placed in the shadow of an ancient carob or oak tree. Alongside celebrated Muslim figures, some maqams can also be associated with ancient Semitic pagan, Judaic, Samaritan, and Christian traditions.[3] Saints, taboo by the standards of orthodox Islam, mediated between man and God, and shrines to saints and holy men dotted the Palestinian landscape.[2] Ali Qleibo, a Palestinian anthropologist, states that this built evidence constitutes "an architectural testimony to Christian/Moslem Palestinian religious sensibility and its roots in ancient Semitic religions."[2]

The maqams of Palestine were considered highly significant to the field of biblical archaeology, as their names were used in the 18th and 19th centuries to identify much of biblical geography.[4]

By James Grehan · 2016

Holy springs and the sacred nature of water

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  • Springs visited for healing purposes, worship Haunted Springs & Water Demons
  • Rain-fed agricultural (baaliya produce and the connection to Baal)
  • Mary's Well and other village wells with sacred associations and how they were a part of daily life and a gathering place for women and girls to share news, gossip and how young men and their mothers would assess potential brides by their strength and posture in carrying water

Jinn

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Superstitions, the Evil eye, the Khamsa & other Amulets

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A wide variety of handicrafts, many of which have been produced in the area of Palestine for hundreds of years, continue to be produced today. Palestinian handicrafts include embroidery and weaving, pottery-making, soap-making, glass-making, and olive-wood and Mother of Pearl carvings, among others.[5][6]

Evil eye beads and Hebron glass bracelets,[7] Jerusalem 1900-1920.

Glass beads for jewelry have traditionally been made in Hebron. Blue beads and glass beads with 'eyes' (owayneh) were made for use as amulets since they were considered particularly effective against the evil-eye.[8][9] In the Museum of Mankind collections, there exist several glass necklaces that were made in Hebron during the Mandate period or earlier. Besides necklaces made of blue and green beads, and 'eyes' beads, there are examples of beads of small hands, also called a Hamsa, representing the hand of Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad.[10] Most of a woman's jewellery was given to her at marriage; in the early 1920s, in Bayt Dajan, a glass bracelet (ghwayshat) made in Hebron would be considered a necessary part of the jewellery of a bride's trousseau.[11]

Astrological & Agricultural calendars & Folk festivals

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  • Babylonian calendar - Levantine names of the months
  • Pentecontad calendar - agricultural calendar, thursday festivals, also notes on the coexistence of the agricultural calendar with the Julian calendar events for Christian holidays & the Islamic lunar calendar as described by Stephan Hanna Stephan - he also mentions khamis en-nabat ("Thursday of the sprouting") as being in the first week of April, followed by khamis al-amwat Thursday of the Dead citing Bauer but focuses more on a Friday naming system for the Friday during the Lent period before the first fifty day block in the agricultural calendar begins. This echoes the information about similar springtime festivals in Lebanon: "In Buarij, Portrait of a Lebanese Muslim Village (1961), Fuller lists Thursday of the Dead as one of a series of springtime rituals there, preceded by Thursday of the Animals and Thursday of the Plants, and followed by Thursday of the Jumping.[12]"
  • Murba'nia agricultural calendar [13]

Popular feast days, such as Thursday of the Dead, were celebrated by both Muslims and Christians and shared prophets and saints include Jonah, who is venerated in Halhul as both a Biblical and Islamic prophet, and St. George, who is known in Arabic as al-Khdir.

Traditional Costumes & Tatreez

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Foreign travelers to Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries often commented on the rich variety of costumes among the area's inhabitants, and particularly among the fellaheen or village women. Until the 1940s, a woman's economic status, whether married or single, and the town or area they were from could be deciphered by most Palestinian women by the type of cloth, colors, cut, and embroidery (tatreez) motifs, or lack thereof, used for the robe-like dress or "thoub" in Arabic.[14]

Village women embroidering in locally-distinctive styles was a tradition that was at its height in Ottoman-ruled Palestine.[15] Motifs were derived from basic geometric forms such as squares and rosettes.[16] Triangles, used as amulets, were often incorporated to ward off the "evil eye". Large blocks of intricate embroidery were used on the chest panel to protect the vulnerable chest area from the evil eye, bad luck and illness.[17] To avoid potential jinxes from other women, an imperfection was stitched in each garment to distract the focus of those looking.[15]

Folk tales & poetry

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The art of story telling and reciting poetry has long been an integral part of the cultural life of the Arab World, and Palestine is not an exception.

Hakawati

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In each small town or village of Palestine, itinerant story tellers called hakawati would visit and tell folk stories they knew, often in teahouses. The tales of the hakawati, once told for all ages, are now sometimes emerging from the Palestinian diaspora as children's books.[18]

Traditional storytelling among Palestinians is prefaced with an invitation to the listeners to give blessings to God and the Prophet Mohammed or the Virgin Mary as the case may be, and includes the traditional opening: "There was, or there was not, in the oldness of time ..."[19][20] Formulaic elements of the stories share much in common with the wider Arab world, though the rhyming scheme is distinct. There are a cast of supernatural characters: djinns who can cross the Seven Seas in an instant, giants, and ghouls with eyes of ember and teeth of brass. Stories invariably have a happy ending, and the storyteller will usually finish off with a rhyme like: "The bird has taken flight, God bless you tonight," or "Tutu, tutu, finished is my haduttu (story)."[19]

Hikaye

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Palestinian hikaye is a form of oral literature created, performed and preserved by women. Usually narrated in winter, the performers are usually older women, who tell them to younger women and children.[21][22][23] Some versions of hikaye were published in the 1989 volume Speak Bird, Speak Again.[24] In 2008 they were inscribed by UNESCO to their list of intangible cultural heritage.[25]

Poetry

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Poetry, using classical pre-Islamic forms, remains an extremely popular art form, often attracting Palestinian audiences in the thousands. Until 20 years ago, local folk bards reciting traditional verses were a feature of every Palestinian town.[19]

After the Nakba, poetry was transformed into a vehicle for political activism. From among those Palestinians who became Arab citizens of Israel after the passage of the Citizenship Law in 1952, a school of resistance poetry was born that included poets like Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, and Tawfiq Zayyad.[19]

The work of these poets was largely unknown to the wider Arab world for years because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab governments. The situation changed after Ghassan Kanafani, another Palestinian writer in exile in Lebanon, published an anthology of their work in 1966.[19] Palestinian poets often write about the common theme of a strong affection and sense of loss and longing for a lost homeland.[19] References to folk beliefs remains common in Palestinian poetry.

Music

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Kamanjeh performer in Jerusalem, 1859.[26]

Palestinian music is well-known and respected throughout the Arab world.[27] In addition to zajal and ataaba, traditional Palestinian songs include: Bein Al-dawai, Al-Rozana, Zarif – Al-Toul, and Al-Maijana, Dal'ona, Sahja/Saamir, Zaghareet.

Rim Banna, from the town of Nazareth, collected the lyrics and melodies of many of the traditional Palestinian folk songs, recording and preserving them before her death.

Forms of traditional Palestinian songs

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Armure Hijaz 01
Armure Hijaz 02
Armure Hijaz 03

Unlike many other cultures, traditional Palestinian songs have no set lyrics but rather a set rhythm. The singers are usually family members or close friends who make up the lyrics on the spot. At modern Palestinian events there may be a professional singer, but the forms mentioned below, still very popular today, were created before the popularization of professional singers. Therefore, the song lyrics differ from city to city. Many types of Palestinian songs, including Atab/Mejana and Dal'ona, have transcended time. Due to the relevance of the subject matter and the need to maintain tradition and culture, traditional types of Palestinian songs can still be heard at events of today, such as weddings or gatherings. They still remain extremely popular throughout the Palestinian culture. Among the forms:[28]

  • Ataaba is the most popular type of song in Palestine. It is often sung by farmers, workers, and shepherds as a work song. However, weddings are the main environment for the songs. As with the other forms of songs, Mejana is based on poetry. Usually the singer starts with the long sound of "Ooaaaff". Then the verses of ataba follow. Ataba is composed of four verses of poetry. The first three end with the same word in sound but different meanings. The fourth verse ends with a word that usually ends with a sound like "Aab or Aywa!"[28]
Palestinian shepherd flutist in traditional dress, c.1910–1920
  • Dal'ona is the second most popular type of song in Palestine. It is easier to compose than ataba because it does not require the similar sound of the ends of the first three verses. However, like ataba, dal'na has four verses of poetry, where the first three have similar endings and the fourth usually ends with a sound like "Oana". Dal'ona is the sound of the Palestinian popular dance, dabka, where the dancers sing it along with the sound of the shubbabah (flute), yarghool or mijwiz.[28]
  • The Sahja is another popular form of Palestinian song usually sung at weddings. It may be done by men or women and involves clapping to the rhythm of the song that is being sung to the bride by women, or groom by men. The men gather in two lines facing each other, or surround the groom. Then the zajal leads the sahja. The zajal is a talented singer or close family member who sings the sahja on the spot. The zajal leads the sahja with a verse, and the entire group repeats. The sahja done by women carries out the same process but with many women leading (usually older women) while the young women repeat. Also, the women may add a loud, "Lolololeey" during and at the end of the sahja. There is no female zajal.
  • Zaghareet (pl), one of the oldest forms of Palestinian song, is another important form of song during Palestinian weddings. The zaghreet is traditionally sung by women at weddings or important events. One woman starts the zaghroot with a loud "Heeey Hee..." or "Aweeha...". She then continues with a short poem or few rhyming words. After the women are done, they all join with a loud, "Lolololoolololoeeeey" sound. Unlike the women's sahja, the zaghroot involves no clapping, and only one woman must take turns to offer a zaghareet.

Dabke, a folk dance

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The Dabke dance is marked by synchronized jumping, stamping, and movement, similar to tap dancing. One version is performed by men, another by women.

Palestinian Dabke folk dance as performed by men

For over three decades, the Palestinian National Music and Dance Troupe (El Funoun) in Palestine[29] has promoted and developed Palestinian traditional songs and dance. Examples include Mish'al (1986), Marj Ibn 'Amer(1989) and Zaghareed (1997) a collection of Palestinian traditional wedding songs reinterpreted and re-arranged by Mohsen Subhi.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Cite error: The named reference Tamari was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ali Qleibo (28 July 2007). "Palestinian Cave Dwellers and Holy Shrines: The Passing of Traditional Society". This Week in Palestine. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2007. Cite error: The named reference "Qleibo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ↑ R. Conder, Claude (1877). "The Moslem Mukams". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 9 (2): 89–91. doi:10.1179/peq.1877.9.2.89. ISSN 0031-0328. In their religious observances and sanctuaries we find, as in their language, the true history of the country. On a basis of polytheistic faith which most probably dates back to pre-Israelite times, we find a growth of the most heterogeneous description: Christian tradition, Moslem history and foreign worship are mingled so as often to be entirely indistinguishable, and the so-called Moslem is found worshipping at shrines consecrated to Jewish, Samaritan, Christian, and often Pagan memories. It is in worship at these shrines that the religion of the peasantry consists. Moslem by profession, they often spend their lives without entering a mosque, and attach more importance to the favour and protection of the village Mukam than to Allah himself, or to Mohammed his prophet... The reverence shown for these sacred spots is unbounded. Every fallen stone from the building, every withered branch of the tree, is carefully preserved.
  4. ↑ Conder, 1877, p. 89: "...the local sanctuaries scattered over the country, a study which is also of no little importance in relation to the ancient topography of Palestine, as is shown by the various sites which have been recovered by means of the tradition of sacred tombs preserved after the name of the site itself had been lost."
  5. ↑ Jacobs et al., 1998, p. 72.
  6. ↑ Karmi, 2005, p. 18.
  7. ↑ Weir, 1989, pp. 192, 193.
  8. ↑ Cite error: The named reference IMEU was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ↑ Weir, 1989, p. 194. See also Palestinian Jewellery
  10. ↑ Weir, 1989, p. 201.
  11. ↑ Weir, 1989, p. 230.
  12. ↑ Philippe Guillaume and Noga Blockman (February 2004). "By my God, I bull leap (Psalm 18:30 // 2 Samuel 22:30)" (PDF). Lectio Difficilior. ISSN 1661-3317.
  13. ↑ Van Aken, Mauro, "Chapter Eight: Decarbonising Palestine: Politics of Nature and Weather Relations in Local Historical Farming Knowledge", De/Colonising Palestine: Contemporary Debates, p. 239-277
  14. ↑ Jane Waldron Grutz (January–February 1991). "Woven Legacy, Woven Language". Saudi Aramco World. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
  15. 1 2 Cite error: The named reference Chicago was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ↑ Cite error: The named reference PCAback was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ↑ Cite error: The named reference USAID was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ↑ Sonia Nimr, Hannah Shaw, Ghada Karmi (2008) “Ghaddar the Ghoul and Other Palestinian Stories”, frances lincoln ltd, ISBN 1-84507-523-4
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shahin, 2005, p. 41.
  20. ↑ Muhawi, 1989.
  21. ↑ "Żeby nie zapomnieć | Tygodnik Powszechny". www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl (in Polish). 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  22. ↑ Rivoal, Isabelle (2001-01-01). "Susan Slyomovics, The Object of Memory. Arabs and Jews Narrate the Palestinian Village". L'Homme. Revue française d'anthropologie (in French) (158–159): 478–479. doi:10.4000/lhomme.6701. ISSN 0439-4216.
  23. ↑ Timothy, Dallen J. (2018-12-07). Routledge Handbook on Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-22923-0.
  24. ↑ Seikaly, Zeina. "Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales, ed. by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana (Book Review)." Middle East Journal 44.2 (1990): 337.
  25. ↑ Adam, Thomas; Stiefel, Barry L.; Peleg, Shelley-Anne (2023-04-17). Yearbook of Transnational History: (2023). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-1-68393-379-3.
  26. ↑ William McClure Thomson, (1860): The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land Vol II, p. 578.
  27. ↑ Christian Poche. "Palestininan music". Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Retrieved 2008-03-10.[dead link]
  28. 1 2 3 Cite error: The named reference barghouti.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ↑ http://www.el-funoun.org/productions/zaghared.html

Further reading

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