Briggs, Charles Personal Sentiments and Polyphonic Voices in Warao Women’s Rituals Wailing: Music and Poetics in a Critical and Collective Discourse American Anthropologist December, 1993 Vol95(4):929-957
Briggs attempts to show how Warao women gain status socially, economically and politically through their birthright wailing. Without the ability to grieve honestly these otherwise dominated and repressed women’s opinions of injustices would never be heard. Warao women communicate through tempo, pitch and timbre to construct social order or disorder. Once the women begin wailing they have more power to challenge, the privileged shamans and their hegemonic political leaders in establishing truths.
With those ideas in mind the author discusses how Warao women’s participation in rituals establishes platforms to place themselves higher socially. Only women who are wailing receive everyone’s undivided attention. Wailing is such an emotional, intensive trance, everyone watching humbles himself to show respect. Just as women’s feelings and views are repressed with the exception of wailing, men’s views are repressed during the ritual and they must consider the issues expressed seriously. The collective and individual character of women’s wailing provides a privileged context to criticize established social relations.
The author supports the argument by describing the ritual as it takes place. During a funeral the eldest of the Warao women will begin to wail, gaining the attention and respect of the community. Her textual phrases are the least controversial She would then use her voice to establish the emotion of those listening and the tone which her group will follow. After the eldest women, the mother of the deceased wails in tune or increases the spiritual emotions of everyone through timbre, pitch or tempo to convey her message. Then the other women contribute to the wailing either changing the text of the messages or increasing the emotion of the one being expressed. During these rituals they show the unfairness of their society and unmask social hierarchies, for example a son-in-law who was worked to death by his father-in-law.
According to the author, by sharing the same musical and textual characteristics at the same time women participate in a collective process of constructing themselves as a collective voice. For example Maria Fernandez wails individually when she publicly criticizes her husband for missing their son’s funeral. But when a young girl died a group of women wailed collectively. During both rituals the truth was expected and delivered to the community. Although the women continued to be repressed, waling gave them the opportunity to address or correct injustices occurring against them.
While the article in itself was clear the argument was not, for example comparing the Warao ritual of truth to concepts of Foucault. I did not understand if the author was agreeing or disagreeing with him. The language used made it very difficult to grasp the entire argument.
Briggs, Charles L.Personal Sentiments and Polyphonic Voices in Warao Women’s Ritual Wailing: Music and Poetics in a Critical and Collective Discourse.American AnthropologistDecember, 1993Vol. 95 (4):929:957
Briggs’ article is a linguistic analysis of ritual wailing as performed by the Warao women of Venezuela
.This combination of singing and moaning is part of the mourning ceremony for a deceased person.In this vehicle of empowerment, women have access to the political processes of criticism and expression; discourses that are usually controlled by men.As both a communal and individual ritual, wailing also reinforces kinship and social relationships between the deceased and the wailer.Briggs’ reaches these conclusions through an analysis of musical composition and an intertextual comparison.
Briggs’ first experience with wailing was unintentional but after being moved by its profundity, he decided to make it a focus of his fieldwork.In this discussion, he refers extensively to a recording made of a wailing in 1987.A 19-year old man had died and he was mourned by his mother, maternal grandmother, sister, and classifactory grandmother.Each woman wailed differently to an extent that reflected on the closeness of their relationship to the individual.Brigg’s measured this extent by looking at the differences in pitch, tempo, and timbre of the wailing.He further regarded the literal pieces of the laments as being either part of a refrain or textual phrases.Even with these divisions, women express the importance of crying “right along side each other.”The reflection on the relationship between these incongruences contributed to Briggs’ conclusions that wailing gives women subjectively true voices where they would not otherwise be heard.
Briggs does not delve into the male hierarchy of the Warao society but tells that women have few chances for active participation in the political discourses of the tribe.During a wailing, women are able to accuse men of sorcery and suggest physical punishment on the person they feel is responsible for the death of their loved one.While men would normally be able to punish these women for their accusations, men have a limited role in the funeral ceremony that allows them to hear the wailing but not to criticize it.Just as the victim’s father states, “what they’re crying is entirely true; they couldn’t cry lies,” the voice given to women to reveal their grief must be regarded as having particular significance.Briggs cites Foucault’s idea of a “regime of truth” to show that, in their mourning, Warao women are voicing their ideas against the dominant male society.Despite it being limited to times of death, this miniscule uprising gives power to oppressed beings.
This article is clearly written for other linguists who have a clear conception of oratory composition and textual analysis.His great extension into the subject gives rise to difficulty in comprehending his argument but with careful reading, an understanding of the manifestations of social relationships and politics of expression can be acquired.
Briggs attempts to show how Warao women gain status socially, economically and politically through their birthright wailing. Without the ability to grieve honestly these otherwise dominated and repressed women’s opinions of injustices would never be heard. Warao women communicate through tempo, pitch and timbre to construct social order or disorder. Once the women begin wailing they have more power to challenge, the privileged shamans and their hegemonic political leaders in establishing truths.
With those ideas in mind the author discusses how Warao women’s participation in rituals establishes platforms to place themselves higher socially. Only women who are wailing receive everyone’s undivided attention. Wailing is such an emotional, intensive trance, everyone watching humbles himself to show respect. Just as women’s feelings and views are repressed with the exception of wailing, men’s views are repressed during the ritual and they must consider the issues expressed seriously. The collective and individual character of women’s wailing provides a privileged context to criticize established social relations.
The author supports the argument by describing the ritual as it takes place. During a funeral the eldest of the Warao women will begin to wail, gaining the attention and respect of the community. Her textual phrases are the least controversial She would then use her voice to establish the emotion of those listening and the tone which her group will follow. After the eldest women, the mother of the deceased wails in tune or increases the spiritual emotions of everyone through timbre, pitch or tempo to convey her message. Then the other women contribute to the wailing either changing the text of the messages or increasing the emotion of the one being expressed. During these rituals they show the unfairness of their society and unmask social hierarchies, for example a son-in-law who was worked to death by his father-in-law.
According to the author, by sharing the same musical and textual characteristics at the same time women participate in a collective process of constructing themselves as a collective voice. For example Maria Fernandez wails individually when she publicly criticizes her husband for missing their son’s funeral. But when a young girl died a group of women wailed collectively. During both rituals the truth was expected and delivered to the community. Although the women continued to be repressed, waling gave them the opportunity to address or correct injustices occurring against them.
While the article in itself was clear the argument was not, for example comparing the Warao ritual of truth to concepts of Foucault. I did not understand if the author was agreeing or disagreeing with him. The language used made it very difficult to grasp the entire argument.
Briggs, Charles L.Personal Sentiments and Polyphonic Voices in Warao Women’s Ritual Wailing: Music and Poetics in a Critical and Collective Discourse.American AnthropologistDecember, 1993Vol. 95 (4):929:957
Briggs’ article is a linguistic analysis of ritual wailing as performed by the Warao women of Venezuela
.This combination of singing and moaning is part of the mourning ceremony for a deceased person.In this vehicle of empowerment, women have access to the political processes of criticism and expression; discourses that are usually controlled by men.As both a communal and individual ritual, wailing also reinforces kinship and social relationships between the deceased and the wailer.Briggs’ reaches these conclusions through an analysis of musical composition and an intertextual comparison.
Briggs’ first experience with wailing was unintentional but after being moved by its profundity, he decided to make it a focus of his fieldwork.In this discussion, he refers extensively to a recording made of a wailing in 1987.A 19-year old man had died and he was mourned by his mother, maternal grandmother, sister, and classifactory grandmother.Each woman wailed differently to an extent that reflected on the closeness of their relationship to the individual.Brigg’s measured this extent by looking at the differences in pitch, tempo, and timbre of the wailing.He further regarded the literal pieces of the laments as being either part of a refrain or textual phrases.Even with these divisions, women express the importance of crying “right along side each other.”The reflection on the relationship between these incongruences contributed to Briggs’ conclusions that wailing gives women subjectively true voices where they would not otherwise be heard.
Briggs does not delve into the male hierarchy of the Warao society but tells that women have few chances for active participation in the political discourses of the tribe.During a wailing, women are able to accuse men of sorcery and suggest physical punishment on the person they feel is responsible for the death of their loved one.While men would normally be able to punish these women for their accusations, men have a limited role in the funeral ceremony that allows them to hear the wailing but not to criticize it.Just as the victim’s father states, “what they’re crying is entirely true; they couldn’t cry lies,” the voice given to women to reveal their grief must be regarded as having particular significance.Briggs cites Foucault’s idea of a “regime of truth” to show that, in their mourning, Warao women are voicing their ideas against the dominant male society.Despite it being limited to times of death, this miniscule uprising gives power to oppressed beings.
This article is clearly written for other linguists who have a clear conception of oratory composition and textual analysis.His great extension into the subject gives rise to difficulty in comprehending his argument but with careful reading, an understanding of the manifestations of social relationships and politics of expression can be acquired.
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