iuvencula: Topics and motifs of Bosniak lullabiesThe first Bosniak lullabies were recorded by Omer e
iuvencula: Topics and motifs of Bosniak lullabiesThe first Bosniak lullabies were recorded by Omer efendi Humo from Konjic in second half of XIX century. He wrote them down in his book Suhla Al Wusul, the first printed Aljamiado (Arabic script, Bosnian language) book in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After Omer Humo, Ludvik Kuba and Antun Hangi found new lullabies and recorded them during they ethnological researches. Ludvik Kuba collected more than 1000 folk poems in his collection of folk poetry in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among those, there were only 13 lullabies. This can be explained by the fact he didn’t spend long time in Bosnia and that he focused on the most common form: love poem. Famous book “Life and traditions of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina” by Antun Hangi shows only one lullaby, which probably came from Central Bosnia or Bosnian Krajina. Big number of Bosniak lullabies can be found in Smajl Bradarić’s collection, Islamic theology teacher from Derventa, he also collected folk poems from North West Bosnia during 1930’s and 1940’s. His collection contains more than 1000 folk poems, including lullabies; collection can be found in Folk Archive of National Museum in Sarajevo. From the same period, it is important to mention handwritten collection of Muhamed Kurtagić. The most of poems and folk songs he recorded were from the region of Bosnian Krajina. Bigger focus on Bosniak lullaby was given by Alija Nametak. He released a book “Od bešike do motike” (From Cradle to Hoe) in which he collected Muslim lullabies from Herzegovina, mostly Mostar and Duvno. After each lullaby he also wrote down the singer’s name and sometimes the place where he heard the lullaby. However the biggest collection of lullabies from Bosnia and Herzegovina is that one by Cvjetko Rihtman. In 2006, Jasmina Talam released a collection of lullabies from Zenica and the region.The motifs in lullabies aren’t as wide but yet again, sometimes they surprise with its diversity. Motfit of asking for good luck and calm sleep is very common “Sleep is betraying you, happiness isn’t. Sleep in cradle, unrest down the cradle. May waters take away your unrest and bring it behind great mountains.” Unrest in this lullaby is used in context of being awake, and lullaby should replace it with deep sleep in which child rests. Other common motif is asking for bad spells to be removed as well as asking for protection of child from evil intentions and enemies: “May they cast bad spells on you. May they graze food and drink water from leaves. May they put cold rocks under their heads. But to you my child, they’ll be unable to do any harm.”Decorated crib should take away the bad spell from the child. “Your crib was made by the rivers. From beautiful boxwood’s tree. Three artisans were working on it. One hacks, another one paints. Third puts shiny mirror” Even though that the motif of decorated cradle usually appears in context of bad spells, a carbuncle stone should shine on pillow and sheets, so mother could feed child easier in night. For that reason, this oral poet gave lots of attention to cradle’s decorations: “One smiths, another one gilds. And above head they put gemstones. So mother can breastfeed you in middle of the night like she does in middle of the day”If crib was well crafted, they were usually expensive as well. There is a story that decorated crib travelled from city to city until the proud and rich father from Banja Luka found it. When he came to bazaar and asked merchants: “How much is the cradle?”, they told him “This cradle is treasure world has never seen before.” Then proud father said: “Beautiful Avdo’s father is buying it!”Motifs of rosy and red roses are very common in lullabies too. They are symbols for beauty and health. In a lullaby found in Mostar, proud mother says how she gave birth to her son under rose, and that its petals fell on her son’s face, to express her happiness even more, she says how she gave birth easily in which she was assisted by her helpers, as she says: “Swallow recited azan on his ear. White fairy brought cotton. And a bee gave him its honey.” Other lullabies, usually from rural area, often have motifs of green mountains, meadows and fairies. Fairies are usually believed to make sure that the child comes to this world healthy. These motifs can be found in following lullaby: “Mother gave birth on a mountain. On mountain on green grass. Mountain took him in its hug. White fairy was his wet nurse” - woman in this lullaby is clearly very exhausted after the labor and she needs additional help to feed the child with her milk. So the lullaby continues: “Dove came to see the baby. It brought pie and bread. Sweet pie and salty bread. Let the mother eat,so there is more milk for the child.” Wrapping the newborn in white silk meant the importance of new life which had arrived. White also symbolizes purity; woman takes care of her silk and only uses it in important moments of her life. Another common motif is water which carries away everything that is bad and harmful. Looking at Bosniak lullabies, crib which was made by the sea dominates all other motifs. Sea symbolizes big bodies of water, and water, according to folk belief, helps remove bad spells, evil and pain. Lullabies recorded in cities usually had motifs of silk, rose, expensive cradle, while lullabies found in villages usually had leaf, mountains and fairies. In lullabies from villages, it is also common that mothers express their problems and struggles. This part was usually improvised and added after finishing the lullaby. Jasmina Talam found a lullaby like this, originally from Bosnian Krajina, the lullaby has 42 verses.On another hand, urban lullabies mention “shirt tailoring”. While mother tailors a shirt for her child, child sleeps and rests in her lap. Mother wants to know dreams of her child so she asks the child: “Are you dreaming of your mother? Are you dreaming that your mother is tailoring beautiful shirts for you? She tailors shirts and counts the years. As many as the strings in shirt, may you live even more years”. If woman lived in a wealthy family and married to someone who wasn’t, she often mentioned problems she faced in a new family. Mother usually wants the child to look up to her family, since she considers the life and values of her family better: “Sleep my child, sleep. Sleep looking at the big tribe. Look at your aunt, your mom’s sister. Look at your uncle, your mom’s brother.”It was also common for religious motifs to appear. In such lullabies, “Lā illāha illā Allāh” is chorus and is followed by “Nina nina” (It doesn’t have any meaning). There is also a story in lullabies like those. One of the most popular lullabies talks about mother who meets Prophet Muhammad on her way to mosque, she tells “Salam” and the Prophet points at blossom and its short life, comparing it to human life; he reminds her of angels who will ask humans about their good and bad deeds in this life; mother then asks for a window in her grave, and through it she sees the beauty of paradise. There are many variations of this lullaby and story, every mother used to improvise and describe Paradise differently There are four versions of this lullaby in Alija Nametak’s collection and there are around 5 other versions recorded by Bradarić and Rihtman. -- source link