Why does a shaman sing? (Prolegomena to the theory of shamanic intonation)
Музыкальное искусство Евразии. Традиции и современность December 30, 2021 DOI: 10.26176/maetam.2021.5.4.005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key points | Argues that shamanic intonation is an integral and essential element of traditional shamanism and proposes that it functions as a tool for entering altered states of consciousness. Concludes that the acoustic substance of traditional shamanic singing should be studied using the Novosibirsk school's intonation typology to identify features reliably connected to mechanisms of altered states. |
Abstract
В статье предпринимается попытка формулирования основных предварительных положений теории шаманского интонирования. Данный феномен, вобравший в себя тысячелетний опыт оперирования голосом как инструментом, помогающим, по предположению автора, вхождению в измененные состояния сознания (Ч. Тарт), является неотъемлемым и сущностным элементом традиционного шаманизма. В первом разделе статьи анализируется избранная литература, наиболее близко относящаяся к предмету исследования (Р. Мастроматтеи, Ж. Руже, Ф. Джаннатазио и другие). Затем автор более подробно останавливается на характеристике подхода к типологии интонирования, принятого в новосибирской школе отечественного музыкознания (В.В. Мазепус, Г.Б. Сыченко, Ю.С. Горбачева и другие). Делается вывод о необходимости изучать с этих позиций саму звучащую материю традиционного шаманского пения, что должно позволить обнаружить в ней те черты, которые можно будет достоверно связать с механизмами достижения измененных состояний сознания The article makes an attempt to formulate the main preliminary assumptions of the theory of shamanic intonation. This phenomenon, which has absorbed thousands of years of experience in operating the voice as a tool that helps, according to the author, to enter into altered states of consciousness (C. Tart), is an integral and essential element of traditional shamanism. The first section of the article analyses selected literature most closely related to the subject of research (R. Mastromattei, G. Rouget, F. Giannattasio, and others). Then the author dwells on the characteristics of the approach to the intonation typology, adopted in the Novosibirsk school of Russian ethnomusicology (V.V. Mazepus, G.B. Sychenko, Yu.S. Gorbacheva, and others). The conclusion is made about the necessity to study from these positions the sounding substance of traditional shamanic singing itself, which should allow to find out those features in it, which can be reliably connected with the mechanisms of attainment of the altered states of consciousness
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |