Abstract

In Armenia’s Yezidi villages, funerals are particularly important in the life of the community. First of all, they help the passage from the “here” to the “elsewhere”. Further, they allow, in multiple ways, the continuity and reaffirmation of the household (mal) as well as of the community in all. The notion of exile, literal or metaphoric, is omnipresent in the laments, and always entails a specific emotional state : pain of loss. This pain is seen as “communal , and is mainly communicated through the laments' words, gestures and attitudes.

Documents discussed in the article

Example 1

Lament sung by Hasmig at Rya Taze, Aparan (Armenia). Field recording by myself (2007).

Example 2

Lament on Çekoê Xidir composed and sung by Jono Temuryan. Studio recording.