Page 6 - Quadrivium

QDV 6 (2015) ISSN 1989-8851 Identity, Dialogism and Liminality… Marcello Messina

(leader) Vèrgini santa parturienti. Holy Virgin in labour
(choir) Aiamola aiamola!8 Aiamola aiamola!

I propose to interpret the call and response structure that characterises the cialomi in light of Bakhtinian
dialogism, which presupposes an encounter of different entities and perspectives resulting in the creation of a
space where identities and narratives can be negotiated or renegotiated (White, 2009). Wegerif (2007: 20 -21)
argues that the dialogic in Bakhtin is not only epistemological, but also and primarily ontological, an d thus
related to being and identity:9 in other words, this could perhaps suggest that, if the mattanza is a ritual of
assertion of identity, this assertion is facilitated by the dialogue performed during the cialomi. What is more,
dialogue in Bakhtin is liminal, that is, it functions as a threshold to access a critical and transcendental
dimension (Bakhtin, 1984: 101-180): I claim that this is also true of the cialomi, and will attempt to
demonstrate it further on.

Elements of carnivalesque

Guggino suggests a connection between the whole phenomenology of the mattanza, including the cialomi, and
Bakhtin’s formulation of the carnivalesque: she focuses mostly on the liberating power of the ritual, that
momentarily frees both the tunnaroti and the wider community from the usual apprehensions that characterise
their life, by temporarily suspending or questioning hierarchical relationships (Guggino, 2008: 96-97). With
regards to this, I would like to draw attention to the dynamics of interaction between the rais and the
cialumaturi. Alongside the chants, the tunnaroti also pronounce a spoken prayer, which has a similar dialogic
structure to the chants and is led by the rais: Torrente suggests that here the rais assumes the function of a
religious minister or a shaman of the mattanza (2002). When leading the song Aiamola, the cialumaturi replaces
the rais in leading the invocation and worship of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the saints, arguably functioning as
an alter ego, or a double, to the rais. This takes us back to Bakhtin, who asserts that the double is a
fundamental element of the carnival and the carnivalesque: to every leading figure, to every higher authority
corresponds at least one double in carnival (Bakhtin, 1984: 127). The function of the double is precisely that
of parodying and mocking the leader: this is what Bakhtin calls “decrowning double” (1984: 127).
Importantly, by ridiculing and decrowning the leader, the double ultimately reasserts the leader’s very same
authority (Bakhtin, 1984: 126-127). As anticipated earlier, alongside the devotional songs, the tunnaroti also
sing obscene comical songs, such as Lina Lina and A zzá Monica n cammisa, whose precise aim is to question
and parody the undisputable leadership of the rais:

(leader) E Lina, Lina Lina, Lina
(choir) Lina, Lina Lina, Lina
(leader) Chi beddi occhi teni What beautiful eyes she has
(choir) AS signorina That young lady
(leader) Chi beddi occhi teni What beautiful eyes she has
(choir) A signorina That young lady
(leader) E Lina, Lina Lina, Lina
(choir) Lina, Lina Lina, Lina

8 Transcribed by Sergio Bonanzinga in Favignana in 1991 (Bonanzinga, 2013: 212).
9 I am aware of the fact that it is highly problematic to mention the concept of identity in relation to Bakhtin’s thought: as pointed out
by Wegerif, Bakhtin questions the concept of identity and considers the formation of the self as dependent on the dialogic act
(Wegerif, 2007: 21).

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