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

(leader) U patruni The owner
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!
(leader) Nzu zzà Lift up!
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!
(leader) Gran signuri [Is] a great gentleman
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!
(leader) Nzu zzà Lift up!
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!
(leader) E lu rais And the rais
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!
(leader) Nzu zzà Lift up!
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!
(leader) Cumannaturi [Is our] leader
(choir) Gnanzù Lift up!

Further on, the chant reveals carnivalistic elements and playful invectives16 directed at the other key members of
the crew of the tunnaroti: someone is called a drunkard, another one a scoundrel, a third one is alleged of

stealing the interiors of the tuna (Guggino, 2008: 89): this sheds a new light of ambivalence on the praises aimed
at the rais and the patruni, as they might be interpreted as sarcastic comments. Coherently with Bakhtin’s insights
on parody and ambivalence (1984:127-128), it could be argued that here the sarcasm might concur with a

genuine praising attitude: in other words, as seen above, the mockery coexists with, and is precisely aimed at, the
validation of the authority of the rais.

In the final stages of the mattanza, happening in the last 60 metres of the last chamber, the coppu, the chants
stop, primarily because the fishing enters its most critical phase and the tunnaroti need to be more concentrated
(Gioacchino Cataldo, personal conversation).17 The singing is now replaced by the frequent whistles of the rais,
again aimed at coordinating efforts (Ravazza, 2010:79; Guggino, 2008: 92). In the context of the hypotheses
proposed in this paper, I claim that the chants have functioned as a threshold for the tunnaroti: trespassing this
threshold has helped them move from an ordinary dimension into a transcendental one, based on extreme
physical efforts, the struggle with the tuna, and a spectacular and gruesome blood bath.

The end of the mattanza is marked by a final cry of the rais: “E ssempri sia laratu lu nnomu di Ggesù!” (“May be
the name of Jesus always be praised!”), to which all the tunnaroti respond: “Ggesù!” (“Jesus”) (Ravazza, 2010:
79). The rais fully reinstates himself as the religious minister of the mattanza, after his role had been momentarily
usurped and carnivalised by the cialumaturi, and announces the end of the ritual.

Remarks and conclusions

To summarise, in this paper I have tried to interpret the ritual of the mattanza, and in particular the cialomi, the
traditional songs in Sicilian that accompany the fishing, in light of Bakhtin’s insights on dialogue, parody,
authority and carnival:

16 It is perhaps worth noting that the version of Gnanzù reported in Torrente (2002) is considerably different from the one analysed
here, and contains invectives against the Turks and the Moors on the ground of their different religious faith.
17 See note 3

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