Pustovanje v Reziji

CARNIVAL CELEBRATIONS IN RESIA In Resia masks appeared in the period between Epiphany and Ash Wesdnesday. A reconstruction of these events is possible only partly, which is also true of certain elements of the central ritual taking place between Carnival Thursday and Ash Wednesday. The whole ritual has now been compressed in the last week of the Carnival period. In his article the author focuses on the events taking place in a Resian dance hall and on a village square in the period between Carnival Saturday and Ash Wednesday; since the 1990's he has been documenting these events with the help of a tape recorder, camera, video camera, and interviews with different informants. An importunt source on Carnival festivities in Resia are the works written by Deborah Puccio, who especially focused her attention on winter processions of Carnival masks; these masks are called the babaci or the kukaci by the Resians. Initially sexually undifferentiated, al the end of the Carnival period they become either female (maškire) or male (maškaruni). In the springtime they appeared in the central part of initiation rites and were generally known as the so-called bile maškire. At the end of Shrove Tuesday the female masks stepped aside and the maškarun led the festivities into their conclusion, Puccio was also interested in other aspects of the relationship between the sexes, in engagement and marriage ceremonies. A comparison between the customs of the yearly life cycle and death and burial customs revealed relevant analogies, In the present, Carnival festivities take place almost exclusively in the hall of the former village elementary school in the village of San Giorgio (Bila). Dance still represents the central part of Carnival celebrations in Resia. Many people, especially young ones, gather on the dance floor. Dancing takes place on Saturday, Sunday (when people also dance in the village square in the afternoon), Tuesday and also on Wednesday, after the burial of the Carneval. Based on the comparison between the situation from the time of the author's first visit to Resia and the present it is possible to draw several conclusions: 1. Music and dancing are the key factors for the preservation of Carnival customs. The principal upholders of Carnival traditions still come from all generations of Resians. 2. Carnival customs have become institutionalized only to a certain degree. Several local societies actively participate in Resian Carnival festivities, but by far the most important is the local folklore group. By setting its own example it indirectly influences folk dance performances and the choice of masks. At the same time it also represents Resian folklore elsewhere. 3. Resians are well aware that their traditional Carnival customs may be preserved only if they do not become influenced by folklorization. Yet the measures they have undertaken in order to achieve this have not always been consistent; advertising outside Resia and the good reputation of the Resian Carnival tradition attract spectators from elsewhere, while the numbers of Resian residents attending the festivities, and especially the old, dwindle. 4. One of the most popular Resian Carnival events is the burning of the babac on Ash Wednesday. It is difficult to know how strong is the influence of mass media and the spectators from the outside on the vitality, development and the preservation of this custom. 5.Despite numerous changes and innovations Resian Carnival festivities still denote an important social event.