On Un-Silencing Voices: Tarantism and the Gendered Heritage of Apulia

• Other Authors: Youngblood, Felicia K. (Felicia Kailey) (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Music; Ethnology
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2019_Spring_Youngblood_fsu_0071E_15024

Derivatives of a thousand-year-old music and healing ritual from Italy’s Salentine peninsula, known as tarantism, are recognized in different forms and appear in various locations throughout the world. Tarantism was designed to heal women, known as tarantate, from spider-bite poisoning through the repetitive rhythms and sonorous melodies of pizzica music. This project seeks to understand the importance of the tarantate and their voices to the tarantism ritual and to the people of Apulia, Italy. In previous scholarship, the voices of these women were often overlooked in favor of more tangible items, such as the ritual’s music instruments. In spite of this underrepresentation, my ethnographic and archival research reveals that the tarantate are valued as cornerstones of Apulian cultural heritage. In analyzing the efforts of the Club per l’UNESCO di Galatina to preserve tarantism through festivals and reenactments, I demonstrate how modern-day cultural sustainability efforts can be used to reclaim voices that are essential to local traditions yet traditionally underrepresented in scholarly literature. Documenting the importance of the tarantate and analyzing their roles in local heritage reclamation efforts requires an inherently multi-disciplinary lens. At the center of this study lies ethnographic research that catalogs the activities of the Club per l’UNESCO di Galatina and the perspectives of the Apulian people as local practices develop to preserve tarantism. A theoretical framework in gender studies, cultural heritage, and voice studies is necessary to problematize the role of the women at the center of the ritual. Knowledge of history, social systems, and religion are required to understand the setting and impetus for tarantism in Apulia. Finally, my background in musicology informs analysis of the ritual’s sound-based foundation. Research and analysis in each of these areas contributes to a holistic reinterpretation of how sonic cultural heritage can be sustained and how underrepresented voices can be understood in traditions around the globe. === A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester 2019. === March 25, 2019. === Cultural Heritage, Gender, Italy, Music Sustainability, Tarantism, Voice === Includes bibliographical references. === Sarah J. Eyerly, Professor Directing Dissertation; Celia Caputi, University Representative; Michael B. Bakan, Committee Member; Frank Gunderson, Committee Member.