To honour the female: the gendering of the South Slavic epic tradition

Folklore, Oct, 2002 by Elka Agoston-Nikolova

Abstract

The present paper explores variations of the motif of "the wife's betrayal" in the South Slavic oral tradition and how and why it got connected with a historical event--the fall of a feudal ruler in the Rhodope region in the fourteenth century. The gender aspect is underlined when variants of this motif are analysed from the point of view of the singer--male or female.

Introduction

In 1345 Vojvoda Momcilo, a feudal ruler in the Rhodope region (present-day Bulgaria) was attacked by the Byzantine emperor John Cantacuzenus (John VI), because he had stopped being an ally. Momcilo, realising that he was losing the battle, ran back to his fortress of Periteorion, only to find the gates shut against him. The citizens of the town refused to open the gates for, according to the chronicles, "the town should belong to the winners for their courage" (Badalanova-Pokrovska 1995, 139). This is the historical nucleus of a number of epic songs in the South Slavic tradition, the variants of which "translate" history into a vehicle for the communication of moral values and worldviews. A crucial (and controversial) aspect in this respect is the addition in the epic tradition of a non-historical incident, the wife's betrayal of her husband to the enemy, and the marriage of the husband's virtuous and self-sacrificing sister to the enemy, The wife's betrayal lies at the heart of the narratives, yet chronicles show that Momcilo's wife was not at Periteorion, but at his main fortress at Xanthi (present-day Greece).

Chronicles also record that, after his victory, Cantacuzenus allowed Momcilo's wife to keep the fortress. It is tempting to suggest that "the wife's betrayal" motif owes something to this chivalrous act by the enemy, in that it may have created resentment against the wife and played into the prevailing patriarchal misogyny. Be that as it may, for folklorists, the presence of "the wife's betrayal" motif in the epic tradition is of particular interest because of what it shows about the cultural construction of gender roles within marriage and the family in this region. In "Family and Kinship in the Balkans," K. Kaser stresses the central role that the family plays in understanding South Slavic culture. He sees the South Slavic family as a hierarchical structure in which "the principle of Balkan patriarchy still exerts considerable power" and in which "men are given a very powerful and omnipotent position, while women have a weak and subdued role" (Kaser 1997, 150). He calls this sort of family a "Balkan family," and suggests that it is spread across Southern and Eastern Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Western Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Northern Greece.

Reflecting this socio-cultural pattern, the South Slavic epic also places the family and a strong male at its centre. It is interesting to note, however, the complexity and geographical variations in the treatment of "the wife's betrayal" motif. While the so-called Dinaric and Adriatic epic tradition adheres to the ideals of the heroic male and the "Balkan family" as described by Kaser, the Bulgarian (especially the Eastern Bulgarian) and Macedonian traditions are much more varied and have tended to demythologise the hero. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, novelistic and realistic elements have been introduced (Ivanova 1992, 159) that have shifted the attention of singers and audiences from the hero to everyday family relationships.

The present paper explores variations in the way "the wife's betrayal" motif is treated in narratives drawn from a number of well-known collections. Although the names of the characters vary from version to version, the core of the epic narrative and its relationship to historical events remain constant. The narratives discussed are as follows.

* From the collection of Serbian folk songs by Vuk St. Karadzic (1977): no. 25 and no. 44 in volume 2, and no. 7 in volume 3. Hereafter referred to as VUK.

* From the collection of Serbian folk songs from Bosnia and Hercegovina (1867, 1989): no. 52 in volume 2. Hereafter referred to as Bill.

* From the anthology of oral epic from Dalmatia (Dukic, 1992): no. 23. Hereafter referred to as DAL.

* From the collection of Bulgarian folk songs by the Miladinovi brothers (1981): no. 105, no. 161 and no. 212. Hereafter referred to as MIL.

* From the collection of Bulgarian folk songs by Shapkarev (1972): no. 336, no. 352, no. 360, no. 375, no. 408, no. 429 and no. 448 in volume 2, part 3. Hereafter referred to as SAPK.

* From the collection of Bulgarian heroic epics by Romanska et al. (1971): no. 429, nos. 436-40, nos. 446-8, nos. 450-3, nos. 455-66, nos. 478-89, no. 494, nos. 496-7, nos. 501-24. Hereafter referred to as BJE.

* From the collection of Bulgarian historical epic songs by Vakarelski and Angelov (1939): nos. 139-49, and nos. 144-6. Hereafter referred to as TREM.

Geographical Variations in "The Wife's Betrayal" Motif

In the Dinaric tradition (see versions in VUK and Bill), the wife is portrayed as leaving her husband helpless on the battlefield. She shuts the fortress gates against him, and stops his loyal sister coming to his aid (VUK, volume 2, no. 25). Alternatively, she joins the enemy and ignores the cries of her young son (VUK, volume 3, no. 7) or she deserts to the enemy, is reluctant to be rescued, and wounds her husband (VUK, volume 2, no. 44). In one version, the wife boldly expresses the desire for a new husband (Bill, volume 2, no. 52). In all cases, the wife's treachery is unmotivated, and in all but one version (VUK, volume 2, no. 44), she is punished by being burnt alive. Such songs portray a patriarchal culture that stresses that a family's security depends on the aggressive (heroic) behaviour of the men. As B. Denich writes: "In all of these societies, the public face of each group vis-a-vis the external world represents its competitive posture towards potential rivals" (Denich 1974, 248). Unsurprisingly therefore, scholars have seen the harsh treatment of women as representing the true epic form, and those where she is forgiven have been deemed to be a "weak" form (see, for example, Schmaus 1971; Medenica 1965).