1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Structure and Function in Songs of Tarama Island, Okinawa
| Project/Area Number |
02801054
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
国文学
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| Research Institution | University of the Ryukyus |
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Principal Investigator |
TAMAKI Masami University of Ryukyus College of Law and Letters Associate Professor, 法文学部, 助教授 (30101455)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1990 – 1991
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| Keywords | Subject Matter / Structure / Performers / Mode of Singing / Function |
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| Research Abstract |
Structure and Function in Songs of Tarama Island. Okinawa
Songs from Tarama island collected over a two year period from 1990 through 1991 were analyzed from the viewpoint of their structure and function. The following results were obtained.
1. Primary song-text data
Sixty-five songs. including variants. were recorded in both I. P. A. (international Phonetic Alphabet)and kana transcriptions.
2. Subject Matter
The songs deal primarily with five topic areas. (I)praise of gods and heroes, (2)activities concerning production, (3)festivals. (4)human relationships and(5)family life. Bach Individual song realizes its own religious or secular function through this differentiation into subject areas.
3. Structure
The structure of the songs is characterised by the fact that they retain the old Tarama pattern. That is to say that. with the exception of an extremely small number of lyrical songs on the topics of social relationships and family life, the vast majority of Tarama songs are epic in nature.
4. Performers
There is a general tendency for epic songs to be performed by a group and lyrical songs to be sung by individuals. However. when songs are sung by a group it is usual for the composition of the group to be divided into the three categories of(l)old men. (2)women and(3)men and women together. These are farther divided into the opening singers known as mutuba : ri and the follow-on singers known as utiga : ri.
5. Mode of Singing
There are four modes of singing. (1)repetition mode, (2)allocation-of-. parts mode. (3)allocation-repetition mode and(4)repetition-unison mode. Of these it can be seen that the repetition mode is the basic formal This is related to the religious content of the words and the epic nature of the structure and reflects the ancient characteristics of the songs on this island. This opinion is also supported by the fact that this mode of singing is found not only in religious songs, but throughout the secular songs as well.
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