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Comic Antiphony in Satirical Performance: The ‘Trata’ of Skyrian Carnival
Author(s) -
Amanatidis Agapi
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the australian journal of anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1757-6547
pISSN - 1035-8811
DOI - 10.1111/j.1835-9310.1998.tb00204.x
Subject(s) - comics , soundscape , repertoire , musical , meaning (existential) , construct (python library) , mode (computer interface) , focus (optics) , history , aesthetics , linguistics , sociology , art , literature , sound (geography) , computer science , epistemology , acoustics , philosophy , optics , programming language , operating system , physics
In this paper, I examine carnival and, in particular, satire within carnival on the island of Skyros, in the north‐west Aegean, Greece. I focus on the nature of the soundscape created by music and sound in carnival, to elucidate how Skyrians culturally construct ‘noise’ as meaningful voice and interaction. Analytically, I apply the concept of antiphony, that is, a musical mode of ‘call and response’, to explore the reproduction of cultural meaning in satirical performance. Specific attention is drawn to the satirical verses recited during two separate performances in the 1995 carnival. I explore the conditions of how and why the antiphonal response embedded in the Skyrian discursive repertoire created not only new comic dialogue but an entirely different performance. Even beyond Skyrian carnival, antiphonal form can become an active and innovative involvement in the re‐creation of a meaningful framework of cultural dynamics.