Ujváry Zoltán: Kultusz, színjáték, hiedelem (Miskolc, 2007)

Játék és maszk. Dramatikus népszokások IV.

(Play ancdMasti IV 881 no questions of adoption can be fully answered by inter-ethnic relationships only. The similarity of the plays does not mean a mere adoption at all; comparative studies can prove only parallels and connections among them. The pertaining Hungarian examples — as far as their great variety, their having widely spread and their popularity are concerned — provide the richest material investigated so far in European scientific literature. I think that any connections of this kind (which is equal to raising the question of „to and from") present a specific and, perhaps, not the most relevant series of questions in the course of investigating horse-mask plays. The most important problem, I think, is whether these plays can be brought into any connection with an ancient Animal-Cult. There are numerous findings that prove an admiration for the horse, and point out its major role in the making of coults of most different and, often, very distant peoples. Be it as it may, in my opinion, the material gathered so far can neither justify nor prompdy falsify the genetic relationship between the Horse-Cult and the Horse-Mask Plays. In case of the plays - just like in case of other folkloristic layers of the same material — we ha ve to take into consideration a huge variety of cultural effects and layers built thereupon. The goat-Imitating Plays were even more frequent on the Hungarian-speaking territories than the HorseImitating ones. The establishment of parallels to and origins of the former was far easier than the same work with the other one. It may well be supposed that the starting area of goat-masques was in Southern Europe or, more precisely, on the borders of our Continent and those of Asia. Doubtlessly, it belongs to the most archaic masks ever worn. Two main goat-type masks can be distinguished in the pertinent Hungarian tradition. Their mixed features and contamination have, however, in many cases, led to conceptual confusion and wrong trace-backs in the investigations carried out so far. The already analyzed two types of Goat-Mask Plays have, in fact, preserved the characteristics of representing two different animals: one of them is the goat, the other is the — by now — almost extinct species; the European bison. Terminological data referring to the latter also intensify this problem. Nevertheless, it is important to 'stress that Hungarian goat-mask plays are not to be confused with the Rumanian, so-called, ////ra-plays [excepting the turkas of Transylvanian Hungarians], since both play-types are „teriomorphic" and still are different from oneanother. Both in the Hungarian and the (otherwise inclined) European goat-mask plays there are numerous elements that unanimously refer to „Rituals of Fertility" and to the „Cult of Vegetation". These motifs can be discovered as early as in comical parades and plays that - in the meantime - have changed their function. As far as interethnic relations of the Hungarian goat-mask plays are concerned, evidence, so far, has not shown their having reached areas beyond the Carpathian Basin. Even so, in order to investigate the historical and ethnological background of interethnical relations one should thoroughly research the migrational, colonizational and assimilational process whose traces resulted in the still existing, „teriomorphic" masks of the traditions in the Carpathian Basin. In the Hungarian folk-dramatic tradition it is the Bear that poses most of the problems of animal-like masks. For quite a time, the problem whether the bear-mask could be traced back to the ancient culture of Hungarians and, in particular, to their Bear-Cult, was in the forefront. This question is especially important if we compare the Hungarian occurrences to the ones cultivated by the so-called Finno-Ugrian peoples. Although their already mentioned bear-cult basically co-incides with that of the Indo-Germanic peoples, still there is another, theoretical question: whether the pertinent, Hungarian elements can possibly be related to a one-time Finno-Ugrian layer. In the whole Hungarian-speaking area data are available that bear-mask plays often occur but especially in the course of Carnival Festivities. The scene itself does not have many varieties. Similarly to other European versions, it usually culminates in making the bear do a dance. The simplest possible solution would be if we could trace the bear masques back to this chief attraction of country fairs, that is: making the bear dance. Still, it is evident enough that Hungarian bear-mask plays have preserved archaic element that could not have originated in the abovementioned production. With Hungarians, beside the horse-, the goat- and the bear-masks, an ample tradition of representing the Stork has come into being. It even appears among the funny scenes of the wedding customs of our days. The stork-mask play contains several elements that might have come from the pre-Christian culture of Hungarians. The stork's role in Fertility Magic does clearly come to the forefront, just like its other functional elements do, when it is to embody the change between Winter and Spring. This can especially be seen when the scenes imitate copulation. The fact that the Hungarian stork-mask does not show features coming from other sources [beak-clapping bird-types] is worth our special attention. It is, undoubtedly, an ornitomorphic mask and can be related to the „Crane Mask" of the FinnoUgrian peoples. Anthropomorfic puppets that represent a living person — or else embody legendary or mythical figures — are very frequent in dramatic folk customs. Examples for this can be found as early as in the Classical Antiquity. In most cases, these figures are at the center of attention. Any actions of the play refer chiefly to them or else to the phenomenon