Wicker Erika (szerk.): Cumania 26. - A Kecskeméti Katona József Múzeum évkönyve (Kecskemét, 2013)
Néprajz - Kürti László: Lakodalmak, vőfélyek és vőfélykönyvek a Felső-Kiskunságban
Lakodalmak, vőfélyek és vőfélykönyvek a Felső-Kiskunságban TRIPOLSZKY Géza 1988 Vőfélyek a Tisza-vidéken. In: Folklór és tradíció 5.131-140. Budapest UJVÁRY Zoltán 1960 Népi kéziratos verseskönyveink. Műveltség és Hagyomány I—II. 111-146. Debrecen 1980 Népszokás és népköltészet. Debrecen 1993 Születéstől a halálig. Az emberélet fordulóinak szokásai Lévárton és Deresken. Gömör Néprajza XI. Debrecen VARGA Anna 1940 Két szomszéd falu. Adatok Kölesd (magyar) és Kistormás (német) községek összehasonlító vizsgálatához. Acta Universitatis Szegediensis, XV, I. Szeged VARGA János 1872 Házassági szokások. V. A lakodalom. Vasárnapi Újság, 1872. dec. 22. 51, 647-648. Budapest VETRÓ Lőrinc 1878 Alföldi vőfény-könyv. írta Szegednek szülötte, több lakodalmak verselő vőfénye. Nyélbe ütötte Tatár Péter. Szeged Traub B.-nál VOLLY István 1947 Vőfélykönyv. Lakodalmi versek, dalok, táncok gyűjteménye. Budapest ZSÓTÉR Gergely 1987 Mindszenti vőfélykönyv. Sajtó alá rendezte Szenti Tibor. Csongrád Megyei könyvtár füzetek 19. Szeged László Kürti WEDDINGS, BEST MEN, AND PRINTED BEST MEN'S BOOKS IN THE UPPER-KISKUNSÁG REGION This article analyzes wedding traditions in the Upper-Kiskunság area, a region in Bács-Kiskun county in the Great Plain of Hungary. In the recent publication of György Szomjas Schiffert we learn that the he conducted a thorough fieldwork on folk music and wedding traditions in this region during the 1950s. Yet his study was only published in 2005. In this article the author takes a closer look at a few northern settlements - particularly Kerekegyháza, Lajosmizse, Ladánybene and Szabadszállás - and compares his findings to that of the ethnomusicologist Szomjas-Schiffert. Notwithstanding his pioneering contribution to rural traditions of the region, Szomjas-Schiffert missed several important aspects of the wedding customs. By focussing on interviews conducted with best men, the author attempts to highlight wedding celebrations from the twentieth century to the present. By analyzing their performances and ritualistic speeches at different stages of wedding feasts, a pattern is discerned: most of them utilized the books published by Pál Kóró, and Antal Bakó. Although the more professional best men changed some of the texts or even attempted to write their own verses, the texts show remarkable similarities to each other. However, there is one important difference: Lajosmizse, Ladánybene and Kerekegyháza were settled by migrants from the Jászság region to the north; the more western and southern settlements are the so-called "proper kiskun" region. This ethno-regional difference can be witnessed when compared to the publication by Szomjas-Schiffert in which he described the processions and the actual stages of the weddings for each settlements he visited. Another important find is the important performance of the uninvited men. The group consisting of disguised men - all dressed in rags attempting to pass as "strangers" "foreigners" or "Turks"- arrive at the wedding party at midnight asking for food. The best men greet them with obscene speeches resulting in hilarious laughter by the wedding guests. Later the uninvited group dances and then leaves the house with food and drinks offered to them by the hosts. This wedding tradition, however, reveals that the original Jászság settlers both retained some elements from their original home as well as borrowed cultural elements from the surrounding Kiskunság settlements. This alone presents an interesting hypothesis for the preservation and or innovation of folk traditions. 245
