The current state of oral epic performing in the Philippines and ways of transmitting / acquiring sacred knowledge by singers and shamans
https://doi.org/10.22394/2412-9410-2025-11-1-40-67
Abstract
How do the ritual oral epics of the indigenous survive today in a highly westernized Christian country? The paper gives an overview of the current situation in the Philippines based on 30 years of fieldwork with the Yattuka and Tuwali Ifugao hudhud singers, compared to the data of fellow researchers of Mindanao and Panay oral traditions and interviews taken during field trips to Tboli, Sama Bajaw and Panay Bukidnon. The unique value of the Philippine situation is that it allows us to witness processes that can be only hypothetically reconstructed for most of world epics, such as: change, transformation and /or elimination of ritual connections of the epic, of ritual functions of the performance and the performer, conversion of ritual texts into oral literature for «entertainment». «Songs for gods» that were previously addressed to spirits in order to please them and gain their help, are being transformed into «songs for humans»; «deep words» of sacred ritual language are largely replaced by more common ones. Notwithstanding, the process of transmitting/acquiring the sacred knowledge of epic singing is still very much alive; it is basically similar to that of a shaman or a healer. In both cases learning from the elders is employed, but the tradition often does not concentrate on that, focusing on the notion of a sacred gift, received by an epic singer/shaman (usually in a dream) from the «epic owners»: dead or dying singers, ancestors and/or deified epic heroes. The process of formation of a new epic performer often implies «shamanic illness» at the very start and emergency replacement of an older singer at a later stage. Parallels between the formation of an epic singer and a shaman/healer are illustrated by field materials collected in the Philippines (1995–2024) and among the Bahnaric indigenous groups of Cambodia (2015–2024).
About the Author
M. V. Stanyukovich
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Maria Vladimirovna Stanyukovich, Cand. Sci. (History)
Leading Research Fellow, Chair of the Department of Australia, Oceania and Indonesia
199034, Saint Petersburg, University Emb., 3
References
1. Abrera, M. B. L. (2008–2009): Seclusion and veiling of women: A historical and cultural approach. Philippine Social Science Review, 60(1), 33–56.
2. Afable, P. O. (2004). Journeys from Bontoc to the Western Fairs, 1904–1915: The “Nikimalika” and their interpreters. Philippine Studies, 52(4), 445–473.
3. Amparo Adelina, Umewaka 2007 — Hudhud and Noh: A dialogue of cultures / Ed. by C. Umali Amparo Adelina, N. Umewaka. Manila: Univ. of Philippines Center for International Studies; Japan Foundation, 2007. (Palabas).
4. Azadovskii, M. K. (1932). Russkie skazochniki [Russian story-tellers]. In M. K. Azadovskii (Ed.). Russkaia skazka: Izbrannye mastera. (Vol. 1, pp. 9–90). Academia. (In Russian).
5. Barton, R. F. (1938). Philippine pagans — Autobiographies of three Ifugaos. George Routledge and Sons, Ltd. (Republ.: Barton, R. F. (1963). Autobiographies of three pagans in the Philippines. University Books).
6. Barton, R. F. (1946). The religion of the Ifugaos. American Anthropological Association. (= American Anthropologist, New Series, 48(4, pt. 2)).
7. Barton, R. F. (1955). The mythology of the Ifugaos. American Folklore Society.
8. Blench, R., & Campos, F. (2010). Recording oral literature in a literate society: A case study from the northern Philippines. Language Documentation and Description, 8, 49–65. https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd215.
9. Bogoras, W. (1904–1909). The Chukchee. E. J. Brill.
10. Bogoraz, V. G. (1934–1939). Chukchi [The Chukchee] (Trans. from English, Iu. P. Frantsov, Ed.). Izdanie Glavsevmorputi. (In Russian).
11. Castro, J. V. (Ed.) (1983). Epics of the Philippines. ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information.
12. Castro, J. V. (Ed.) (1984). Mga epiko ng Pilipinas. Komite ng Kultura at Kabatiran ng ASEAN. (In Tagalog).
13. Chistov, K. V. (1975). Spetsifika fol’klora v svete teorii informatsii [Folklore specifics in the terms of the theory of informatics]. In E. M. Meletinskii, & S. Yu. Nekliudov (Eds.). Tipologicheskie issledovaniia po fol’kloru: Sbornik statei pamiati V. Ia. Proppa (1895–1970) (pp. 26–43). Nauka; Glavnaia redaktsiia vostochnoi literatury (In Russian).
14. Dmitrenko, S. Yu., & Stanyukovich, M. V. (2023). Ekspeditsii v Iugo-Vostochnuiu Aziiu: Filippiny (1994–2020) i Kambodzha (2014–2022). Polevye materialy, etnograficheskie kollektsii, publikatsii [Fieldwork in Southeast Asia: The Philippines (1994–2020) and Cambodia (2014–2022). Field materials, ethnographic collections, publications]. In N. N. D’iakov et al. (Eds.). XXXII Mezhdunarodnyi kongress po istochnikovedeniiu i istoriografii stran Azii i Afriki: Rossiia i Vostok: K 300-letiiu SPbGU. 26–28 aprelia 2023 g.: Materialy kongressa (pp. 246–247). Izd-vo RKhGA. (In Russian).
15. Espinas, M. B. (1996). Ibalong: The Bikol folk epic fragment. Univ. of Sto. Tomas Publishing House.
16. Gusev, V. E. (1993) Russkaia narodnaia khudozhestvennaia kul’tura (teoreticheskie ocherki) [Russian folk art culture (theoretical essays)] (n. p.). (In Russian).
17. Jocano, L. (1965). The epic of Labaw Donggon. Chanted by Ulang Udig. Univ. of the Philippines.
18. Klimenko, S. B., & Stanyukovich, M. V. (2018). Yattuka and Tuwali Ifugao hudhud: Yattuka, Kelei-i, and Tuwali Ifugao interference. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana = Trudy Instituta lingvisticheskikh issledovanii, 14(2), 585–636. http://doi.org/10.30842/alp2306573714223.
19. Klimenko, S. B., Stanyukovich, M. V., & Sychenko, G. B. (2021). Poetic language and music of the hudhud ni nosi, a Yattuka funeral chant, the Philippines. In Frog, S. Grünthal, K. Kallio, & J. Niemi (Eds.). Versification: Metrics in practice (pp. 149–170). Finnish Literature Society.
20. Lambrecht, Fr. (1960). Ifugaw hu’dhud. Hu’dhud of Aliguyun who was bored by the rustle of the palm tree at Aladugen. Folklore Studies, 19, 1–174.
21. Lambrecht, Fr. (1961). Ifugaw hu’dhud (continued). Hudhud of Bugan with whom the ravens flew away, at Gonhadan. Folklore Studies, 20, 136–273.
22. Lambrecht, Fr. (1965). Ifugao hudhud literature. Saint Louis Quarterly, 3(2), 191–214.
23. Lambrecht, Fr. (1967). The hudhud of Dinulawan and Bugan at Gonhadan. Saint Louis Quarterly, 5(3–4), 267–713.
24. Lukina, A. A. (2021). Shamanskie praktiki naroda tampuan: po arkhivnym materialam M. V. Stanyukovich [The shamanic practices of the Tampuan people. Based on the archival materials of M. V. Stanyukovich]. Fol’klor: struktura, tipologiia, semiotika, 4(2), 131–145. https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2021-4-2-131-145. (In Russian).
25. Magos, A. (1995). The Binukot (well-kept maiden) in a changing socio-political perspective (ca. 1850s-1994). Edukasyon = Gender Issues, 1(4), 61–77.
26. Manuel, E. A. (1963). A survey of Philippine folk epics. Asian Folklore Studies, 22(1), 1–76.
27. Muyco, M. Ch. (2016). Binukot at nabukot: From myth to practice. Humanities Diliman, 13(2), 49–74.
28. Nekliudov, S. Yu. (1995). Posle fol’klora [After folklore]. Zhivaia starina, 1995(1), 2–4. (In Russian).
29. Nekliudov, S. Yu. (2010). Fol’klor i sovremennost’: itogi XX veka [Folklore and modernity: results of the 20th century]. In V. E. Dobrovol’skaia, & A. S. Kargin (Eds.). Ot kongressa k kongressu: Navstrechu Vtoromu Vserossiiskomu kongressu fol’kloristov: Sbornik materialov (pp. 30–40). Gosudarstvennyi respublikanskii tsentr russkogo fol’klora. (In Russian).
30. Petrov, N. V. (2020). “Posle traditsii”: “oskolki” russkogo eposa [“After tradition”: “shards” of the Russian epic]. In E. E. Levkievskaia, N. V. Petrov, & O. B. Khristoforova (Eds.). “Oskolki” v traditsii: Kollektivnaia monografiia (pp. 122‒133). Neolit. (In Russian).
31. Petrov, N. V. (2023). Epicheskie skaziteli: stsenarii obreteniia masterstva [Singers of epic tales. Scenarios of gaining mastery]. Vestnik RGGU. Ser. Literaturovedenie. Iazykoznanie. Kul’turologiia, 2003(4), 100–116. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2023-4-100-116. (In Russian).
32. Putilov, B. N. (1997). Epicheskoe skazitel’stvo: tipologiia i etnicheskaia spetsifika [Epic singing: typology and ethnic specifics]. Izdatel’skaia firma “Vostochnaia literatura” RAN. (In Russian).
33. Revunenkova, E. V. (2010). Muzhskie i zhenskie roli v obriade okhoty za golovami u narodov Indonezii [Male and female roles in headhunting rituals of the peoples of Indonesia]. In E. V. Revunenkova. Indoneziia i Malaiziia — perekrestok kul’tur: Sbornik statei (M. V. Stanyukovich, & A. K. Kasatkina, Eds., pp. 123–130). MAE RAN. (In Russian).
34. Rid [= Reid], L. A. (2011). Korennye narody — kto oni? Proiskhozhdenie i transformatsii [Who are the indigenous? Origins and transformations]. In M. V. Stanyukovich (Ed.). Pilipinas muna! Filippiny prezhde vsego: K 80-letiiu Gennadiia Evgen’evicha Rachkova (pp. 349–374). MAE RAN. (In Russian).
35. Scott, W. H. (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society. Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press.
36. Shternberg, L. Ia. (1927). Izbrannichestvo v religii [Chosenness in religion]. Etnografiia, 1927(1), 1–56. (In Russian).
37. Stanyukovich, M. V. (1981). Epos i obriad u gornykh narodov Filippin [Epic and ritual among the mountain peoples of the Philippines]. Sovetskaia etnografiia, 1981(5), 72–83. (In Russian).
38. Stanyukovich, M. V. (1982). Istoricheskaia tipologiia i etnokul’turnye sviazi geroicheskogo eposa ifugao, Filippiny [Historical typology and ethnocultural ties of the heroic epic of Ifugao, Phillipines] (Cand. Sci. (History) Diss., Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Soviet Union, Leningrad Part). (In Russian).
39. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2001). Kogda muzhchiny-zhretsy obrashchaiutsia k dukham-pomoshchnikam shamanok: epos, liubovnaia magiia i natsional’nye vybory na Filippinakh [When male priests resort to the spirit helpers of female shamans: the epic, love magic and national elections in the Philippines]. In V. I. Kharitonova, & D. A. Funk (Eds.). Shamanizm i inye traditsionnye verovaniia i praktiki: Materialy mezhdunar. kongressa, posviashchennye pamiati A. V. Anokhina, N. P. Dyrenkovoi, S. M. Shirokogorova. Moskva. Rossiia. 7–12 iiunia 1999 g. (Pt. 3, pp. 177–192) (n. p.). (In Russian).
40. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2007). Poetics, stylistics and ritual functions of Hudhud and Noh. In A. A. C. Umali, & N. Umewaka. (2007). Hudhud and Noh: A dialogue of cultures (pp. 62– 67, 71–74). Univ. of Philippines Center for International Studies; Japan Foundation.
41. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2011). Epos i pamiat’ zhivykh i mertvykh [Epics and memory of the living and the dead]. In T. G. Ivanova (Ed.). Klassicheskii fol’klor segodnia: Materialy konferentsii, posviashchennoi 90-letiiu so dnia rozhdeniia B. N. Putilova (pp. 472–491). Dmitrii Bulanin. (In Russian).
42. Stanyukovich, M. (2013). Epic as a means to control memory and emotions of gods and humans: Ritual implications of Hudhud among the Yattuka and Tuwali Ifugao. In N. Revel (Ed.). Songs of memory in islands of Southeast Asia (pp. 167–197). Cambridge Scholars Publ.
43. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2014a). Nominatsii IuNESKO v provintsii Ifugao v kontekste istorii i sovremennogo polozheniia korennykh narodov Filippin [UNESCO nominations in Ifugao province in the context of history and present-day situation of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines]. In V. V. Poddubikov (Ed.). Malochislennye etnosy v prostranstve dominiruiushchego obshchestva: praktika prikladnykh issledovanii i effektivnye instrumenty etnicheskoi politiki: Sbornik nauchnykh statei po itogam Vserossiiskoi s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem nauchnoprakticheskoi konferentsii (g. Kemerovo, 17–18 oktiabria 2014 g.) (pp. 359–364). Praktika. (In Russian).
44. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2014b). Epos, fol’kloristika, natsionalizm i prochaia ideologiia — ot Rossii do Filippin [ Epics, folkloristics, nationalism and other ideologies — from Russia to the Philippines]. In N. N. Glazunova (Ed.). Fol’klor i etnokul’turnaia identichnost’: Materialy IV Mezhdunarodnoi Shkoly molodykh fol’kloristov (pp. 85–96). RIII. (In Russian).
45. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2015) Ideologizirovannyi informant i “arkhivnyi iunosha”-fol’klorist [Ideologised informant and archive-oriented researcher]. In A. S. Arkhipova, & N. N. Rychkova (Eds.). Antropolog glazami informanta / Informant glazami antropologa (pp. 38–58). Forum. (In Russian).
46. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2017). O roli chuzhoi kul’tury v formirovanii i sokhranenii epicheskoi traditsii. Filippinskie paralleli k rossiiskim materialam [Upon the role of the culture of the ‘other’ in epic tradition, its formation and preservation. Philippine parallels to Russian materials]. In V. E. Dobrovol’skaia et al. (Eds.). III Vserossiiskii kongress fol’kloristov: Moskva, 3–7 fevralia 2014 g.: Sb. nauch. st., Vol. 1: Aktual’nye problemy rossiiskoi fol’kloristiki (pp. 289–302). ROSKUL’TPROEKT. (In Russian).
47. Stanyukovich, M. (2018). Belaia dama i ee libreta [The White Lady and her libreta]. Fol’klor i antropologiia goroda = Urban Folklore & Anthropology, 1(1), 302–320. (In Russian).
48. Stanyukovich, M. V. (2021). Fol’klor (epos) i istoriia formirovaniia pis’mennoi literatury Filippin [Philippine oral literature (epics) and the history of the national written literature]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, Ser. 13: Vostokovedenie, 2021(4), 20–36. (In Russian).
49. Stanyukovich, M. V., & Fedorov, R. V. (2018). Neotlozhnaia polevaia etnografiia IugoVostochnoi Azii. Sever Kambodzhi i iug Filippin [Urgent anthropological fieldwork in Southeast Asia. The North of Cambodia and the South of the Philippines]. Kunstkamera, 2018(1), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.31250/2618-8619-2018-1-109-121. (In Russian).
50. Umali, A. A. C., & Umewaka, N. (Eds.) (2007). Hudhud and Noh: A dialogue of cultures. Univ. of Philippines Center for International Studies; Japan Foundation.
51. Zhirmunskii, V. M. (1979). Legenda o prizvanii pevtsa [The legend about summoning of the singer]. In V. M. Zhirmunskii. Sravnitel’noe literaturovedenie: Vostok i Zapad (pp. 397–407). Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie. (In Russian).
Review
For citations:
Stanyukovich M.V. The current state of oral epic performing in the Philippines and ways of transmitting / acquiring sacred knowledge by singers and shamans. Shagi / Steps. 2025;11(1):40-67. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2412-9410-2025-11-1-40-67
Views:
103
Email this article 