Lament (Holosinnia)

Holosinnia is an improvisational funeral lament, one of the most archaic genres of ritual folklore, expressing grief for the deceased. It was performed mainly by a woman (mother, widow, daughter) or by a specially invited mourner; the text combined rhetorical addresses to the dead, reproaches to fate, praise of the departed's virtues, and a portrayal of the family's sorrow. The style of laments is marked by exclamations, repetitions, parallelisms, and a characteristic chanting intonation. Besides funeral laments, there were recruit and wedding laments (as a farewell to maidenhood). A classic collection is Volodymyr Hnatiuk's 'Funeral Laments' (1912); they were also studied by Ilarion Svientsitsky. The poetics of laments were studied by Olha Franko, and their influence is felt in the folk-song laments of Shevchenko's 'Kobzar.'