Re-Sounding Voices: "Healing with Lament" in the Contemporary Finnish Lament Revival

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. James Wilce, of Northern Arizona University, will undertake research on the intentional reinvention of the practice of lament in Finland as a psychotherapetic practice as well as nationalist revival movement. Laments are spontaenous crying-songs, once found throughout the world. Cultural activists in Finland are consciously seeking to revive lament through formal instruction and have produced hundreds of new lament practioners. Revivalists argue that not only will the return of lament preserve and protect Finnish culture, but also that old ways of "healing with lament" are effective in modern society, even though what was once a practice with magical power to help the dead is now viewed as therapy for individuals. The investigator will investigate the movement and the claims of its practioners through surveys, interviews, administration of psychiatric scales, archival research, particpant observation, videotaping, and analysis of lament performance. Research will be carried out in rural and urban areas, with a focus on areas where lament is being publicly discussed. Social scientists have observed that modern industrial societies increasingly have valorized a wide range of therapetic practices for individuals. This research will contribute to understanding this phenomenon by careful exploration of the relation between national culture, culture revival, adult language socialization, and mental health. The research also will contribute to furthering international research ties between an American university and a Finnish university, as well as to the education of graduate students.