Niramon Suwangard

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uttaradit Rajabhat University

<niramons@yahoo.com>

 

 

Regulations, Prohibitions and Beliefs in Laʋɨəʔ Poems:

the Ləsɔm ˀlɛ

 

The Ləsɔm ˀlɛ oral poetry of the Laʋɨəʔ people especially of Ban Papae is now moribund although it used to be an important oral transmission through which culture has been shared. It functioned in the Laʋɨəʔ tradition as norms for social responsibilities. The traditions and customs were transmitted to young Laʋɨəʔ through the poems sung in Laʋɨəʔ funeral rites which were the most important selected ceremony. Thus, the paper aimed to disseminate its folklore’s value, especially the Laʋɨəʔ Regulations, Prohibitions and beliefs that can be traced from the contents of their oral poems; and to stimulate young Laʋɨəʔ awareness of their ancestors’ wisdom which, at least, may enhance their self- esteem, identity and ethnicity, and encourage them to revive the Ləsɔm ˀlɛ. The Ləsɔm ˀlɛ contents are courtship words strewn over ways of life: marriage, death, rituals, folklore and belief. Beliefs concerned regulations for the Laʋɨəʔ, prohibitions for a wife and a husband, young couple to practice, beliefs in ways of cultivation, causes of illness and ways to cure, death and spirits. These beliefs implied the tricks of having qualified living, holing ritual ceremonies, and putting measures for agriculture and protecting deforestation.

 

Bibliography

Freeman, Magaret H. (2003). “Poetry and the scope of metaphor: Towards a cognitive theory of literature”, in: Antonio Barcelona (ed.), Metaphor and metonymy at the crossroads: A cognitive Perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.