Miks laps räägib ehk kuidas kõnelda vägivallast. Regivärsilise ballaadi „Mareta laps” näide

Abstract

"Why the child speaks, or how to talk about violence: The example of the Estonian infanticide ballad “Mareta’s Child”". The lyroepic runosong type “Mareta’s Child” tells the story of a secret sexual encounter between a young unmarried peasant woman and a man of higher social status. The encounter leads to pregnancy and might involve money and/or broken promises. Acting either on his advice or on her own initiative, the woman conceals her pregnancy and abandons the newborn child in the forest, where another woman from the same community finds it. Miraculously, the child starts to speak and reveals its parents. Drawing on the concept of positioning as developed by Rom Harré and Luk van Langenhove, the article explores how the newborn’s preternatural intervention questions and changes, even if temporarily, what can be said about whom, and who can say it. The child speaks so that the female protagonist and the community could address and contemplate breaches that are felt and witnessed but not discussed: powerful men taking sexual advantage of women of lower status, female sexuality and sexual agency, money, infanticide, delusions of social mobility, collective shame and (ir)responsibility. The multivalent poetic language of runosongs is crucial here, as it enables and even encourages multiple interpretations and positions simultaneously. The article also examines the use of direct speech as a marker of decisive moments and turns in the narrative. These formal features, along with the dramatic plot, suggest that “Mareta’s Child” is best approached as a ballad. Rich with characters, conflicts and perspectives, it problematizes the relationship between narrative and violence and highlights the difficulties of discussing acts and experiences of violence.

Keywords

• folkloristics
• runosong
• ballad
• infanticide
• positioning
• direct speech