Participants
Tomislav Oroz, University of Zadar
Reconstructing Images of the Past and Imagining the Other in the performance of the Lastovo Carnival
Stories of great naval battles from the 15th and 16th centuries that took place near the island of Lastovo came to life during excessive carnival festivities unified in a unique oral tradition that serves as a libretto to the carnival performance. Although the carnival practice reflects the status of individuals in the community, social rules and relationships among islanders, it also reflects various representations of the past and imagery of invaders that once represented danger. Based on the author’s personal participation in the Lastovo Carnival festivities and the analysis of archival materials, this research focuses on a Carnival figure whose life ends on Shrove Tuesday and attitude of locals towards it. Moro, Poklad or Turk, as the islanders call him, embodies a variety of images connected to Muslim invaders, and is also a part of wider vistas of imagination created during the Ottoman domination in the Mediterranean and Eastern European region. Emphasizing the complexity of the relationship between written history and its ritual reconstructions based on oral tradition, the author reveals multilayered inscriptions of meanings and interpretations that mirror cultural imaginations and a common representation of the Turk as the Other.
