全羅道の民謡は奄美群島にその兄弟を持つか

Abstract

Jeolla-do and Amami Islands of Japan are tightly linked by the Kuroshio Current and have had connections since the Middle Ages. This article surveys folk songs from the Amami Islands for the purposes of comparison with folk songs from Jeolla-do. Amami folk songs can be divided into two large groups: shimauta and hachigatsu-odori-uta. The shimauta are usually accompanied on the sanshin. The root of shimauta, shima, refers to a community. Traditionally, Amami folk songs have been passed on through out the daily lives of people in the communities, especially at uta-asobi, recreational gatherings for the purpose of singing. Each community had its own folk song style of which people were very proud. With recent social changes, however, the opportunities for uta-asobi have decreased, and instead, Amami people began to learn their folk songs in shimauta schools and imitate the styles of famous shimauta masters from CDs or stage shows. The hachigatsu-odori are ritual round dances performed in the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Differently from shimauta, they maintain their own loca ldancing and singing styles. Here the examples of two villages on Amami-Ōshima, SaniandAmuro, which represent the northern and southern styles respectively, are introduced. Many similarities can be seen between the hachigatsu-odori and Ganggangsullae.