Discursive Registers in Finno-Karelian Communicative Incantations

• Published in: Signs and Society
• Main Author: Karlsson, Tuukka
• Other Authors: Department of Cultures, Folklore Studies
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Chicago Press 2022
• Subjects: 6160 Other humanities; Folkloristiikka; lingvistinen antropologia; karelian
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/350331

The present paper investigates discursive justification as a moderative device in Kalevala-metric incantations. It explores different uses of justification by Finno-Karelian ritual specialists and argues that justification functions differently with positively and negatively evaluated non-human agents. In addition, a typology of discursive units of justification is provided. The results of the analysis reveal that justification functions as a register-based feature within the incantation genre. Types of justification directed to differently evaluated agents work as register-emblematic features. These findings open up new directions in the research of registers in Kalevala-metric incantation genre as constituted of multiple registers of communication. Peer reviewed