Hello all,

We invite you to the next musicology colloquium occurring 4/18 at 2:00 pm in Keller Hall.

Title of Talk: Fighting with words: Improvised oral poetry in Cyprus

Description of Talk: This talk will focus on the tradition of tsiattista (read chattistá), a type of poetic dueling from the island of Cyprus. Among other things, the talk will discuss where tsiattista are performed and by whom; what the role of gender is in this type of poetic improvisation; who attends tsiattista performances, and what these duels mean in the context of Cypriot society. The talk will include examples of similar improvisatory traditions found in other Mediterranean islands. It will also include footage from ethnographic research, and excerpts from a documentary currently in post-production, entitled Fighting with Words: Young Tsiattista Performers in Cyprus.

Nicoletta Demetriou is an ethnomusicologist based in Cyprus. Her latest book, The Cypriot Fiddler (2022), brings together the oral testimonies of the last surviving Cypriot traditional fiddlers and her own experience of collecting their stories. She currently directs Cyprus Music Archive, a non-profit organization dedicated to Cypriot folk music