A brief look at the elegy tradition in terms of the status of women in patriarchal societies

Abstract

It is observed that, a genre of folk literature, "elegy" which consists of the oral and melodic expression of the feelings triggered by events causing pain and sorrow, is generally performed by women. Thus, elegies can provide us with the information regarding the status, perspective and creativity of women in a patriarchal society. The purpose of this text is to evaluate the information in question in ternis of the content, style, and function of elegies and also to call attention to the fact that elegies, as they are performed mostly by women, are appropriate for analysis within the frame of feminist criticism. The other purpose of this text, deriving from this last statement concerning elegies and feminist criticism is to pose some questions vis-a-vis the possibility of expanding the critical horizons related to this genre.