Abstract:
The present article is a comparative research between the Shushi ritual in southern Iran (Qeshm) and Lal Shush or Lal Shish in northern Iran (Mazandaran), which has been conducted using a descriptive-exploratory method. Among the people of southern Iran, during the Nowruz Sayyadi ceremony held on the 29th of Tir every year, a ritual performance called 'Shushi' is held. It is said that Nowruz Sayyadi is an ancient ritual that explores the relationship between humans and the marine ecosystem. The Shushi are two black-clad individuals who go to people with hats made of matting and a beard made of date palm fiber and strike them with two branches of date palm leaves. In Mazandaran, a festival called 'Tir Mah Sizdah Sho' is also held on the night of the 13th of Aban, during which they perform the Lal Shush or Lal Shish ritual performance. The Lal Shush are two or three villagers who blacken their faces, make belts from dry fodder, and wear old clothes. Then they cover their faces and strike anyone they encounter with a twig from a boxwood tree. These two ritual performances, despite their differences, are similar in many respects. In this research, two methods—field studies and documentary methods—were used, utilizing techniques such as interviews, participant observation, and photography. The present research, through comparative investigation and study, has examined the points of similarity and difference between these two rituals and studied the process of change in both structural and semantic domains.
Machine summary:
A Comparative Study of the Shushi Performance Ritual in the South and Lal Shush in the North of Iran (Received date: 1399/4/5, Accepted date: 1399/6/25) 1 Zhila Moshiri Abstract The present article is a comparative research between the Shushi ceremony in southern Iran (Qeshm) and Lal Shush or Lal Shish in northern Iran (Mazandaran), which has been conducted using a descriptive-exploratory method.
Among the people of southern Iran, during the Nowruz-e Sayyadi ceremony held on the 29th of Tir every year, a performance ritual called "Shushi" is held.
In Mazandaran, too, a festival called "Tir Mah Sizdah Sho" is held on the night of the 13th of Aban, during which the Lal Shush or Lal Shish performance ritual is performed.
Keywords: Nowruz-e Sayyadi, sea, performance ritual, Shushi, Lal Shush, Mazandaran, Qeshm.
In this research, given the nature of the subject, a documentary method has been used, and the Shushi ritual, which is held during the Nowruz Sayyadi ceremony, has been investigated and examined through field studies and the phenomenological method.
In these two ceremonies, which are considered a collection of various symbols, several people, through a ritual (the Shushis in the Nowruz Sayyadi ceremony and the Lal Shish in the Tir Mah Sizdah ceremony), engage in a performative and meaningful process together using different symbols.
Shish or Shush is the local name for the boxwood tree, which is used in this ritual ceremony; however, Shushi, in the words of the locals of Qeshm Island, comes from 'shavash' or wedding 'shabash'.
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