mele

Japanese: mele

...The musical instruments that the dancers themselves carry in their hands include kala'au, which is made by striking two pieces of hard wood together; uli'uli, which is a feathered rattle made of a small gourd or coconut shell with pebbles or seeds inside; pū'ili, which is made by striking a bamboo tube split into thin strips like a comb against the body; and 'ili'ili, which is made by striking a pair of flat stones in both hands like castanets. Each of these instruments creates a rich and varied sound world with its own unique tone. In mele, which is accompanied by such instruments, and oli, which is a recitation-style song without accompaniment, lyrics related to knowledge of nature, social life, love, and religion are given expressive power through the frequent use of vibrato and glissando, and are believed to exert cosmic power, or mana. Although traditional music and dance lost their original social function with the transition to a multi-ethnic society, the tradition of performance has progressed to a certain extent, and was revived especially in the 1970s as part of the Hawaiian Renaissance movement.

From [Folk Performing Arts]

...One of the essential aspects of folk performing arts is their comprehensiveness, which is expressed in a way that is closely related to the lives of the people. For example, in the case of Hawaii's mele and South Indian yakshagāna, the local languages (Hawaiian and Kannada) are transformed into literary forms, and musically, in addition to vocal techniques such as narration, recitation, and singing, elements of dance and theater are added, such as layering the sounds of musical instruments and performing different movement patterns with specific costumes and makeup. Secondly, folk performing arts are characterized by their physicality.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "mele" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…おもに踊手自身が採物として手に持つ音具としては，2本の硬い木片を打ち合わせるカラアウkala’au，小さなひょうたんやヤシ殻の中に小石，種子を入れた羽毛飾つきがらがらとしてのウリーウリーulī’ulī，竹筒を櫛のように細く裂いたささら竹を身体に打ちつけるプーイリpū’ili,2対の平らな石を両手に持ってカスタネットのように打ち合わせるイリイリ’ili’iliがそれぞれ特有の音色により変化に富んだ音響世界をつくり出す。こうした楽器の伴奏による歌唱メレmele，また無伴奏の朗唱風歌唱オリoliにおいては，自然知識，社会生活，恋愛，宗教に関連した歌詞が，ビブラートやグリッサンドの多用により表現力を与えられ，ひいては宇宙的な力すなわちマナを発揮すると考えられていた。多民族社会への移行とともに伝統音楽･舞踊は本来の社会機能から離れはしたものの，パフォーマンスの伝承はある程度進行し，とくに1970年代にはハワイアン･ルネサンス運動に乗って復興されている。…

【民俗芸能】より

…民俗芸能の本質の一つは，民衆の生活と密着した形で表現される総合性であるといえよう。たとえば，ハワイのメレmele，南インドのヤクシャガーナyakshagānaを例にとれば，それぞれの土地の言葉(ハワイ語，カンナダ語)を文芸的に操作した様式で変形し，それを音楽的には〈語り〉〈朗唱〉〈歌唱〉などの声楽技法に加えて，楽器の音を重ね合わせ，特定の衣装やメーキャップを施したうえで動作パターンを演じ分けるという舞踊と演劇の要素が加わってくるのである。　民俗芸能は第2に，身体性を特徴としてもっている。…

※「mele」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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