Филип Вишњић: гуслар из сенке песника

Abstract

У студији је понуђено етномузиколошко читање биографских извора о Филипу Вишњићу, једном од најзначајнијих актера српске епске традиције и изузетној личности српске културне историје уопште. Основна идеја је да се представа о њему као епском песнику допуни недостајућим а важним профилом извођача епских песама. За формирање комплексне слике о овом слепом гуслару, базична биографска метода комбинована је са искуствима истраживања певања уз гусле као облика комуницирања, посебно односа доминанте функције и естетике праксе слепих гуслара-просјака. Пажња је посвећена факторима утицаја на формирање личности овог гуслара: процесу усвајања и усавршавања гусларских знања и вештина, односу комерцијалног аспекта, етике и естетике његове праксе. Вишњићева индивидуалност разматрана је као индикатор ширих функционално-естетских одлика, с једне стране, праксе слепих епских гуслара / епских певача, а с друге – (до)тадашње традиције певања уз гусле, и, у том смислу, као референца за сагледавање даљих дијахронијских промена.

The poetic opus and biography of Filip Višnjić, one of the most important figures in Serbian epic tradition and an outstanding figure in Serbian cultural history in general, have already been the subject of research from literary-historical and literary-theoretical perspective. This paper offers ethnomusicological reading of his biography with the aim of giving a wider picture of Višnjić as a participant in cultural practice, pointing to his profile of an epic singer – guslar, complementary to his profile of an epic poet. For this purpose, a methodological apparatus was introduced that combines the biographical method, the experiences of a contemporary, complex communication (including the elements of performance studies), and, finally, semiotic interpretation of cultures. In the first part of this paper, biographical data were analyzed indicating Višnjić’s predisposition and innate musical competence, as well as the importance of continuous improvement of his vocal-instrumental skills through performances at young age. The influence of numerous experiences, which he acquired as a creator or performer in various socio-cultural environments, on the development of his high and complex sensibility has been presented. In the second part of this paper, Višnjić’s figure was illuminated as a specific combination of opposites. On the one hand, he was a respectable moderator of the psychological and emotional passing through turbulent historical events (the First Serbian Uprising) and, on the other, there is a commercial aspect of his engagement as guslar. The third part of the paper is dedicated to the characteristics of Višnjić as an artist or performer of epic poems and his communication with the audience. His position has been especially considered in relation to the practice of blind guslars beggars, whose esthetics, due to the essential difference in function, differed in relation to the communication esthetic qualities of traditional heroic singing to the gusle. The last segment of the paper brings reconstruction of Višnjić’s musical and especially vocal expression. Drawing attention to the important but previously marginalized details of his biography (such as indications of speech disorder, and the like), the joint effects of verbal and musical text in communication of the guslar with the audience has been pointed out (especially regarding the figures of speech, such as alliteration, assonance, gradation, syntax parallelisms, etc.), and particularly when the reception of epic poems performed in the form of singing to the gusle are concerned. As a connoisseur of the contemporary practice of singing to the gusle, the author concludes that Višnjić’s performances were not “perfect” from the aspect of contemporary criteria for the evaluation of guslar performances. The fact that they were highly valued among contemporaries is explained by their connection with “autocommunication in the ’I-I’ system” as Yuri Lotman calls the communication provided by the (culturally) identical/equal participants in the communication act, with a common fund of knowledge and experience. Studies similar to the one presented in this paper can potentially contribute to interdisciplinary folklore research of the epic, as well as to the studies of traditional culture as part of a public culture. Keywords: Filip Višnjić, blind guslar, Serbian epic tradition, biography, biographical sources, biographical method, communication, communication theory, methodology, semiotic interpretation of cultures, commercialization, professionalization of tradition.