Wednesday 11 April 2012

J is for Joik

In the Northern regions of Sweden, Norway and Finland live the Sami. The Sami are a very traditional people and are the only people in the Nordic region who are allowed to herd the reindeer. They have their own language which is endangered and which, quite unsurprisingly, I’d quite like to learn!

A joik is a traditional form of song, used by the Sami. It is often without lyrics and is a strong form of Sami cultural expression. Joiks can be for a person or a place, an animal or a plant. Interestingly these joiks are used to reflect the person or place, that is to say, they are not about the person but they sort of are the person. I read online that it is the same concept as when you are painting. You do not paint a picture about someone, you paint a picture of someone and it is the same concept when it comes to joiking.

Joiking is still used today and I’d like to show you an example of this in a song sung by a Swedish lady called Sofia Jannok. She has a very pretty voice and I recommend looking out for her other songs. I’m also glad to show you this song, since the video contains such beautiful, Scandinavian scenery:


inspire nordic

24 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the video. Thanks!

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  2. I REALLY liked this video. you are right she does have a beautiful voice. Thanks for the great post and starting my day out great in this day.

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  3. What a lovely, lilting voice. And the song:painting analogy is perfect. I love the idea of a song being representative of a person or place, not about them.

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  4. what a beautiful form of expression! glad i stopped by!

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  5. Very nice song :) i have never heard something similar :) thanks for sharing :)

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  6. No joking, I LIKE joiking. Who knew? Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful music. And thank you for dropping in on thefeatherednest.

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  7. I agree, she has got a beautiful voice! I enjoyed this :)

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  8. This is pretty awesome. Your A-Z posts are great!

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  9. Nice to meet you through the April A to Z!

    Love your blog and your posts - I shall be looking at more of them.

    Stuart

    Lloyd of Gamebooks - http://virtualfantasies.blogspot.co.uk/

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  10. This is a beautiful song Nikki... and you were right, the scenery is too.

    A-Z 2012 (#49) - Bloggit Write A-Z 2012 - Poetry
    A-Z 2012 (#861) - Bloggit Write A-Z 2012 - Haiku

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  11. Thanks for sharing the song- she has a pretty voice. I would be curious to know some of the lyrics translated into English.

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  12. Wow! That's a great voice she has there. I'm curious to follow you on your journey as you learn more about Nordic customs and I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future.

    Good luck with the rest of the A-Z Challenge too.

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  13. Great video and what a beautiful voice she has!

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  14. Beautiful voice and who knew that reindeer were herded?
    dreamweaver

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  15. Such a great voice and lovely scenery. What must life be like in her culture? I'd love to know.

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  16. Very cool video and song--it makes me miss the snow we didn't get here this years that much more.

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  17. That is a beautiful song and video, thanks for sharing! I'm intrigued now about these people and their culture. The idea of small groups that are holding to their traditions in the verge of getting lost forever is fascinating, like the Inuits, and many others. I'll be back for more.

    From Diary of a Writer in Progress

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  18. I didn't know the language but still was inspired by the song. Thanks for sharing. I love to read your posts. You obviously love your culture. I can relate to that. Thank you for all your lovely posts on my site as well.
    You are truly a beautiful person inside and out!

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  19. Oh, I liked that song/singer. That really is interesting about the culture and language you describe. I hope they can preserve it in some way.

    Play off the Page

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  20. Very fun and beautiful. I get your blog in my RSS feeder, but the video didn't come through with this one so I popped over to make sure and watch.
    Angie

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  21. Your blog is always very interesting darling!

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