| 79 estimation of whom themessage is meant for: the head of the household, his wife, or some other member of the household. If themuštuluk inquestion is amark of enjoyment – joy for anew life, anewbeginning–howcanallofthatfunctionwithoutthe participationof children? Children’smuštulukcontributestotheatmosphereof joyand in uences emotions that enhance levels of joy and the beauty of the moment. In their mostbeautifulout ts,dressedinclothesthat arereservedfor rareoccasionsof joy,unconsciously lured, excited, lled with expectations, as curiousasonly theycanbeonsuch occasions, theyutterthesentence:Abirdjust ewdownandtoldusjoyfulnews;Wehearda bell fromafarsayingthisandthat.Atthetime whenpostmenvisitedvillages, thechildren knewwhere to await him, to“snatch”some joyfulnews. Inrural areas, duringtimeswith notra corotherconnections,postmen, forestersandteacherswereregularlyaskedfor muštuluk, because theywere the rst to receivejoyousinformation.Manymuštulukgiversbecamebest-men,bloodbrothers, sonsin-law and great friends. Thecustomsassociatedwithmuštuluk varythemostwhenitcomestoweddingjoy. Afterall,notwoweddingsareidentical,and thus muštuluk cannot be the same either.Muštulukgivers,walkingon foot or ridingbyhorseback, tookvaluable gifts when bringing joyful news: for engagements, weddings in churchor municipal buildings, for the arrival ists and can be. People knew about muštuluk before theygaveitaname. Itemergedduringtimes when information travelled for days, even months, relayed frommouth tomouth. Under suchcircumstances, everypieceofnews wasvaluable,especiallyif importantandjoyful. As a kind of enchantment of unexpected joy and enormous amounts of emotion, muštuluk has never been beyond life, time andspace. It is sometimes impossibletodescribetheemotionsofpeoplewhoparticipate in that act. Muštuluk testi es togreat desire andattentiontomakingothershappy,which iswhy it issaid: thegiftofmuštuluk ismuštulukitself.Withinitahugeamountofcathartic emotion is condensed. The joy that muštuluk brings is inherent to human aspirations for happiness and dignity. At the moment when they deliver their messages, muštuluk givers are happy people, because they are aware that they’vemade others happy. Muštulukhasthepropertiesofhypersensitive, intimateand familymagic. It contains excitement and the shuddering of the soul. It symboliseshumanself-realisation, proves one’s existence, attains the meaning of coherence and perfection, highlights the luxury of life that lives despite latent distress andscarcity. Everymuštuluk isaguardof remembrance. Itrecognisesitselfonlyasanauthentic interpreterof endless joyandherald of celebrations, holidays and joy. What are these decidedly joyful events thathave impactedonmuštulukbecoming oneofourimportantculturalinstitutions,with characteristics of a universal phenomenon, which–alongsideconventional,culturaland other di erences – is applied amongmany nationsontheplanet?They include,primarily, the birth of a child, the return of a loved one fromwaror theendof theirmilitaryservice, aweddingengagement andmarriage, university enrolment and graduation, military success, the end of war, various state andnationalsuccesses(literary,cultural,cinematic, sportetc.).Muštulukcanalsocertainly bepersonal, familial, team, local, state-wide andnational joy.Thereareexpectedmuštuluks, which produce a result that’s beyond doubt, and those that come as a complete surprise. In such a scale of special and rare magni cent moments for every individual, thereisalmostnobody–fromordinarymen tocrownedheads–whohaven’tgivensome joyful news during their life. Despite being spontaneous, every muštuluk is authentic and special, to the extent towhich human characters di er. In every type of environment, but particularly invillagesfarfrommaintra c owsandotherchannelsofcommunication,mušulukhad its own local rules and speci cities, starting fromcommunicatingmessages,tochoicesof giftsandwaysofdonating.Withregular joys thataresuretohappen–thebirthof achild, weddingengagementsandceremonies, the selecting of a best man or maid of honour etc. – it is agreed in advance, within villages andfamilies,whowillgoinsearchofmuštuluk andhowit is sought. Herewewill notea fewcharacteristicphraseswhichmuštulukgiversusetoexpressthenewsthey are communicating: There ismuštuluk; I bring you joyous news; for joyousnews I come formuštuluk; Joyous and, asof today, happymother, I come for muštuluk;Ahappyvoiceisarrivingformuštuluk; I’mthe rstcustomer formuštuluk...Sentences still recalled and uttered among the people include:Tocatchmuštuluk; I’mo to pick upmuštuluk; I’mrunning formuštuluk formymother;Hurrykids tograbmuštuluk; He’s gone for muštuluk. Theveryactofannouncingjoyousnews most often happened at the gate of a yard, and less often in the home itself. Muštuluk givers seek theheadof thehousehold from thedoorstep. In the event that he is absent, the information is transmitted tosomeother family member, or his return is awaited. Muštuluk givers are led in such cases by an Muštuluk can have a strong dramatic dimension, as it indicates strong excitement and a quaking of the soul Muštuluk može imati snažnu dramaturšku dimenziju, jer indikuje jaka uzbuđenja i potres duše
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzExMjc5