ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the previous chapter I quoted a passage describing the quasi-ritualistic nature of the performance of Tuvinian epic poetry. What characterizes the performance of the Tuvinian heroic epic is also true of other Turkic traditions. Singer and listeners are united by a special bond, not just of physical togetherness, but more importantly of involvement in a ceremonial event. The parallel to drama comes to mind, in particular to Greek tragedy or medieval drama: the audience cannot sit back, following the unfolding action from the safe distance of a spectator or looker-on, but is drawn into the performance and takes part in it as in a rite or ritual. However controversial the origin of Greek tragedy might be, its close connection to the cult of Dionysos and hence its roots in rite are incontestable. As to medieval drama, we know that the great drama cycles of medieval England, for instance, though on the surface exemplifications of Biblical truths, are on a deeper level also re-enactments of divine mysteries, re-creating the history of salvation in a way not unlike that of the liturgy of the Church.
