“Joik er som en sirkel!” Realitet eller ideologi?

Abstract

It is often said that yoik is like a circle with neither beginning nor end. The article tries to test this statement by analysing traditional yoiking. The conclusion is that yoik is clearly structured with a basic musical motif in the beginning, and with continuing and contrasting motifs that give a firm length. On the other hand the tradition allows performing flexibility. The two aspects of semiological analysis, structure and communication, can be linked to these two sides of the tradition, and also to the Sami concepts “luohti” (a yoik) and “juoigat” (to yoik). The circle metaphor symbolises the communi-cational aspect well, but not the structural. The circle metaphor originates probably from Nils-Aslak Valkeapää in the 1970s. The metaphor is also used in a more abstract and general way, as a symbol of Sami culture and way of thinking. As such it is a modern ideological concept that contributes to Sami cultural identity in a globalised world.