Il faisait un froid suffocant. Un canard n’aurait pas pu sortir ni un loup. (La Disparition, Georges Perec, 1969, p. 34).

This post was first published the 16th of May 2015 and began as follows “Summer is coming and to welcome it,…” but republishing this post this Christmas 2020, in link with the 27th of December, the celebration of St. John the Evangelist is celebrated, we decided to change the phrase… In this case, the Wayback Machine didn’t archive it but fortunately, a preview of the post – sent by the communication head on 18 May 2015 – allowed us to view the post as it was on the Europeana Sound blog. Let’s discover two sound archives dealing with the classical elements: fire and water. One archive from Provence presents Saint-Jean celebration and the other one from Serbia introduces Dodole ritual.

Saint Jean, protector of fruits and crops, is a very popular patron saint in Provence. An old Provençal saying claims that “Jan émé Jan partejan l’an” and explains how the “Saint Jean” celebration divides the year¹. The solstice day on June 24th marks the beginning of the hot weather. During this night a collective celebration is organized: we light a big fire and have to jump on it in order to bring warmth and protection. The nature is celebrated this day as well, because it’s the leading of livestock to the high mountains for the Transhumance. Continuer la lecture de Avent -5 : Celebrating Summer with fire or water? →

1. Saint Jean is celebrated on June 24th (Midsummer) and St. John the Evangelist is celebrated December 27^th. [↩]