yaanabileceini

Yaanabileceini is a term used in the fictional ethnography of the Oruvian people to describe a ceremonial performance that blends narrative storytelling, song, and dance. Typically performed during the midsummer festival along the coast, it serves as a communal rite of memory that recounts origins, legends, and local history. The form is described across several reconstructed sources as participatory, with audiences invited to join in refrains.

Etymology: The term is said to derive from two fictional Oruvian roots: yaan- meaning “story” and beceeni meaning “to sing together,” with the suffix -ini marking a ceremonial practice. Alternate spellings such as yaanabeceini are encountered in some manuscripts.

Practice: A performance centers on a lead storyteller who recites episodes in rhythmic prose, while a chorus supplies repeating motifs. Instruments commonly noted include a small drum, a wind flute, and handheld rattles. Performances may last for several hours, with interludes of improvised song and audience participation. Some villages adapt the ritual for stage performances in schools.

Significance and variation: Yaanabileeni functions as a vehicle for transmitting social norms, laws, and cosmology from elders to younger generations. Variants exist from village to village, emphasizing maritime, agricultural, or ancestral themes. In contemporary fiction and education within the imagined world, it sometimes appears in media adaptations and cultural festivals, reflecting evolving interpretations while preserving core motifs.

See also: Oral tradition, Ritual performance, Mythology of the Oruvian people.