How to Read a Kopla? Comparative Cognitive Analysis of the Basque Kopla Zaharrak and the Moroccan Ayyus

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, the author continues to apply cognitive reading to oral traditional poetry, addressing the kopla zaharra—a short improvisational poetic genre from the Basque Country that is now extinct. In order to understand how this genre once functioned, the author draws her experience in working with ayyu—a living poetic tradition from Morocco, which has a strikingly similar structure. The analysis sets out from the historical evidence showing that the kopla zaharra was indeed once an improvisational genre. She then explains the notions of frames, or topics or themes, and scripts, or possible scenarios manifested at least partly in form of formulaic language, which are triggered by these, to analyze the typical cognitive structure of the kopla zaharra. Her analysis shows that on the cognitive level the kopla zaharra offers a structure similar to the Moroccan ayyu, where the first two lines work to activate a frame and the last two lines generally complete a script. This confirms the conclusion that although ayyu and kopla zaharrak are separated by a wide cultural and linguistic rift, the cognitive mechanisms behind the process of their creation are highly analogous.