Vocératrice

Vocératrices (voceratrici, buccratrici) in Corsica are women who perform improvised laments, known as vocero (or buceru, buceratu), during funerals, particularly when the deceased was the victim of homicide. The custom involves placing the body on a table while female relatives, friends, or renowned local women with poetic talent deliver verses in the Corsican dialect. Sometimes several women perform in succession, and the widow or daughter of the deceased may also recite. The term vocero and its derivatives stem from Latin vociferare (to cry out). On the eastern coast, the lament is also called ballata. The tradition is mentioned in Prosper Mérimée’s novella Colomba.