Khele: The Sign of the Talesh People's Awareness of Nature and Its Sounds

The Talesh people of Iran are an ethnic group who primarily live in the county of Talesh, in Gilan province, on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea. Talesh county is divided into four regions: coastal, plains, foothills, and mountains (Bazen 2015). The eastern coastal region runs along the Caspian Sea, and most of its people make their living by fishing. The western region of Talesh is mountainous, and its people mainly do summer ranching. The foothills region is for winter ranching, and the plains are used primarily for farming (Shokouri 2003). In these places, Talesh women and men perform khele, a multi-syllable, melodic and rhythmic whoop, to communicate outdoors or to scare wild animals, such as boars, bears, lynxes, jackals, and leopards.

Traditional calls have historically had a communication function, sending messages or signals over long distances in mountainous regions. These calls have been used for communication with animals or between human individuals or groups. They have had practical, entertainment, and symbolic functions (Niles 1992; PughKitingan 1992; Vissel 2002; Ivarsdotter 2004; Gende 2010). Over time, some calls are transformed and gain new meaning and context. For example, some calls have entered social meetings, family gatherings, and musical performances, becoming a medium for entertaining people, communicating nostalgia, and reflecting cultural values (Toelken 1995; Thompson 1996; Fahmy 2016; Wise 2016). Likewise, some of these traditional calls have become national or regional symbols (Smith 1994; Ling 1997). The calling tradition literature investigates the functionality, technicality, aesthetics, acoustics, and transformation of calls. This literature also examines the role of calls in the discourses of identity, nationality, and ethnicity. In my study, I focus on khele, addressing how sounds contribute to creating a cultural practice for a community.