Dalla spada di Celano al bastone di Balsamo

This paper aims to examine the performative refunctionalization of ritual objects in the Cunto, with particular reference to the replacement of the traditional sword with the Sicilian stick in the contemporary interpretation of Gaspare Balsamo. Historically, the sword has played a fundamental symbolic role, as highlighted by Di Palma (1991) and Tomasello (2021), embodying the narrative and ritual authority of the performance. This study questions how the substitution of this symbolic object determines a reformulation of the performative semantics and a redefinition of the agency of the objects on stage, revealing new interpretative and functional dimensions. The analysis also explores how the re-semanticization of these objects influences the narrative and cultural fabric of the Cunto, highlighting the role of performative objects in the mediation of cultural memory and in the construction of shared meanings, in relation to the processes of continuity and transformation within the Sicilian oral tradition.