One of the unique creations of Bhutan is the oral storytelling genre called lozé (བློ་ཟེ་). Lozé literally means ‘the crest (ཟེ་) of mind (བློ་)’, comparable to the crest of a rooster or the mane of a horse, and refers to the peak or the best of minds. In Dzongkha, the word lo (བློ་) also refers to speech. Thus, lozé can be construed as ‘best speech’ or ‘crest of oral compositions’. Lozey are oral compositions in metric verses, with as few as four syllables or as many as twelve syllables, filled with metaphors, figures of speech, and analogies.
Some lozé are narrative, and offer a long recounting of the life, or part of the life, of their subjects. For example, the lozé ballads of Pemai Tshewang Tashi and Gelong Sumdar Tashi, a lozé about paper tax in Gangteng, and the lozé about Ugyen Wangchuk’s journey to mediate between the British and the Tibetans in 1903 are narrative lozé. Longer lozé are sometimes recited or even sung as a song. Most lozeys, however, discuss a given topic through allegory or metaphor, sometimes even in response to another lozé. Thus, most lozeys are sung as part of a conversation or lozé exchange. Traditionally, witty people in western Bhutan chanted lozé to one other in the form of a flowery conversation. While many would chant an existent lozé, after figuring out which one is the most appropriate to the occasion and the question, some talented people could spontaneously compose lozé that provide a fitting response to their opponent.
Some lozé are friendly in nature, expressing love, romance, spiritual longing, prayers for prosperity, praise for a person, humour, and benediction. Others lozé are permeated with sarcasm, insinuation, or directly confrontational speech. Those that fall in the former category are called nyenlo (གཉེན་བློ་) or cordial lozé, and the latter dralo (དགྲ་བློ་) or antagonistic lozé. During lozé exchanges, lozé reciters often begin by chanting a lozé in praise of the gods and verses for auspiciousness. In an exchange, the two persons alternately chant their lozé, recalling or composing the right lozé to respond to the statement made by the opponent in the earlier lozé. At times, such exchanges can turn bitter or harsh depending on the mood and the relationship between the persons.
The lozé genre is distinguished mainly by the manner of recitation and emphasis on vocality. For this reason, the verses must be metric and most lozé have lines that contain the same number of syllables. Although a lozé may have various stanzas with a variant number of syllables, lozé chanting works most smoothly when a single stanza is constituted of lines with the same number of syllables. Thus, at least a couple lines must be of the same metre. When the number of syllables in a line changes, the manner of chanting and emphasis on the syllables also changes in order to give it a proper lozé effect.
The lozé genre of oral composition is most popular in western Bhutan, where Ngalongkha or Dzongkha is the native language. Some elder native Dzongkha speakers have the capacity to carry out normal conversations in the form of lozé, and most men and women in traditionally Dzongkha speaking communities are well versed in this art. Lozé is used as an artistic expression, as auspicious speech and entertainment, and also for showing differences, verbal contests, and disputes. As an oral tradition, it is as organic and fluid as it is creative and dynamic.
Today, with increasingly widespread literacy and increasingly homogenized language, the culture of oral creations and performance is in serious decline, as are the linguistic mediums in which they are delivered. Many popular lozé have been written down and published as books and many more are being recorded for posterity in audio-visual formats. Among modern Bhutanese youth, the general awareness and understanding of lozé is poor. Most of today’s educated Bhutanese have not committed a single lozé to memory, nor do they demonstrate the competence to understand their allegorical and metaphorical complexity enough to use the verses appropriately, let alone chant out extemporaneously composed lozé in casual conversation as used to be common. As many Bhutanese lack proficiency in local languages and dialects—including Dzongkha— the lozé oral tradition is in serious danger of stagnation and disappearance. A modest interest in lozé persists today as a result of using lozé contests, in which some village elders take part, as an entertainment programme on state television.
Karma Phuntsho is a social thinker and worker, the President of the Loden Foundation and the author of many books and articles including The History of Bhutan.