“Zezo” a Eboli. Ovvero del “silenzio folklorico” e della “patrimonializzazione”

In the most widespread Campanian carnival representations, one of the most important figures is "Zeza", Pulcinella's wife. She plays an important symbolic role: to guarantee the prosperity of the new agricultural production cycle, therefore of men, plants and animals useful for subsistence. Wherever the "Zeza" is represented, therefore, we come across a female character who is auspicious and apotropaic. However, this does not happen in the city of Eboli, in the province of Salerno, where the historical-ethnographic research has shown, in this type of representation, now disappeared, the presence of a male character. A male character defined as "Zezo". This essay attempts to explore its causes.