Amazing opportunity to learn about Mongolian Traditional Music
Mongol xöömií, or what
English speakers label “throat-singing,” has become Mongolia’s most iconic
sonic symbol among foreign publics thanks to the cultural activism and
innovative performance of key practitioners from Xovd province’s Chandman’
district, starting in the 1950s.
As numerous scholarly or popular histories of
the vocal practice’s “cultural development” relate, these efforts are primarily
responsible for rendering xöömií a socialist “people’s art” and then later a
democratic “cultural heritage.” But less acknowledged are the practices of
herders elsewhere in Mongolia who have escaped the cultural spotlight due to
geographic isolation, intentional neglect, or even government suppression.
Relying upon recent critical publications and my own ongoing dissertation
research, this lecture traces the implications of their compelling absences and
intriguing presences, which persist in archival records, elders’ recollections,
and the sounding of a melodious river called Eev. |
