The wandering song of the Nogais: contemporary interpretations of an epic tradition

Yakubov, D (2020) The wandering song of the Nogais: contemporary interpretations of an epic tradition. M.Phil thesis, Bath Spa University.

Abstract

The Nogai are the indigenous, Muslim, Turkic-speaking peoples of Russia, descended from the horseman nomads of Central Asia, whose culture has a proud and resilient history. The central purpose of this research is to document and preserve the culture and music of the Nogai and their epic storytelling traditions in order to open out possibilities to express Nogai culture in the twenty-­first century. Within what is essentially an orally transmitted culture typical of nomadic peoples, songs, stories and musical depictions are core to the one thousand-year legacy of Nogai culture. This research combines a review of historical context, collated from a limited supply of surviving texts, with an ethnographic overview of what is known of this influential Asiatic people. This study traces the foundational concept of Edige within the Nogai epic tradition, exploring what has survived oral transmission, for archetypes, cardinal characters and recurring themes. Moving into a musicological domain, materials, practices and traditions are collated and analysed for principles that define Nogai music in order that it might be documented, understood and re-made. From observing these musical expressions, field research brings into focus contemporary Nogai artists at work, in the form of two case studies. A third case study is autoethnographic, providing the impetus for further original creative work in the form of songs for an album and possible stage show: the culmination of a Nogai researcher immersing in the rigours of ethnomusicological research to best celebrate an endangered culture for future generations.

Item Type: Thesis (M.Phil)
Keywords: Nogai people, Muslims, Russia, cultural heritage, cultural identity, storytelling, oral history, ethnography, ethnomusicology, Nogai music, field research, songwriting
Divisions: Bath School of Music and Performing Arts
Date Deposited: 07 Sep 2021 18:03
Last Modified: 19 Feb 2024 18:44
URI / Page ID: https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/14298
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