Yakubov, D (2025) Revitalising the musical past of the Nogai through song: a contemporary interpretation of the Epic of Edige through Nine Rhapsodies. PhD thesis, Bath Spa University. doi: 10.17870/bathspa.00017344
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Abstract
The Nogai people are an indigenous Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Russia, descended from the nomadic horsemen of Central Asia, with a culture that boasts a proud and resilient history. The Nogais – ‘moribund tribelets’ (Shelemay, 1990, p. 299) – have traditionally inhabited the Great Caspian Depression, an area where the echoes of their ancient melodies still resonate. Their narrative and musical traditions, once central to their identity, now face decline due to inconsistent practice, adaptation, and engagement with contemporary audiences. This research explores the creation of Nine Rhapsodies about Edige, an album that reimagines and revitalizes the traditional Nogai epic song Edige using attributes of contemporary musical production. The Nogai people are an indigenous Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Russia, descended from the nomadic horsemen of Central Asia, with a culture that boasts a proud and resilient history. The Nogais – ‘moribund tribelets’ (Shelemay, 1990, p. 299) – have traditionally inhabited the Great Caspian Depression, an area where the echoes of their ancient melodies still resonate. The epic song recounts the deeds of Edige, (1352–1419), an eminent historical figure often hailed as the ‘Nogai Genghis Khan’ and the founder of the Nogai Horde, and engaging with it within this context is crucial, given its position as a foundational cultural text that was banned under Soviet rule, an act that severed a vital link in Nogai oral tradition. By synthesizing creative practice, historical texts, ethnographic and autoethnographic methodologies, this project not only documents but actively reinterprets Nogai musical heritage, seeking to reignite intellectual and artistic engagement with it. The new album serves as both a creative intervention and a preservation effort, extracting archetypes, key characters, and recurring themes from surviving fragments of the epic. Given my position as a Nogai insider, the project is inherently autoethnographic, bridging scholarship and artistic practice. By collecting, reimagining, and recontextualizing Nogai music, this research celebrates and sustains an endangered culture for future generations, standing on the shoulders of those who have sought to keep the Nogai legacy alive. As such, the project functions as a catalyst for exploring broader ideas of cultural revival, reclaiming the banned text, and embedding it into context of wider contemporary musical culture(s).
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | PhD by practice, Nogai people, narrative traditions, musical traditions, epic song, Edige, contemporary music production, creative practice, historical texts, ethnography, autoethnography, cultural revival |
| Divisions: | Bath School of Music and Performing Arts |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Oct 2025 11:16 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Oct 2025 11:17 |
| URN: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17344 |
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