Kazakhization and Pop Music in the Context of the Crisis of National Identity
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Doctoral student Nurmoldayev Serik Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty Kazakhization and pop music in the context of the crisis of national identity Musicology section Abstract The year 2017 was marked for modern Kazakhstan by the decision on the transition of the Kazakh alphabet from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin script. This practice is not new for post-Soviet countries. However, for the citizens of Kazakhstan this decision again raised the urgent issue of the country's national identity. A Society, still torn between identities "Kazakh" - "Kazakhstani", cannot come to the common denominator of one national identity. On the one hand, the factors of the unshakable influence of the Soviet heritage and Russian culture and the need to change the language position of the Russian and Kazakh languages on the principle of the center-periphery. On the other hand, the new challenges of globalization have a very contradictory effect on the young state, with a fragile national identity. In this paper, we made an attempt to determine the historical and political prerequisites for the current crisis of the national identity of the state, and also to highlight the current situation of this problem. In the context of the study, the central position is occupied by the Kazakh language as one of the main symbols of the national identity and the youth of Kazakhstan, as the main bearer of changes and most influenced by the tendencies of globalization. One of the independent solutions of the Kazakhstan youth for the above-mentioned problems is the emergence of the so-called youth subculture "q-pop". The role model of q-pop was the genre of modern pop music k-pop - the main driving force of the Korean wave. Introduction Trying to determine his national identity, modern man asks the question: "Who are we?" And he gives an answer based on his attitude to the political and cultural institutions and symbols of the society in which he lives. If we address this issue to determine the national identity of Kazakhstan, it turns out that there is no unambiguous answer common to all of its citizens. One part of the citizens of Kazakhstan answers "We are Kazakhs", while the other part of citizens does not want to recognize themselves as Kazakhs and instead offers another answer - "We are Kazakhstanis" 1 . It turns out that today in Kazakhstan there are two national identities, depending on how different parts of society answer the question: "Who are we?". One of these identities can be defined as Kazakh, because it relies on the definition of "we are Kazakhs". Another identity can be defined as Kazakhstan, because it proceeds from the formula "We are Kazakhstanis". Russification is the factor that forms a complex and ambiguous attitude of Kazakhs that fuels the competition of Kazakhstani and Kazakh identities for the status of the national identity of Kazakhstan. On the one hand, they want Kazakh symbols to become dominant in the new society. On the other hand, many Kazakhs do not want the symbols of Russian culture and Soviet time that have become habitual to go to the periphery of Kazakhstan society. The success of the formation of a single national identity in Kazakhstan, capable of uniting the youth of all ethnic groups, largely depends on the successful solution of the language issue - in other words, overcoming the currently existing cultural and linguistic division of Kazakhstan's society. The latter is possible only through the successful introduction of the Kazakh language as a really functioning state language. As a bearer of great intellectual potential, and special abilities for creativity (heightened sensuality, perception, imagery of thinking, etc.), youth is the accelerator of introducing new ideas, initiatives, new forms of life into practice, because by nature it is opposed to conservatism and stagnation. Thus, the youth age today is a concept not so much demographic as social and political (Teslenko A.N 2013) [1]. One of the independent solutions of the Kazakhstan youth for the above-mentioned problems is the emergence of the so-called youth subculture "q-pop". The role model of q-pop was the genre of modern pop music k-pop - the main driving force of the Korean wave. Successful indigenization of pop music in Kazakhstan is due to a number of factors 1 pl. meaning in Russian “the people of KZ”. of cultural affinity with South Korea (Kocca 2017) [2]. Fuller intercultural understanding, as well as national identity formation, can only be achieved through the interaction with and negotiation of culture, whether it is high or popular. In this vein, the significant contribution of this cultural phenomenon has been to challenge the existing binary division between dominant and dominated cultures, center and periphery, and unidirectional cultural flows (W. Ryoo 2009) [3]. And now, the Korean wave has reached the stage of creating new types of cross- border relations, overcoming territorial, theoretical, political, cultural and other obstacles on its way (Park 2006) [4]. According to W. Ryoo “Korean wave might be understood as a potential node of communicative practice for building a peaceful transnational community among many Asian countries that have experienced the harsh memory of colonialism and exploitation.” [3] (2009). In turn, q-pop can also serve as a similar platform for interethnic communication within the framework of one state, capable of formulating an absolutely new concept of a unified national identity of the renewed generation, born already in an independent state - the generation Z. A rich body of culture-specific research described associations between culture- specific music and national or cultural identity (e.g., Jones, 1995; McCann, 2004; Ochoa, 2001). Dolfma (1999) claims that through the consumption of music, individuals “express who they are, to which group they belong, what their identity is” (p. 1019). Similarly, Frith (1996) argues that“[. .] music seems to be a key to identity because it offers, so intensely, a sense of both self and others, of the subjective in the collective”(p.110).Merriam’s(1964) seminal analysis of music highlighted the universal function of music in its ability to provide a solidarity point that engages individuals of a society “in activities which [. .] remind them of their unity [. .] and assurance of belonging to a group” (p. 226). Extant research draws attention to the meaning of music for the national and cultural identities of nationals as well as for immigrants and in diasporas. For instance, Ilari (2006) demonstrated that music was an important element of Dekasegi to maintain their personal and cultural identities as Japanese of Brazilian descent. Ilari’s (2006) work highlights that the study of music in times of globalization offers important insights into cultural and identity processes and has implications for citizenship and multicultural identity construction [5]. Since every culture exhibits unique music styles, yet different music styles seem to produce similar nationalistic effects according to previous qualitative research, there seem to be universal psychological processes underlying the culture specific phenomenon. Despite the omnipresence of American pop music, culture-specific (modern as well as traditional) music styles are highly valued and embraced, and further developed into contemporary hybrid styles [5]. As the general producer of the national music television and radio channel GakkuTV2 Timur Balymbetov says: "Now we are going to self-identification. Through music we try to prove to ourselves and others, in a good sense, that we have our own beginning. " He also claims that an unprecedented growth in the popularity of music content in the Kazakh language suggests that the generation of listeners has changed. Now songs in the Kazakh language are becoming popular among Russian-speaking listeners [6]. In this article, author attempted to identify the problems of the national identity of Kazakhstan, and also to trace the way of formation and development of q-pop as one of the tools of the national self-identification of the youth of Kazakhstan, including the role of the Korean wave in the face of k-pop in this process. The phenomenon of K-pop subculture The change in the stages of the historical process is always characterized by the fact that certain tendencies and processes that are marginal in the previous period, that is, in fact, represented a subculture, suddenly appear in the mainstream of social life and determine the leading directions of the development of the society. Interest in the culture of South Korea most of all increases precisely among the Kazakh youth. The phenomenon of the success of the k-pop subculture in Kazakhstan consists of several factors. First, the common national roots - we are Asians. Secondly, modern Kazakhstani pop music is hopelessly behind the world trends in the music industry. Kazakhstani artists are more focused on the older generation of their audience 2 Gakku TV («Гәкку ТВ» in Kazakh lg.) is the first music television channel in Kazakhstan, broadcasting exclusively domestic content. due to their solvency and, as a consequence, the abandonment of the youth audience. As they themselves note "there is no music of their own". Thirdly, the audience of k-pop is the centennials born "with a button in hand". Despite the colossal influence of Western and Russian cultures on Kazakhstan, young people, due to their age features, will always be in search of a new one that would satisfy their worldview characteristics and give individualism. The Korean wave became that new turn that allowed to "rest" modern young people fed up with the western immorality and immorality, to which it "fed" its audience from TV monitors and gadgets. One of the main reasons for the popularity of the k-pop subculture among the Kazakhstan youth, the k-poppers themselves note the national factor.