Qasīda-Khonī a Musical Expression of Identities in Badakhshan, Tajikistan Tradition, Continuity, and Change

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Qasīda-Khonī a Musical Expression of Identities in Badakhshan, Tajikistan Tradition, Continuity, and Change Qasīda-khonī A Musical Expression of Identities in Badakhshan, Tajikistan Tradition, Continuity, and Change DISSERTATION zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) an der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin von Chorshanbe Goibnazarov Präsidentin der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Prof. Dr.–Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst Dekanin der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal Gutachterin/Gutachter: 1. Prof. Dr. Ingeborg Baldauf 2. Prof. Dr. Margrit Pernau Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 10.11.2017 Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... viii Abstract (English version) ................................................................................................................... viii Abstract (German version) ................................................................................................................... ix Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. x Notes on Transliteration ............................................................................................................... xi Notes on the accompanying CD ................................................................................................. xii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Research Questions ................................................................................................................................. 5 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 8 Clarifying the Terminology .................................................................................................................. 11 The Discourse of Music and Musical Performance in Islam: Ongoing Debates ............................. 14 Studies on the Qasīda-khonī ................................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 2: The Pamirī Ismaili Muslim Identity and Religious Practices in Badakhshan .... 23 Pre-Islamic History: Diversity of Identities and Belief Systems ...................................................... 24 The Spread of Ismaili Ideas in Central Asia: The Integration of Pre-Islamic and Islamic Practices ................................................................................................................................................................. 25 The Legend of Nāṣir-i Khusraw in Badakhshan ................................................................................ 27 The Pamirī Ismaili House ..................................................................................................................... 30 The Alamut Period ................................................................................................................................ 32 The Five Iranian Dā‘īs .......................................................................................................................... 34 The Charoghrawshan Ritual................................................................................................................. 36 Soviet Rule in Tajikistan: Restrictions on Religious Observance and their Consequences ........... 38 The Panj Tanī Faith .............................................................................................................................. 41 The Network of “Pirship” and Its Influence on Qasīda-Khonī ......................................................... 42 Ismailism in an Independent Tajikistan ............................................................................................. 47 Religious Revival and the Civil War ................................................................................................... 48 Aga Khan IV’s Visit to the Pamirs and the Institutionalization of Ismailism ................................. 52 The New Institutionalization of Pamirī Ismaili Religious Practices ................................................... 54 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 3: Qasīda-khonī: Learning, Practicing, and Performing the Musical Tradition ..... 63 Defining Qasīda-khonī and Exploring Its Roots ................................................................................. 63 The Origins ......................................................................................................................................... 63 Religious and Communal Purpose of Qasīda-khonī .......................................................................... 66 Qasīda-khons: The Performers of Qasīda-khonī ................................................................................. 68 ii Men and Some Women ...................................................................................................................... 68 Female Qasīda-khons ..................................................................................................................................... 70 Musician or Qasīda-khon? .................................................................................................................. 71 The Qasīda-khon’s Skills, Role, and Value in the Community .......................................................... 75 The Process of Becoming a Qasīda-Khon .......................................................................................... 77 The Master-and-Disciple System ................................................................................................................... 77 Connection with Family Circles .................................................................................................................... 80 Olucha and Mamadali……………………………………………………………………81 Aqnazar…………………………………………………………………………………...82 Azizkhon Karimov and Zaimkhon Muborakqadamov……………………………………..84 The New Ways of Training in Qasīda-khonī ...................................................................................... 89 Transformations affected the learning practice of Qasīda-khonī .................................................. 90 Qasīda-khonī on the Local and the International Contexts ................................................................ 92 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................. 96 Chapter 4: Spaces and Contexts of Qasīda-khonī .................................................................... 98 Qasīda-khonī in Mourning Ceremonies .............................................................................................. 99 Mourning Ceremonies in the GBAO and the Role of Qasīda-khonī ................................................ 100 Texts for Qasīda-khonī at Mourning Ceremonies ............................................................................ 104 Duration of Qasīda-khonī at Mourning Ceremonies ........................................................................ 106 Musical Instruments during Qasīda-khonī at Mourning Ceremonies ............................................... 108 Community Reception and Qasīda-khonī at Mourning Ceremonies ................................................ 110 The Performance of Qasīda-khonī in the Pamirī House .................................................................. 113 Performance of Qasīda-khonī in the Jamoat-khona ........................................................................ 117 Debate on Authenticity of Qasīda-khonī in the Jamoat-Khonas ...................................................... 120 Institutional Restrictions ................................................................................................................... 121 Qasīda-khonī on Stage ......................................................................................................................... 124 Religious Festivals ............................................................................................................................ 125 Rūz-i Takhtnishīnī [The Day of Imamate] in Langar Village .......................................................................... 125 Qasīda-khonī and the Building of National Identity Inside ............................................................. 131 State Festivals and Celebrations ....................................................................................................... 135 Musical Contests at State-sponsored Festivals ................................................................................................ 136 The Andaleb Festival ……………………………………………………………………...137 Qasida-Khonī and the Building of National Identity Outside ......................................................... 140 Musical Ensembles ........................................................................................................................... 142 The Aga Khan Music Initiative .......................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Music: the Case of Afghanistan by JOHN BAILY
    from Popular Music 1, CambridgeUniversity Press 1981 Cross -cultural perspectives in popular music: the case of Afghanistan by JOHN BAILY The problem of definition It is inevitable that the first issue of this yearbook will raise questions about the use of the term 'popular music'. I do not believe that this question is going to be easy to answer and, as a precaution, I think we should regard quick and seemingly clearcut solutions with suspicion. In fact, we may eventually have to operate with intuitive, poorly defined and rather elastic definitions of popular music. Before we resort to that expedient, however, the problem of definition must be considered and discussed from various points of view. The editors have offered the following two definitions (the number- ing is mine): (1)From one point of view 'popular music' exists in any stratified society. It is seen as the music of the mass of the people ... as against that of an élite. (2) From another point of view there is at the very least a significant qualita- tive change, both in the meaning which is felt to attach to the term and in the processes to which the music owes its life, when a society undergoes indus- trialisation. From this point of view popular music is typical of societies with a relatively highly developed division of labour and a clear distinction between producers and consumers, in which cultural products are created largely by professionals, sold in a mass market and reproduced through mass media. (P. i above) The first of these definitions is very general, the second very specific.
    [Show full text]
  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction
    CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION Reporting Formats for Article 7 STATE [PARTY]: Afghanistan Mohammad Shafiq Yosufi, Director Directorate of Mine Action Coordination POINT OF CONTACT: (DMAC1), Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA). Email: [email protected] Tel: +93 (0) 705 966 401 (Name, organization, telephone, fax, email) (ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES OF CLARIFICATION) 1 The government department working for mine action previously known as Department of Mine Clearance (DMC) was officially changed to DMAC in 2015. COVER PAGE OF THE ANNUAL ARTICLE 7 REPORT NAME OF STATE [PARTY]: Afghanistan REPORTING PERIOD: 1St January 2018 to 31st December 2018 (dd/mm/yyyy) (dd/mm/yyyy) Form A: National implementation measures: Form E: Status of conversion programs: Form I: Warning measures: ✓ changed changed ✓ changed unchanged (last reporting: yyyy) ✓ unchanged (last reporting: yyyy) un changed (last reporting: yyyy) non-applicable non-applicable Form B: Stockpiled anti-personnel mines: Form F: Program of APM destruction: Form J: Other Relevant Matters ✓ changed ✓ changed ✓ changed unchanged (last reporting: yyyy) unchanged (last reporting: yyyy) un changed (last reporting: yyyy) non-applicable non-applicable non -applicable Form C: Location of mined areas: Form G: APM destroyed: ✓ changed ✓ changed unchanged (last reporting: yyyy) unchanged (last reporting: yyyy) non-applicable non-applicable Form D: APMs retained or transferred: Form
    [Show full text]
  • Sergey Abashin Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) [email protected]
    Sergey Abashin Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) [email protected] Cultural Processes and Transcultural Influences In Contemporary Central Asia Issues addressed and the aims of the text What is this text about? What are the goals of its author? Some preliminary explanations may help shape the expectations of the reader and prevent possible disappointment. My main purpose is to give a three-dimensional overview of the state of cultural affairs in Central Asian societies after the states in the region achieved independence and to describe the main current tendencies defining local cultural processes and transcultural influences in the long term. I am interested in such themes as: culture and the changing political landscape; the institutional environment for culture; culture and education; culture and language; culture and ethnic minorities; culture and religion; the cultural marketplace; culture and business; culture and globalisation. My questions: how is the Soviet experience of "cultural construction” used and transformed in the modern nation-states of Central Asia? what restrictions on cultural production are imposed by the political situation and economic possibilities of these countries? how do the processes of isolationism and globalisation interact? what changes are being wrought by the islamisation of these societies? what is the future potential of secular, European-style, culture? who are the main players in the region’s cultural space? These questions might seem too general, but without considering and judging them, any attempt to understand the essence of events in narrower fields of cultural life is, surely, doomed to failure. In an “analytical note”, a number of general recommendations for the work of international organisations in the cultural sphere of Central Asia are presented.
    [Show full text]
  • The Migration of Indians to Eastern Africa: a Case Study of the Ismaili Community, 1866-1966
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2019 The Migration of Indians to Eastern Africa: A Case Study of the Ismaili Community, 1866-1966 Azizeddin Tejpar University of Central Florida Part of the African History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Tejpar, Azizeddin, "The Migration of Indians to Eastern Africa: A Case Study of the Ismaili Community, 1866-1966" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 6324. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6324 THE MIGRATION OF INDIANS TO EASTERN AFRICA: A CASE STUDY OF THE ISMAILI COMMUNITY, 1866-1966 by AZIZEDDIN TEJPAR B.A. Binghamton University 1971 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2019 Major Professor: Yovanna Pineda © 2019 Azizeddin Tejpar ii ABSTRACT Much of the Ismaili settlement in Eastern Africa, together with several other immigrant communities of Indian origin, took place in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries. This thesis argues that the primary mover of the migration were the edicts, or Farmans, of the Ismaili spiritual leader. They were instrumental in motivating Ismailis to go to East Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Patience and Comparative Development*
    Patience and Comparative Development* Thomas Dohmen Benjamin Enke Armin Falk David Huffman Uwe Sunde May 29, 2018 Abstract This paper studies the role of heterogeneity in patience for comparative devel- opment. The empirical analysis is based on a simple OLG model in which patience drives the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, productivity improve- ments, and hence income. Based on a globally representative dataset on patience in 76 countries, we study the implications of the model through a combination of reduced-form estimations and simulations. In the data, patience is strongly corre- lated with income levels, income growth, and the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and productivity. These relationships hold across countries, sub- national regions, and individuals. In the reduced-form analyses, the quantitative magnitude of the relationship between patience and income strongly increases in the level of aggregation. A simple parameterized version of the model generates comparable aggregation effects as a result of production complementarities and equilibrium effects, and illustrates that variation in preference endowments can account for a considerable part of the observed variation in per capita income. JEL classification: D03, D90, O10, O30, O40. Keywords: Patience; comparative development; factor accumulation. *Armin Falk acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council through ERC # 209214. Dohmen, Falk: University of Bonn, Department of Economics; [email protected], [email protected]. Enke: Harvard University, Department of Economics; [email protected]. Huffman: University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics; huff[email protected]. Sunde: University of Munich, Department of Economics; [email protected]. 1 Introduction A long stream of research in development accounting has documented that both pro- duction factors and productivity play an important role in explaining cross-country income differences (Hall and Jones, 1999; Caselli, 2005; Hsieh and Klenow, 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Music, Art and Spirituality in Central Asia Program
    Music, Art and Spirituality in Central Asia 29-30-31 October 2015 Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice Program 29 October 9:00-10:00 registration and coffee 10:00-10:20 Institutional greetings 10:20 Chair Giovanni De Zorzi (DFBC, University Ca’ Foscari of Venice) Keynote. Jean During: Spiritual resonances in musical cultures of Central Asia: myths, dreams and ethics Session 1. Chair: Anna Contadini (SOAS, University of London) 11:30 From Bones to Beauty in Kyrgyz Felt Textiles Stephanie Bunn , University of St Andrews 12:10 The ‘tree of life’ motif in stucco mihrabs in the Zerafshan Valley Katherine Hughes , SOAS, University of London 12.50-14.30 lunch Session 2. Chair: Giovanni De Zorzi 14.30 Theory and Practice of Music under the Timurids Alexandre Papas , CNRS, Paris 15.10 Sufi Shrines and Maqām Traditions in Central Asia: the Uyghur On Ikki Muqam and the Kashmiri Sūfyāna Musīqī Rachel Harris , SOAS, University of London 15.50 A Musicological Study on Talqin as a Metric Cycle Shared by Spiritual and Secular-Classical Music Repertories in Central Asia Saeid Kordmafi , SOAS, University of London 16:30-16:50 coffee break Central Asian and Oriental Traces in Venice: a guided walk --- 30 October Session 3. Chair: Rachel Harris 9:30 Soviet Ballet and Opera: National Identity Building in Central Asia and the Caucasus Firuza Melville , University of Cambridge 10:10 Russianization and Colonial Knowledge of Traditional Musical Education in Turkestan (1865-1920). Inessa Kouteinikova , Amsterdam-St Petersburg-Tashkent 10:50-11:10 coffee break Session 4. Chair: Alexandre Papas 11:10 The legacy of the Central-Asian mystic Suleyman Baqirghani in the culture of the Volga Tatars: the phenomenon of the Baqirghan kitabı Guzel Sayfullina , Netherlands 11:50 Meetings with jâhrî dervishes in the Fergana Valley Giovanni De Zorzi , University Ca’ Foscari, Venice 12:30-14:00 lunch Session 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Further Reading, Listening, and Viewing
    The Music of Central Asia: Further Reading, Listening, and Viewing The editors welcome additions, updates, and corrections to this compilation of resources on Central Asian Music. Please submit bibliographic/discographic information, following the format for the relevant section below, to: [email protected]. Titles in languages other than English, French, and German should be translated into English. Titles in languages written in a non-Roman script should be transliterated using the American Library Association-Library of Congress Romanization Tables: Transliteration Schemes for Non-Roman Scripts, available at: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html Print Materials and Websites 1. Anthropology of Central Asia 2. Central Asian History 3. Music in Central Asia (General) 4. Musical Instruments 5. Music, Sound, and Spirituality 6. Oral Tradition and Epics of Central Asia 7. Contemporary Music: Pop, Tradition-Based, Avant-Garde, and Hybrid Styles 8. Musical Diaspora Communities 9. Women in Central Asian Music 10. Music of Nomadic and Historically Nomadic People (a) General (b) Karakalpak (c) Kazakh (d) Kyrgyz (e) Turkmen 11. Music in Sedentary Cultures of Central Asia (a) Afghanistan (b) Azerbaijan (c) Badakhshan (d) Bukhara (e) Tajik and Uzbek Maqom and Art Song (f) Uzbekistan (g) Tajikistan (h) Uyghur Muqam and Epic Traditions Audio and Video Recordings 1. General 2. Afghanistan 3. Azerbaijan 4. Badakhshan 5. Karakalpak 6. Kazakh 7. Kyrgyz 8. Tajik and Uzbek Maqom and Art Song 9. Tajikistan 10. Turkmenistan 11. Uyghur 12. Uzbekistan 13. Uzbek pop 1. Anthropology of Central Asia Eickelman, Dale F. The Middle East and Central Asia: An Anthropological Approach, 4th ed. Pearson, 2001.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction the Shi‘A in South Asia
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-10890-5 - The Shi‘a in Modern South Asia: Religion, History and Politics Edited by Justin Jones and Ali Usman Qasmi Excerpt More information Introduction The Shi‘a in South Asia Francis Robinson The Shi‘i communities of South Asia, roughly 60 million people, represent, after those of Iran, the second largest grouping of Shi‘as in the Muslim world. Until recently our knowledge of them has not matched their numbers. Indeed, they, and here I refer to the Twelver Shi‘as rather than the Isma‘ilis, have suffered from the paradox of being both highly visible but in scholarly terms largely invisible. Where the Shi‘a live in South Asian towns and cities, arguably, no community has been more visible or more audible: visible because of their great processions at Muharram; and audible, certainly at Muharram, but also throughout the year in their majalis, as they recount the events of Karbala, often transmitting them by loudspeaker to the muhalla. Up to the 1980s these significant religious communities had attracted just two major works of scholarship: Hollister’s, The Shi‘a of India (1936) and Engineer’s The Bohras (1980).1 This dearth of scholarship began to change in the mid-1980s. First there was S. A. A. Rizvi’s major two-volume survey of India’s Twelver Shi‘as (1986), followed by Juan Cole’s path-breaking study of the establishment of the Shi‘i state of Awadh from the eighteenth century (1988).2 From the 1990s attention turned to Shi‘i commemorative practice with Vernon Schubel’s study of Shi‘i devotional rituals (1993), David Pinault’s studies of ritual and popular piety (1992) and devotional life 1 John Norman Hollister, The Shi‘a of India, (London, 1953); Asghar Ali Engineer, The Bohras (New Delhi, 1980).
    [Show full text]
  • Integrating Hunter Knowledge with Community-Based Conservation in the Pamir Region of Tajikistan
    Copyright © 2020 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Shokirov, Q., and N. Backhaus. 2019. Integrating hunter knowledge with community-based conservation in the Pamir Region of Tajikistan. Ecology and Society 25(1):1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11253-250101 Research Integrating hunter knowledge with community-based conservation in the Pamir Region of Tajikistan Qobiljon Shokirov 1 and Norman Backhaus 1,2 ABSTRACT. Indigenous hunting communities around the world possess capabilities to accumulate and maintain knowledge based on their traditional practices, cultural norms, and belief systems. Case studies around the world have demonstrated that merging indigenous hunting knowledge with community-based conservation approaches is often complementary to biodiversity conservation. A combination of such approaches improves wildlife conservation practices and livelihood strategies while enhancing communities’ social-ecological resilience. However, if mismanaged, such approaches lead to negative results in the community, such as an increased exposure/vulnerability to corruption, power inequality among interest groups, as well as mismanagement of wildlife species. We explore the existence of hunting-specific traditional ecological knowledge and the contribution of such knowledge to wildlife management in the case of community-based conservation in Tajikistan. We reviewed hunting-related literature from 1850 to 1950, conducted interviews, and accompanied hunters in the field to document their ecological knowledge of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), also known as the Pamir region of Tajikistan. Throughout our research, we found that there exists a rich body of hunter-specific ecological knowledge of hunting norms, ethics, taboos, and belief systems in the Pamir region of Tajikistan.
    [Show full text]
  • Mohammad N. Miraly Faculty of Religious Studies Mcgill University, Montreal April 2012
    FAITH AND WORLD CONTEMPORARY ISMAILI SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT Mohammad N. Miraly Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University, Montreal April 2012 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies © 2012 Mohammad N. Miraly TO MY F ATHER AND M OTHER TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Résumé iii Acknowledgements v An Historical Note on Ismailism vii 1 Opening 1 2 The Study 15 Part I: 3 Speaking About Ismailism 24 4 The Contemporary Ismaili Historical Narrative 59 5 Ismaili Approaches to the Qur’an 103 6 The AKDN in Afghanistan: Ethos and Praxis 114 Part II: 7 Democracy, Secularism, and Social Ethics 138 8 Pluralism and Civic Culture 159 9 Knowledge and Learning 185 10 Closing: The Transnational Ismaili in Canada 202 Postscript: Wither Neutrality? 213 Appendix A: Preamble to the Constitution of the Shi`a Imami Ismaili Muslims 216 Appendix B: AKDN Organisation Chart 218 Selected Bibliography 219 ABSTRACT Contemporary Ismaili thought views the Ismaili tradition as connected to a historical past deriving from Qur’anic principles and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and his heirs, the Shi`a Imams. Thus, contemporary Ismailism’s focus on liberal values like democracy, pluralism, and education are articulated as contemporary forms of eternal Qur’anic ethical principles. The current and 49th Ismaili Imam, Aga Khan IV – who claims descent from the Prophet through his daughter, Fatima, and son-in-law, `Ali – articulates the principles of liberal democratic pluralism as the best means to realize ethical Islamic living in the present day.
    [Show full text]
  • An Anthology of Ismaili Literature
    An Anthology of Ismaili Literature an anthology of ismaili literature A shiʿi vision of islAm 8 edited by hermann landolt, samira sheikh & kutub kassam I.B.Tauris Publishers london • new york in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies london Published in 2008 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Rd, London w2 4bu 175 Fifth Avenue, New York ny 10010 www.ibtauris.com in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies 42–44 Grosvenor Gardens, London sw1w 0eb www.iis.ac.uk In the United States of America and in Canada distributed by St Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York ny 10010 Copyright © Islamic Publications Ltd, 2008 All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. isbn 978 1 84511 794 8 A full cip record for this book is available from the British Library A full cip record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card: available Typeset in Minion Tra for The Institute of Ismaili Studies Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall The Institute of Ismaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 to promote scholarship and learning on Islam, in the historical as well as contemporary contexts, and a better understanding of its relationship with other societies and faiths.
    [Show full text]
  • Fantastic Beasts of the Eurasian Steppes: Toward a Revisionist Approach to Animal-Style Art
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2018 Fantastic Beasts Of The Eurasian Steppes: Toward A Revisionist Approach To Animal-Style Art Petya Andreeva University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Studies Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Andreeva, Petya, "Fantastic Beasts Of The Eurasian Steppes: Toward A Revisionist Approach To Animal- Style Art" (2018). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2963. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2963 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2963 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fantastic Beasts Of The Eurasian Steppes: Toward A Revisionist Approach To Animal-Style Art Abstract Animal style is a centuries-old approach to decoration characteristic of the various cultures which flourished along the urE asian steppe belt in the later half of the first millennium BCE. This astv territory stretching from the Mongolian Plateau to the Hungarian Plain, has yielded hundreds of archaeological finds associated with the early Iron Age. Among these discoveries, high-end metalwork, textiles and tomb furniture, intricately embellished with idiosyncratic zoomorphic motifs, stand out as a recurrent element. While scholarship has labeled animal-style imagery as scenes of combat, this dissertation argues against this overly simplified classification model which ignores the variety of visual tools employed in the abstraction of fantastic hybrids. I identify five primary categories in the arrangement and portrayal of zoomorphic designs: these traits, frequently occurring in clusters, constitute the first comprehensive definition of animal-style art.
    [Show full text]