Myth, Grieving and the Circulation of Knowledge Within Kyrgyz Contexts
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LEGENDS BORNE BY LIFE: MYTH, GRIEVING AND THE CIRCULATION OF KNOWLEDGE WITHIN KYRGYZ CONTEXTS THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Art in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Maureen E.C. Pritchard, B.A. *** The Ohio State University 2009 Thesis Committee: Professor Margarita Ophee-Mazo, advisor Professor Danielle Fosler-Lussier Professor Alam Payind Approved by ____________________________________ Advisor, Music Graduate Program Copyright Maureen Pritchard 2009 ABSTRACT Koshok is a practice related to lament that is manifest in several types. The first type of koshok refers to a lament-like style of vocal music performed by women only and which includes a combination of text, melody and crying-like sounds. This type is performed three days after a death has occurred and on days set aside to mark the passage of time within a year of mourning. The second type of koshok refers to a purely instrumental performance that may be played by an individual, typically on the komus or by a large Soviet-style orchestra of folk instruments. This instrumental type serves the purpose of spreading the news of a death and may be performed by both men and women. The third type of koshok is a vocal performance by a male singer accompaning himself on the komus. This type is reserved for the remembrance of persons of high esteem. All three types share qualities of emotion and dialogue and such qualities underlie the decisions made by local Kyrgyz people as to what may be included in the category of koshok. Three months of ethnographic field-research with koshok as its central subject was conducted by the author in the Kyrgyz Republic from September 2008 until December 2008. The research took place mainly in the region of Talas and Chui and was informed by prior experience gained in the region of Naryn. Myth, as manifested in local stories and customs, is an emergent material through which an individual interacts with the world and with which he or she can create meaningful acts. Koshok is connected to myth in so much as the worlds in which koshok is performed are myth-infused. Understanding myth aids in understanding how koshok both gains meaning from contexts and adds meaning to contexts. The feeling and communication of emotion is constructed by the larger social system and the extent to which an individual, whether performer or listener, is embedded in this larger social system influences the extent to which that individual can participate meaningfully in a performance of koshok. Koshok belongs to a spectrum of activity that includes narratives about sadness or misfortune, activities such as mandatory visits and affective states such as weeping or fainting. This spectrum of activities is covered in the novel, The Day Lasts Longer than 100 Years, written by the Kyrgyz novelist Chingiz ii Aitmatov, through the stories surrounding a gravesite and description of the activities of a single family as they prepare to bury their father. Not only does Aitmatov write about koshok, but koshok also played a part in the public remembrance of Aitmatov forty days after his funeral. The koshoks presented in a public performance and broadcasted via mass media retained their traditional elements while providing a forum for the negotiation of national identity. iii “The history of a nation is made of legends borne by life.” (Imanaliev, 25) iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to all my friends, family, students, and co-workers who have given their support throughout my graduate studies, especially during the process of writing and researching this thesis. Special thanks are due to the Nisharapov family who agreed to take in a stranger, to the Bakierevna family who kept me warm and fed and to David Gullette and Elmira Köchümkulova who were my consultants in the field and throughout the writing process. I would also show my appreciation to Margaret Mills and Morgan Liu for helping me to sort through all my ideas and to Dr. Alam Payind, Dr. Danielle Fosler-Lussier and Dr. Margarita Mazo for their careful reading throughout the various drafts. Finally, I thank two good friends: Bülent Bekçioğlu and Saeed Honarmand. v VITA March 20, 1979...........Born- Columbus, Ohio 2002.....................B.A. in Slavic and East European Studies, The Ohio State University 2002-2004................Peace Corps TEFL Volunteer, Naryn, Kyrgyz Republic 2004-2005................ESL Teacher at Ala Too Ata Turk International University, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 2005.....................Business ESL Teacher for Linguabusiness, Moscow,Russia 2007.....................Summer FLAS Fellowship for the study of Intensive Turkish at Bogazaci University in Istanbul. 2008.....................Field Research Grant from the Department of Ethnomusicology at The Ohio State University for Research in the Kyrgyz Republic 2007-present.............Member of "Local Worlds," a reading group exploring the intersection of space, culture and power through The Ohio State University, Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities CONFERENCE PAPERS 1. "Roles and Realities for the Kyrgyz Bride." Paper presented for the Nicolas Poppe Symposium, University of Seattle, Washington. May 2007. 2. "So That They May Rest in Peace: Rites of Burial and Mourning in Kyrgyzstan." Paper presented at the national meeting of the Society of Ethnomusicology, Columbus, Ohio, October 2007. 3. "Knowledge through Feeling: Interpreting the Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky." Paper presented for the Conference in Comparative Studies, Columbus Ohio, January 2008. Fields of Study Major Field: Music Specialty: Ethnomusicology vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication……………………………………………………………………………...…iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Vita…………………………………………………………………………………..…....vi List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………......x Chapters: 1. Background, Methods, Research and Analysis……………………………………..1 1.1 Some Personal History………………………………………………………..1 1.2 Engaging the Field…………………………………………………………….4 1.3 Defining Koshok………………………………………………………………………5 1.4 Knowledge…………………………………………………………………...10 1.5 Methods in the Field…………………………………………………………16 1.6 Roles………………………………………………………………………....18 1.7 Kyrgyzstan: an Introduction………………………………………………....22 1.8 Locality………………………………………………………………………25 1.9 The Field Site……………………………………………………………..….27 Endnotes…………………………………………………………………30 2. Historical Imagination……………………………………………………………31 2.1 Imbibing the Oriental………………………………………………………..31 2.2 History………………………………………………………………………35 vii 2.3 The Eternal Self.……………………………………………………………..39 2.4 Considering Sources on Kyrgyz Funerary Practices………………………...40 Endnotes………………………………………………………………….45 3. Mythical Realities………………………………………………………………....47 3.1 Myth and the Discursive Process……………………………………………48 3.2 Words………………………………………………………………………..52 3.3 Farida………………………………………………………………………...58 3.4 Graves as Sacred Sites…………………………………………………….…61 3.5 The Boz Oi ......................................................................................................64 3.6 The Color of Death…………………………………………………………..67 3.7 Maintaining Relationships between the Living and the Dead……………….69 3.8 Knowledge and Musicianship………………………………………………..72 3.9 Departure……………………………………………………………………..76 Endnotes………………………………………………………………….79 4. Communicating Grief……………………………………………………………80 4.1 A Spectrum of Grief………………………………………………………….81 4.2 Koshok………………………………………………………………………..85 4.3 An Ash………………………………………………………………………..87 viii 4.4 Ambiguity……………………………………………………………………91 4.5 The Death of Kojojash……………………………………………………….93 4.6 Acting Outside the Aesthetic…………………………………………...……95 4.7 Discussions surrounding custom……………………………………………98 4.8 Changing Ethnicity………………………………………………………….99 Endnotes……………………………………………………………….114 5. Traditional Modernity……………………………………………………………105 5.1 Redefining Koshok…………………………………………………………108 5.2 Documenting the Funeral of Chingiz Aitmatov…………………..………..114 5.3 A Koshok Speaks…………………………………………………………..120 Endnotes……………………………………………………………….127 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….128 ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Political map of Kyrgyzstan…………………………………………….23 Figure 2: Death of the Sun, artist unknown……………………………………….62 Figure 3: Eternal Flame in Bishkek………………………………………………..66 Figure 4: Manas at the Bishkek Philharmonic…………………………………….72 Figure 5: Maureen Pritchard Bust of Manaschi Naimanbay…….…………..…….71 Figure 6: Illustration of koshok by Nurbek Nisharapov……………………….…...80 Figure 7: Reading the Koran in honor of the dead………………………………..114 Figure 8: A komus-in-progress in the Ustad-Shaiir workshop……………………120 x CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND, RESEARCH, METHODS, AND ANALYSIS From the depths of a strange dream, I heard a cell phone ring and I knew that the call was coming from Taiwan. With eyes still closed, I answered the phone. A voice said “Good morning, Sister. How is going your day?” The familiar syntax of Kyrgyzified English brought me into waking reality. I glanced outside my window. It was still dark, so I replied “The day is not yet going, Nurbek. I just opened my eyes. Not even birds are awake.” “Oh sorry!” he apologized. “No, no” I said, interrupting his apology. “We agreed to talk about my thesis today. Let me call you back, though, because it’s going to be a long conversation and I want to spend my money, not yours.” “Okay,” he said. “I am in the laboratory now. Please, wait ten minutes for me to walk back to the dormitory.” With that agreed, I hung up the phone, went to the kitchen of the same house in Columbus,