MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT IN POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN: IDEOLOGY AND LEGACY BY MARGARETHE ANN ADAMS DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Donna A. Buchanan, Chair Associate Professor Lilya Kaganovsky Associate Professor Gabriel Solis Professor Thomas Turino Abstract My dissertation examines the interplay between ideology and entertainment as reflected in the holiday cycle of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. During a two-year ethnographic study of holiday celebrations and expressive culture in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China between 2004 and 2006, I attended state-sponsored celebrations as well as holiday events at religious establishments, children’s daycares and schools, and observed the social, familial watching of televised holiday programs. I conducted the bulk of my fieldwork in Almaty, the cosmopolitan former capital of Kazakhstan, with shorter stints in Kazakh areas of China and Mongolia. National and transnational ideologies and networks are intricately involved in musical celebrations in Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstani diaspora. My work examines how the state navigates between Kazakh nationalism and multiethnic harmony, a precarious balance that President Nazarbev has thus far has maintained fairly well, and how this managing of diversity dovetails with other important large-scale ideologies like Islam and globalism. In particular, I observe the use of calendars, zodiacs and habits of celebration as tools and reflections of nation building. In Central Asian New Year (Nauryz), for example, I look at the state’s effort to strengthen Kazakh nationhood, on the one hand, and the adherence to alternate identities on the other. The cosmopolitan nature of Almaty, where I conducted the bulk of my research, is reflected in celebrations such as Purim in the Almaty synagogue and Easter in a Korean church, both of which involve complicated, transnational networks of funding and religious leadership. In dramatic, musical, and dance performances staged during these holidays, conflicting narratives from home and abroad bring to life the concurrent, overlapping ideologies at play in such celebrations. Because I wanted this study to look both forward and back, I examine how both Soviet legacy and post-Soviet developments (particularly transnational religious, diasporic and business networks) have informed nationality policy, holiday celebrations and public cultural formations. My work on Kazakhstani celebrations of May 9 (Victory Day, WWII) is particularly revealing of the lasting import of the Soviet legacy. Interviews reflect ambiguous and contrasting opinions on Kazakhstan’s involvement in WWII, and the ubiquitous May 9 performances of romantic Soviet war songs reveal lasting loyalty to and nostalgia for the Soviet past. ! ""! Acknowledgments I would like to extend my thanks to Donna Buchanan for her rock solid support and guidance throughout the preparation, research, and writing of this dissertation; to Thomas Turino for teaching me how to define terms and play the banjo; to Bruno Nettl, Charles Capwell, Isabel Wong, Mark Steinberg, and Douglas Northrop for their input and encouragement in the early stages of this project; to Gabriel Solis and Lilya Kaganovsky for agreeing to serve on my defense committee; to the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship Program, the Social Science Research Council International Doctoral Research Fellowship Program and the S.S.R.C Eurasia Program for financial support during the research and writing phases; to the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center at the University of Illinois for funding my Kazakh language study and my first trip to Kazakhstan; to my parents and extended family who have been so patient with our many years spent abroad; to Sarah Long, Jennifer Fraser, and Tanya Lee for their camaraderie, commiseration, and advice; to all of the friends, colleagues, and teachers in Kazakhstan who made this dissertation possible; to Boris Stremlin for providing intellectual fodder and unwavering support; and to my daughters, Sara and Sofie, for being such troopers and for providing much needed diversion. ! 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TABLE OF CONTENTS Notes on Transliterations………………………………………………………………………….v Chapter One: Ideologies in Motion: Globalism, Nationalism, Eurasianism, and the Soviet Legacy…………………………………………………………...1 Chapter Two: Musical and Historical Overview………………………………………………...23 Chapter Three: Independence Day: Kazakh Nationalism, Eurasianism, and the Friendship of the Peoples…………………………………………………..49 Chapter Four: Winter in Kazakhstan: Calendars, Seasonality, and Rhythmicity in Everyday Life..………..…………………..…………………………….76 Chapter Five: Nauryz……….……………………………...……………………………….......112 Chapter Six: Spring Holidays: Transnational Networks and Diasporas.……………………….132 Chapter Seven: May 9: The 60th Anniversary of Victory Day……………………………..….152 Chapter Eight: Islam and National Ideology…………………………………………..……….191 Conclusion.…….…..…………………………………………………………………..……….220 Glossary of Terms….…………………………………………………………………………...228 Appendix A…………………………………………………………………..…………………229 Appendix B…………………………………………………………………..…………………242 Works Cited…….…………………………………………………………………….………...244 ! "#! Notes on Transliterations For Russian words, I use the American Library Association-Library of Congress (ALA- LC) system, without the eliding symbols; thus I use ia for ! and iu for ". For Kazakh I use a modified ALA-LC transliteration system (see appendix for full table), notably using [ü] for [#] and [ö] for [$], instead of the less recognizable ALA-LC symbols for these letters. I make exceptions for proper names with officially recognized transliterations, notably Kazakhstan (instead of Qazaqstan) and the names of well-known figures like Kurmangazy and Korkyt (instead of Qurmangazy and Qorqyt). ! "! CHAPTER ONE IDEOLOGIES IN MOTION Globalism, Nationalism, Eurasianism, and the Soviet Legacy As an ethnomusicologist specializing in Central Asia, I work in an area that is inherently multidisciplinary, bridging anthropology, expressive culture, communications, and Central Asian studies. My geographic concentration is similarly complex, located at the crossroads of the settled oasis civilizations of Central Asia and traditionally nomadic Inner Asia, and wedged between the ideological, cultural, and historical influences of China and Soviet/Imperial Russia. My scholarship therefore takes into account a constellation of ideological forces at work in the region, including socialism, nationalism, globalism, and a rising regional ideology known as Eurasianism. My dissertation, a study of the political aspects of entertainment and habits of celebration surrounding post-Soviet Kazakhstani holidays, examines the interplay between these large-scale ideologies and their articulation in expressive culture. I came to this project with a background in Russian and Chinese popular culture and ideology, after writing my Master’s thesis comparing Chinese and Soviet nationality policies and their impact on the performing arts. Having witnessed Chinese and Soviet holidays while studying in Moscow and later working in Sichuan Province, I was familiar with the “Friendship of the Peoples” model of internal ethnic relations that these state celebrations so colorfully displayed. When I first began my fieldwork in Kazakhstan I was interested in elucidating how the Kazakhstani government positions itself as a forward-looking, young nation, while maintaining many core ideas from the Soviet era. From this basic concept, sometime in the middle of my fieldwork I began trying to pull together the relationships between the important large-scale ideologies: nationalism, Islam, Eurasianism, globalism, and Soviet-style ! 1 internationalism. Because I wanted this study to look both forward and back, I tried to address how both the Soviet legacy and post-Soviet developments (particularly transnational religious, diasporic, and business networks) have informed nationality policy, holiday celebrations, and public cultural formations in Kazakhstan. As I investigated how the state navigates the slippery path between Kazakh nationalism and multiethnic harmony, a precarious balance that Kazakhstan thus far has maintained fairly well since gaining independence in 1991, I began to understand that this internal political dynamic mirrors a larger backdrop, the building of a Kazakhstani state ideology that articulates with globalism, Eurasianism, and—to some extent— Islam. Fieldwork Sites, Methodology, and Ethnographic Approaches During my two-year ethnographic study of holiday celebrations and expressive culture in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China between 2004 and 2006, I conducted the bulk of my fieldwork in Almaty, the former capital and currently largest city in Kazakhstan. I also spent time in southern Kazakhstan (Shimkent, Kyzylorda, and surrounding pilgrimage areas) and Bayan Olgi, an ethnic Kazakh area of western Mongolia, and Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province in northwest China whose population includes many Kazakhs, Uygurs, and other Turkic Muslims. My research in Mongolia and China has contributed to my understanding of Kazakh diasporic relations, while my work in Almaty encompasses many different ethnic groups in this cosmopolitan city. I attended many state-sponsored, open-air celebrations, as well as semi-public and private events at religious establishments,