Musical sociality : the significance of musical engagement among the Mongolian Altai Urianghai

Abstract

This thesis explores the musical expression of current postsocialist experiences amongst one group of Altai Urianghai people both in and from the rural district of Duut Soum, Hovd Province, Mongolia. This area is renowned for performances of musical genres that are now being locally, regionally and nationally venerated as important links to Mongolia's 'deep past' and upheld as examples of Mongolia's national cultural heritage within a growing heritage sector in Ulaanbaatar. This recognition forms a recent part of a postsocialist Mongolian 'rediscovery' and veneration of Mongolian cultural and religious practice. In this thesis, I provide an account of the different ways in which one group of Altai Urianghai negotiate this notoriety. To do so, I draw from in-depth ethnographic research that explores how musical engagement forms a fundamental part of ongoing sociality between those within Duut Soum. In order to present this account of postsocialist cultural practice, my thesis argument is two-pronged. On the one hand, I argue that musical engagement amongst the Altai Urianghai provides people with the dynamic opportunity to position themselves in multiple spheres: geographic, social and spiritual. Altai Urianghai simultaneously negotiate varying interlocking value systems - of which music is an integral part - during a period of locally discussed social change, perceived cultural loss and an uncertain economic and environmental future. On the other hand, I also argue that in this 'positioning' there are significant social implications to this musical practice. Altai Urianghai musical engagement is deeply bound up in constructions and perceptions of a person's character and wider understandings of social morality. Musical engagement is thus a moral practice, where musical aesthetics are inextricably bound up in social aesthetics. This moral 'positioning' of the performer, listener, or 'subject' in this musical engagement is fluid, subjective and discussed, and is constantly negotiated. In being constitutive of the moral character of a person, both musical performance and perceptions of correct performance have wide ranging ramifications that impact upon familial relationships and extended networks. In order to discuss these two aspects of performance, this thesis is organised around several themes integral to Duut musical sociality. The thesis firstly focuses upon the role of the past in contemporary Altai Urianghai musical practice. The second section moves to a discussion of music and sociality, both in delineations of familial and gender roles, social networks, and in the formation of ceremonial space and musical interaction with the esoteric realm of fortune (hishig). The next section extends this discussion into wider geographic space and spiritual realms, firstly by discussing mobility and interaction with the landscape and then how musical performance interacts with shamanic spaces. The last two chapters focus upon views of the future as seen in perceptions of social continuity. They discuss the relative autonomy people exercise in relationship to national definitions of heritage whilst fulfilling responsibilities of performance within the rural district. This thesis presents a picture of how people in and from this area negotiate differing expectations and spheres of responsibility through a self-reflexive approach towards contemporary musical, cultural practice.