Folklore and Ethnic Nationalism in Kazakhstan

Celia Emmelhainz, Five-minute presentation in ANTH 622, April 2009

Concepts - Folklore

• Fakelore: construction/commodification of culture– (Dorson, Dundes)

• Folklorism[us]: use of culture by a different folk– (Newall, Bendix 1988)

• Folklore as Invention of Tradition – (Hobsbawm & Ranger, Handler & Linnekin 1984)

• Concerns with Authenticity

Examples: Folklore and Nationalism

• Third Reich/Germany (Kamenetsky 1977)• Hungary (Degh 1984)• Greece (Herzfeld 1986)• Japan (Vlastos 1988)• Maori/New Zealand (Hanson 1989)• Venezuela (Guss 2000)• Israel (Roginsky 2007)• Turkey (Guven 2008)

Russian and Soviet Uses of Folklore

- For nationalities and ideology (Grant 1994)- Part of pop culture (Geldern & Stites 1995)- Political and cultural identity (Olson 2004)

Post-Soviet Ethnic Nationalism

• State Building into the past and the future• Titular nationalities and state languages• Reclaiming Tamurlane and Genghis Khan• Example of Kazakhstan’s Bayterek monument:

a Samruk’s egg

Kazakhstan: Culture through Food

• Beshbarmaq (meat and noodle platter)• Qoibas (sheep’s head)• Nan (bread)• Airan (yoghurt)• Manti (dumplings)• Plov (rice dish)• Qymys (fermented mare’s milk)

Kazakhstan: Culture through Music

• Akins (poets)• Dombira instrument• Performance, as of Aitys (verbal duels)

See also: – Toda 1999– Rouland 2007

Kazakhstan: Dress and Dance

Ongoing importance of: • Dance lessons• Performances• Nauruz and other cultural festivals

Picture credits

This short presentation was made for educational use. • Flag : http://www.thegio.net/kazakhstan/kazakhflag.jpg• Yurt: http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/20022007/1049157/IMG_2693_wh.jpg• Nat’iism: http://adriantansart.com/works/adriantansart/nationalism.w600h600.jpg• Flag: http://www.russianlegacy.com/catalog/images/soviet_collection/flags/FS0088.jpg• Bayterek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayterek.jpg• Besbarmak: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beschbarmak.jpg• Dress: http://folkdance.manas.kg/pictureWeb/big/18.jpg• Dombra: http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2005/01/31/203759/IMG_1159.JPG• Hunter: http://www.ngsprints.co.uk/images/M/701682.jpg