Mongolian Sound Worlds

Jennifer C. Post is a senior lecturer in the School of Music at the University of Arizona. Sunmin Yoon is an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Music and Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, at the University of Delaware. Charlotte D’Evelyn is an assistant professor in the Music Department at Skidmore College.

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Transliteration, Naming, and Place Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

Companion Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii

Introduction: Mongolian Sound Worlds: Opening Snapshots

SUNMIN YOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

PART ONE: LANDSCAPES AND SOUNDSCAPES

Interlude: Song about the Steppe

K. OKTYABR AND JENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

1. Sound, Music, Pastoralism, and Nature in Mongolian Sound Worlds

JENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

PART TWO: ETHNICITY AND DIVERSITY

Interlude: Musical Journeys in Inner Mongolia and Beyond

TAMIR HARGANA AND CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

2. Music and Ethnic Identity in Inner Mongolia

CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

3. The Politics of Regional and Ethnic Identities in Contemporary Mongolian Urtyn Duu

SUNMIN YOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

4. Gendered Musicality in the Altai Mountains

REBEKAH PLUECKHAHN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

PART THREE: MATERIAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Interlude: Consistency, Patience, and Perseverance: Maintaining the Fiddle-Making Tradition

BAYARSAIKHAN BADAMSÜREN AND PETER K. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

5. The Horsehead Fiddle: A Biographical History

PETER K. MARSH AND CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

6. The Tovshuur and Oirad Identity in Mongolia’s Western Provinces

OTGONBAYAR CHULUUNBAATAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

7. Social Lives of the Dombyra and Its Makers in Western Mongolia

JENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

PART FOUR: HERITAGE AND GLOBALIZATION

Interlude: Everything Has Two Sides: An Interview

ANDREW COLWELL AND D. TSERENDAVAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

8. Chandman’ and Beyond: Heritage-making of Mongolian Khöömii in Past and Present

JOHANNI CURTET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

9. Mongolian Music, Globalization, and Nomadism

ANDREW COLWELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

10. “We Were Born with Global Ambition”: Continuity, Innovation, and a New Chapter in the Development of Mongolian Popular Music

PETER K. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281