{"title":"The Azerbaijani Ashiq: Musical Change, Transmission, and the Future of a Bardic Art","authors":"Behrang Nikaeen, Anna Oldfield","doi":"10.2979/jfolkrese.57.3.01","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article examines how changes in methods of transmission are enhancing a tendency toward musical change in the Azerbaijani ashiq genre as it is performed in the Republic of Azerbaijan and northern Iran. Based on fieldwork in both of these regions, the authors have observed the ashiq genre in flux, shifting from an essentially narrative bardic genre to an essentially musical genre. Although many factors influence this change, this study focuses on how changing methods of transmission are impacting this change. Although the Republic of Azerbaijan and northern Iran are different contexts, the processes are similar: as the genre has changed from being taught in a master-apprentice model to music lessons and self-teaching, many of the skills specific to bardic dastan (epic) recitation are not being transmitted to younger ashiqs. Instead, musical skills that encourage virtuoso performance are being transmitted and are popular with contemporary audiences. This paper seeks to explore and contextualize this change from bardic to musical values within discussions of transmission and musical change in the disciplines of folklore and ethnomusicology.","PeriodicalId":44620,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF FOLKLORE RESEARCH","volume":"57 1","pages":"1 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2020-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JOURNAL OF FOLKLORE RESEARCH","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2979/jfolkrese.57.3.01","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"FOLKLORE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:This article examines how changes in methods of transmission are enhancing a tendency toward musical change in the Azerbaijani ashiq genre as it is performed in the Republic of Azerbaijan and northern Iran. Based on fieldwork in both of these regions, the authors have observed the ashiq genre in flux, shifting from an essentially narrative bardic genre to an essentially musical genre. Although many factors influence this change, this study focuses on how changing methods of transmission are impacting this change. Although the Republic of Azerbaijan and northern Iran are different contexts, the processes are similar: as the genre has changed from being taught in a master-apprentice model to music lessons and self-teaching, many of the skills specific to bardic dastan (epic) recitation are not being transmitted to younger ashiqs. Instead, musical skills that encourage virtuoso performance are being transmitted and are popular with contemporary audiences. This paper seeks to explore and contextualize this change from bardic to musical values within discussions of transmission and musical change in the disciplines of folklore and ethnomusicology.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Folklore Research has provided an international forum for current theory and research among scholars of traditional culture since 1964. Each issue includes topical, incisive articles of current theoretical interest to folklore and ethnomusicology as international disciplines, as well as essays that address the fieldwork experience and the intellectual history of folklore and ethnomusicology studies. Contributors include scholars and professionals in additional fields, including anthropology, area studies, communication, cultural studies, history, linguistics, literature, performance studies, religion, and semiotics.