Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan PDF Author: Laurence Mitchell
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN: 1841623490
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Billed 'the most beautiful country in the world' by The Times, Kyrgyzstan is a must-stop destination for anyone travelling through Central Asia or along the Silk Road. Take in the majesty of the celestial Tien Shan mountains, spend the night in a yurt or Kyrgyz home, or trek in the Ala-Archa canyon, roaming grounds for the enigmatic snow leopard. The Bradt guide is an invaluable companion for anyone venturing into this off-the-beaten-track destination. With more maps and practical information than any other guide, Bradt's Kyrgyzstan details towns and villages not covered by the competition. Entertainingly written, it provides unparalleled background information, including an update on the country's political situation.

Creating Culture in (Post) Socialist Central Asia

Creating Culture in (Post) Socialist Central Asia PDF Author: Ananda Breed
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030586855
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
This book brings together historical and ethnographic research from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang, in order to explore how individuals and communities work to create and maintain forms of ‘culture’ in contexts of ideological repression and erasure. Across Inner Central Asia, in both China and the Soviet Union, while ethnic culture was on one hand lauded and promoted, it was simultaneously folklorized in the face of broader projects of socialist modernity. How do local intellectuals, cultural organizers, and performers work to negotiate their own forms and understandings of cultural meaning within the institutions and frameworks of a long twentieth century? How does scholarly attention to cultural production, tradition, and performance help to inform our understanding of (ethnic) nations not as given, but as coming into being?

Apprenticeship: Towards a New Paradigm of Learning

Apprenticeship: Towards a New Paradigm of Learning PDF Author: Patrick Ainley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135370303
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In the light of changes the government has launched as part of its welfare to work initiatives, this text explores apprenticeship. The authors set the historical context and discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills for competence.

Manaschi

Manaschi PDF Author: Hamid Ismailov
Publisher: Inpress Books - Ipsuk
ISBN: 9781911284574
Category : Slavic literature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A radio presenter interprets one of his dreams as an initiation by the world of spirits into the role of a Manaschi, a Kyrgyz bard and shaman who recites and performs the epic poem, Manas, and is revered as someone connected with supernatural forces. Travelling to his native mountainous village, populated by Tajiks and Kyrgyz, and unravelling his personal and national history, our hero Bekesh instead witnesses a full re-enactment of the epic's wrath. Following on from the award winning The Devils' Dance and Of Strangers and Bees, this is the third and final book in Ismailov's informal Central Asia trilogy. --

Have the Mountains Fallen?

Have the Mountains Fallen? PDF Author: Jeffrey B. Lilley
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253032431
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
After surviving the blitzkrieg of World War II and escaping from two Nazi prison camps, Soviet soldier Azamat Altay was banished as a traitor from his native home land. Chinghiz Aitmatov became a hero of Kyrgyzstan, writing novels about the lives of everyday Soviet citizens but mourning a mystery that might never be solved. While both came from small villages in the beautiful mountainous countryside, they found themselves caught on opposite sides of the Cold War struggle between world superpowers. Altay became the voice of democracy on Radio Liberty, while Aitmatov rose through the ranks of Soviet politics. Yet just as they seemed to be pulled apart in the political turmoil, they found their lives intersecting in moving and surprising ways. Have the Mountains Fallen? traces the lives of these two men as they confronted the full threat and legacy of the Soviet empire. Through personal and intersecting narratives of loss, love, and longing for a homeland forever changed, a clearer picture emerges of the experience of the Cold War from the other side.

JUSUP MAMAY, MASTER PERFORMER OF THE KIRGHIZ MANAS EPIC

JUSUP MAMAY, MASTER PERFORMER OF THE KIRGHIZ MANAS EPIC PDF Author: Adil Jumaturdu
Publisher: American Academic Press
ISBN: 1631815067
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Zhenhui Liang, Weiguo Chen and Xu Zhang have done a great service to the study of oral epic poetry by translating Adil Jumaturdu’s and Tokon Isak’s detailed and comprehensive biography of Jusup Mamay (1918-2014), the great Kirghiz epic singer from Xinjiang. In this book, the reader learns how this “singer of tales” acquired his impressively large epic repertoire and becomes acquainted with the Kirghiz tradition of the Manas epic and epic cycle, in particular Jusup Mamay’s version, which comprises eight generations. The authors, native Kirghiz from Xinjiang, have had close contact with the singer over many years and offer unique insights into the mind and art of an exceptional epic singer-narrator. ---- Professor Karl Reichl (studying oral epic poetry at Bonn University) The Kirghiz heroic epic Manas boasts a history of around one thousand years. In the process of its development, generation after generation of singers have passed it down today by oral tradition. Jusup Mamay, one of the epic’s master singers, or manaschi, is renowned as the only performer in the world who was able to narrate eight generations of heroes from a single Kirghiz family, the epic’s namesake Manas chief among them. After years of surveys and interviews, the authors have assembled first-hand materials about Jusup Mamay to write a critical biography detailing the singer’s monumental talents and his great efforts in learning Manas. The biography elaborates on Jusup Mamay’s geographical and cultural environment, his apprenticeships under master manaschi, his passion for learning around 230,000-line epic by heart, his two marriages, his family, the features of his unique version of Manas, his many contributions to the inheritance of Kirghiz folk culture, and his influence both within his native China and across the globe. This book is a valuable contribution to the academic literature about the Manas epic and Kirghiz culture as well.

Epic Adventures

Epic Adventures PDF Author: Jan Jansen
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 9783825867584
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
The many adventures of the "epic" in modern times are fascinating topics in themselves. The Romantics claimed that every self-respecting nation should, at some time, have had one and they set out to reconstruct these epics for political as well as cultural reasons. Such epics represented earlier stages in the development of nation-states and in this modern world they were, for a long time, hard to appreciate. The introduction of tape recorders, however, brought the epic back in the limelight. It became fashionable for scholars to record long oral narratives, and to present them as long written poems that reflected deeply ingrained ideas. Because of this technology, the idea of the epic was revitalized. This volume presents critical analyses of epics in Sub-Saharan Africa, the former Soviet Union, South-East Asia, Medieval Europe, and America and discusses the process of revitalization, sometimes even invention, of epics in particular historical, political, and academic contexts. Jan Jansen is a member of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Leiden, Netherlands. Henk M.J. Maier is professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania of the University of Leiden, Netherlands.

The Central Asian Republics

The Central Asian Republics PDF Author: Facts On File, Incorporated
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438122454
Category : Culture
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
This text examines the problems confronting the Central Asian Republics - as they adjust to being independent countries. It is divided into five sections, offering an overview of each country: its geography, population, history, and government, as well as an outlook for its future.

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture PDF Author: Janet Sturman
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1506353371
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 5177

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Book Description
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture presents key concepts in the study of music in its cultural context and provides an introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, its methods, concerns, and its contributions to knowledge and understanding of the world′s musical cultures, styles, and practices. The diverse voices of contributors to this encyclopedia confirm ethnomusicology′s fundamental ethos of inclusion and respect for diversity. Combined, the multiplicity of topics and approaches are presented in an easy-to-search A-Z format and offer a fresh perspective on the field and the subject of music in culture. Key features include: Approximately 730 signed articles, authored by prominent scholars, are arranged A-to-Z and published in a choice of print or electronic editions Pedagogical elements include Further Readings and Cross References to conclude each article and a Reader’s Guide in the front matter organizing entries by broad topical or thematic areas Back matter includes an annotated Resource Guide to further research (journals, books, and associations), an appendix listing notable archives, libraries, and museums, and a detailed Index The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross References combine for thorough search-and-browse capabilities in the electronic edition

THE EPICS OF CHINA

THE EPICS OF CHINA PDF Author: Rinchindorji
Publisher: American Academic Press
ISBN: 1631816608
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
The Epics of China introduces selected epic traditions of China, providing information about them, insights into their literary traditions, and theories concerning their origins, historical development, cultural context, structure, bards, and audiences. The book deals with both historical epics and contemporary “living” epic traditions. Examples are drawn from several of China’s fifty-five official ethnic minority peoples, focusing on epics from various historical or present-day Mongol subgroups of North China, most notably Tibetan and Kirgiz, as well as epics from peoples of Southwest China, such as the Zhuang, Yi, Miao, Dong, and Dai. Several chapters deal, too, with the early Turkic epics that once circulated in parts of northern China and Central Asia. On the whole, the book’s chapters are grouped into three sections: early epics, small and medium-length epics, and the great heroic epics Jangar and Manas. Epics from the North are mainly heroic narratives focusing on the exploits of martial heroes. They feature story lines centered on bride-kidnapping, trials undergone by the suitor, and encounters with multi-headed demons (Mongol mangus), one-eyed giants, and female demons of the underworld. Southern epics focus on tales of how early deities created the sky, earth, water and land forms, and living beings, often listing specific plants, animals, and local tribes. Some of these epics involve female creator figures, and many play out in a dynamic process that moves through phases of initial creation, destruction by fire, a second creation, a destructive flood, and the ultimate re-creation of the world as we now know it. There are also heroic epics from southern China, most notably from the Yi, Dai, and Miao.