Research Paper on "Culture in Uzbekistan Cultural Characteristic"

Research Paper 3 pages (1090 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Culture in Uzbekistan

CULTURAL Characteristic ONE: A strong musical heritage is an important cultural characteristic of Uzbekistan, according to an article by Alexander Djumaev in the journal Ethnomusicology Forum (Djumaev, 2005, p. 165). Djumaev writes that there were two "key figures" that created the original texts regarding the musical culture in Uzbek. Those figures were Abdurauf Fitrat (who lived 1886-1938) and Abdulla Qodiriy (1894-1940). Unfortunately these two writers were "purged" during the Soviet period of Uzbek ("purged" means they were killed for political reasons). The Soviet communist authorities claimed the two were involved in "bourgeois nationalism" and "pan-Turkism" but in fact the contributions the two writers made "remain crucial even today" (Djumaev, p. 171).

Fitrat published his main research (titled "Uzbek classical music and its history") in 1926. His work provided a "scholarly grounding" for the idea that Uzbekistan indeed had a musical heritage, Djumaev writes. A year later it was published in Arabic script. Fitrat based his justification for a national musicology on four principal aspects (Djumaev, p. 171-72): a) he was the first to attempt a definition of Uzbek music in the culture of the Muslim world as contrasted with European musical culture; b) Fitrat identified Uzbek "classical music"; c) he "integrated achievements of the past into Uzbek musical culture (incorporating Muslim, Persian concepts); and d) he "formulated the principles for the study of traditional Uzbek music" (p. 172). The Soviets took Fitrat's book off the shelves in 1935 and purged him in 1938, but his book has been kept in private collections and in scholarly libraries even today (Djumaev, p. 173).

As to the modern musical tradition that is a cultural characteristic in Uzbekistan, the Embassy of Uzbekistan explains that the "koshuk" is a household song; the "lapar" is part of wedding songs using the "ulan" (performed as a conversation between man and woman); the "dastans" are part of musical heritage -- epic legends -- in Uzbekistan (www.uzbekistan.org).

CULTURAL Characteristics TWO & TREE: women's dance ensemble and the ballet (enjoying and participating in the arts is a cultural characteristic of the Uzbek people). Laura L. Adams asserts in her essay that much of today's culture in Uzbekistan reflects Soviet instituted cultural values, because "there was no unified Uzbek national culture" prior to the repressive Soviet (the Bolsheviks) hegemony (Adams, 1999, p. 358). No doubt exists that "many" Soviet cultural policies had "harmful effects" on the citizens in Uzbek, Adams explains. Other Soviet cultural policies -- like dance and folklore ensembles -- were actually instituted by the Soviets, Adams explains. The women's dance ensemble, "a genre introduced by the Soviets," is accepted in Uzbek culture today as "the most characteristic expression of their cultural identity" (Adams, p. 363) Ironically these ensembles were brought into Uzbek by the Soviets with themes that attempted to "destroy a significant aspect of pre-Soviet culture" -- the seclusion of women.

Keeping women hidden was part of the Muslim culture prior to Soviet hegemony and hence the dance ensemble brought an end to that aspect of Muslim culture. The Soviets instituted women's dance to wipe out that part of pre-Soviet Muslim culture and institute one of their own. The Soviets did not destroy the ballet as part of the Uzbek culture, Adams writes (p. 366); the Uzbek "elite are… READ MORE

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