The Nenets Song Tradition

• Main Author: Abramovich-Gomon, Alla
• Other Authors: Nettl, Bruno
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1997
• Subjects: Religion; General; Folklore; Music; Arctic; Indiga; nenets; Tundra
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/77474

206 p. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997. The thesis explores the oral, basically, epic song tradition of the Nenets people, one of the northern minorities of the Russian Arctic. It is based on the fieldwork conducted in the springs of 1975 and 1976 in the two Nenets settlements, Nel'min Nos and Indiga, both located in the European part of the Nenets tundra. The ultimate goal of the study is to highlight the role and value of the musical expression in the Nenets culture. Chapter I provides an information on the Nenets people and the state of research on the Nenets culture. Chapter II analyzes the Nenets song performance practice at the time of the field trips, describing the role of the songs in the life of the people under the power of the former Soviet state. It focuses on those meanings of the performance events which can be inferred through observation. Chapter III presents a textual analysis of the songs. It evaluates linguistic, poetic, and melodic aspects of the song form in terms of developed proportion between stylistic uniformity and diversity. The survey reveals the composite structural model of the song performances, the boundaries of the model's continuous transformation, and the role of melody in that process. It shows that the melodic system conforming to the principle of simultaneity of structural stability and change constitutes a processual rather than a static phenomenon. As a result of the textual analysis, it becomes possible to reveal some connections between the melodic system and the traditional culture which has brought this system to life. Dealing with the task of the restoration Chapter IV indicates a few factors which are hypothetically considered effectual in shaping the musical style of the Nenets song tradition: the structure of the nomadic society, the law of exogamous marriage, and the religious experiences of shamanism. Conclusion draws attention to the survival value of the musical expression among the Nenets whose performance skills and inspirations have continuously contributed to the series of the people's adaptations to the challenges of the ecological and socio-cultural environments.