MUSICA E CULTURA DELLE MINORANZE MONGOLE NELLA REPUBBLICA POPOLARE CINESE. L’ETNIA BARGA

Subject of this thesis is the study of traditional Mongolian music in the People’s Republic of China (in the geographical location of Inner Mongolia, the author’s home area), with the specific case of study of the tribal group of Barga, in respect of which was conduct the fieldwork. The structure of the dissertation follows a path indexed on two levels: on the one hand, on the musicological reflection and study methodology, on the other, on anthropological and cultural phenomena. This macro-design is divided, in the discussion, in three parts. The first part, epistemological, trace diachronic and synchronic comparisons between the study of traditional music in the West (from the first to the historical claims vergleichende Musikwissenschaft until the ethnomusicology) and in China. This will highlight the critical factors of scientific approach in the latter, due to the historical delay with which paradigms and models, in particular concerning the relationship between music and culture, have been transposed. Will be proposed also lines of epistemological reflection and integration, even in post-colonial key. The second part introduces the complex socio-anthropological problem of the Chinese cultural minorities situation. It identifies the socio-political coordinates with specific reference to music culture, addressing the issue of cultural heritage, identity and institutionalized conservation strategies. Always proceeding from general to particular, are introduced features of Mongolian culture within China, in an anthropological excursus illustrating various and diverse aspects, and in particular the basic forms and structures of the practical and musical expressions, without ever losing sight their connection to the cultural substratum. In the third part, as result of the search field, are analysed all the problems that emerged from the epistemological reflection with objective reference to the tribal group of Barga, a laboratory of great interest as it still suspended between tradition and modernity. This group covers the history, discusses anthropology, identifying cultural traits which in turn are implemented in musical conceptions, forms and behaviour. For this purpose, the materials collected in the research were analyzed through transcriptions in musical notation, establishing an ongoing dialogue with the informants, in an analytical work that has identified the contemporary issues that revolve around the polarity of capitalization and transformation. For the study of these dynamics has been used the theoretical model of the Theory of Audiotactile Music, with which the transformation of traditional music phenomena were analyzed, as well as has been detected the objective lines that the contemporary ethnomusicologist, in dialogue with the musicians of the tradition, can help to formulate and to guide.