Research Articles

Re-sounding the Spirits of Altaian Oral Epic Performance: Kai throat-singing and its repercussions

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Abstract

This paper, which focuses on the ‘spirits’ and force of oral epic performance, is based on my fieldwork in the Republic of Altai, also called ‘Mountain’ or Gorny-Altai, which lies in southern Siberia within the Russian Federation. The Altai-Sayan mountains, which also embrace the republics of Tyva and Khakassia in southern Siberia and run down through West Mongolia, form the cradle of throat-singing, a remarkable vocal technique in which richly textured harmonic clusters are manipulated by a single vocalist to create more than one simultaneous sound. The style of deep guttural Altaian kai throat-singing, essential to ritual oral epic performance, is less well-known. Here, I argue that kai is performative action that re-situates or re-negotiates the performer’s social place in local, global and spiritual worlds. In the cause of balance, this paper draws attention to the under-researched perspective of the power of the spirit-charged epic-teller. After briefly introducing the landscape, peoples and languages of Altai, I consider both the traditional kai performance complex and a contemporary re-sounding of the last ‘with spirit’ Altaian oral epic-teller, ‘Elbek’ Kalkin. Finally, I debate some of the issues arising from transferring performative experiences in the field to archival digital documents and how the World...

Keywords: Republic of Altai, Gorny-Altai, Siberia, throat-singing, kai, ritual, oral epic performance, Elbek Kalkin, archiving, World Oral Literature Project, endangered oral literatures, revitalisation

How to Cite:

Pegg, C., (2010) “Re-sounding the Spirits of Altaian Oral Epic Performance: Kai throat-singing and its repercussions”, Language Documentation and Description 8, 125-139. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd220