TRADITIONAL MUSIC IN NON-TRADITIONAL CONTEXTS: THE UZBEK DUTAR IN CALIFORNIA
Keywords:
Traditional music, Uzbek music, dutar, pedagogy, master-apprentice system, world music ensemblesAbstract
Arguing the complicated nature of transnational engagements with traditional musical practices, the case study of the Uzbek dutar in California illustrates one way to engage with the past in non-traditional contexts. After introducing the instrument and definitions of tradition, the essay explores the dutar’s musical traditions in Uzbekistan and its ensemblification in the 20th century. Then it turns to the author’s dutar ensemble, the Central Asian Ensemble at the University of California Santa Cruz. By considering how the imposed structure of the American university system combines with pedagogical collaborations with the author’s master teachers (ustozlar), Ruzibi Khodjayeva and Malikahon Ziyaeva, the paper concludes with the possibilities engagement with previously unfamiliar traditional practices provides for students across the university and for international understanding, more broadly.
References
Beliyaev. Viktor. 1962. Очерки по истории музыки народов СССР. Выпуск 1. Музыкальная культура Киргизии, Казахстана, Туркмении, Таджикистана и Узбекистана (Studies of the History of the Music of the Peoples of the USSR, Vol. 1. The Musical Culture of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.” Moscow.
-----. 1933. Музыкальные инструменты Узбекистана с многочисленными нотными примерами в тексте и одной таблице (Musical Instruments of Uzbekistan with Numerous Notation Examples in Text and One Table). Moscow.
Djumaev, Alexander. 2005. “Musical Heritage and National Identity in Uzbekistan.” Ethnomusicology Forum 14(2): 165-184.
Hobsbawm, Eric. 1983. “Introduction: Inventing Traditions.” The Invention of Tradition, Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1-14.
Hood, Mantle. 1960. “The Challenge of Bi-Musicality.” Ethnomusicology 4(2): 55-59.
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan. http://www.ich.uz/en/ accessed June 23, 2025
Khodjayeva, Ruzibi. 1999. Dutorim – Sozim Manim (My Dutar – My Musical Sound). Tashkent: O’qituvchi.
Odilov, A. 1995. O’zbek Xalk Cholg’ularida Ijrochilik Tarixi (The History of Uzbek [Arranged/Reconstructed] Folk Performance). Tashkent: O’qituvchi.
Oxford English Dictionary, “tradition (n.),” June 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/9389799322, accessed June 23, 2025.
Rahimjonov, Boqijon. 2002. Dutorchilar Ansambli (The Dutarists Ensemble). Tashkent: G’afur G’ulom
Solis, Ted. 2004. “Introduction. Teaching What Cannot be Taught: An Optimistic Overview,” in Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles. Ted Solís, ed. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Pp. 1-19.
Sultanova, Razia. 2014. From Shamanism to Sufism: Women, Islam, and Culture in Central Asia. London: I.B. Tauris.
Toshmatov, Davlatjon. 2022. “The Life Path of Yunus Rajabi that we are Not Aware.” Pindus Journal of Culture, Literature, and ELT. 2(4): 11-16.
UNESCO. “Uzbekistan: Elements on the Lists of Itnangible Cultural Heritage” https://ich.unesco.org/en/state/uzbekistan-UZ?info=elements-on-the-lists, accessed June 23, 2025.
Ziyaeva, Malika. 2011 (2008). Dutor: F. Sodiqov Ijro Uslubi (Dutar: F. Sodiqov’s Performance Style). Tashkent: Musiqa.
