The hundred thousand fools of God : musical travels in Central Asia (and Queens, New York)

""This erudite, absorbing volume chronicles the travels of ethnomusicologist Theodore Levin through urban and rural Transoxania... He writes in evocative, imaginative, personalized prose that vividly captures the flavor of his everyday experiences, providing plush visual detail, trenchant character profiles, attention to perplexing local hospitality codes and the shaping hand of gender, throughout."" -- Slavic Review

.."". extremely informative, using music as a platform for a much wider discussion of cultural and political issues."" -- Times Literary Supplement, London

""The subject is music, but Levin uses it to cast a wider light, revealing places of considerable sorrow long hidden in the shadows of Soviet power, and to create a travelogue with wide potential appeal.... Candor about his own uncertainties and personal struggles helps make this a personal as well as a scholarly adventure."" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

""Not to be missed by those interested in music and world culture... "" -- Library Journal

.."". may be destined to become the definitive work on the music of this newly accessed region."" -- Dirty Linen

The Hundred Thousand Fools of God assembles a living musical and ethnographic map by highlighting the fate of traditions, beliefs, and social relationships in Muslim and Jewish Central Asian cultures during and after seventy years of Soviet rule. Theodore Levin evokes the spectacular physical and human geography of the area and weaves a rich ethnography of the life styles, values, and art of the musical performers. Photographs, maps, and an accompanying CD (featuring 24 on-site recordings) make The Hundred Thousand Fools of God a unique reading and listening experience.

出版社周刊评论

Dartmouth professor Levin ventures in search of "the 100,000 fools of god," those enlightened Central Asian musicians whose art conveys both moral and spiritual power. He's interested in how musical life "reflects the... fluid boundaries and identities" of people in the rich cultural domain sometimes known as "Transoxania" now that Soviet domination of the region has ended. From Uzbekistan to Tvarkist, and through parts of Kyrghyzstan and Kazakhstan, Levin travels in an old Russian auto with a fellow ethnomusicologist and Sufi chauffeur as companions. The subject is music, but Levin uses it to cast a wider light, revealing places of considerable sorrow long hidden in the shadows of Soviet power, and to create a travelogue with wide potential appeal. Along the way he encounters men who entertain him lavishly without asking his name, brilliant forgotten composers, baxshis (healers) and a thoughtful Uzbeki pop star. Gracefully responsive to craft, Levin takes in architecture, food and cultural mores. He cannily appraises cultural issues in polyglot cultures where nationalism threatens indigenous musicsmany practiced by both Muslims and Jewsas much as Soviet policy ever did. Candor about his own uncertainties and personal struggles helps make this a personal as well as a scholarly adventure. A superb accompanying 24-track CD with location recordings proves integral to Levin's commentary. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Choice 评论

Levin's study is endlessly fascinating, but if this be ethnomusicology, then we have come full circle--from the ethnocentric descriptions of late-19th-century travelers through the scientific ethnographies of the middle 20th century to the nouveau ethnomusicology of sensitive 1990s scholars. This volume brings to mind such works as Carl Bock's Temples and Elephants: The Narrative of a Journey of Exploration through Upper Siam and Lao (London, 1884). Levin's book reads like a minimally plotted novel: colorful descriptions of the people, cities, villages, and music making of the Soviet Union's former southern republics, especially Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Blending experiences from different times, accounts given by various people, and broad general knowledge, Levin creates a totally reflexive account of the musicians and music making he encountered--modern and traditional--with no claims to universality or completeness. Each chapter deals with a specific place; there are no chapters on genres, organology, or theory. Indeed, there are virtually no musical examples, but there is a splendid compact disc with 23 examples, all but two field-recorded by Levin. This is an ethnomusicological study readers will not be able to put down. All collections. T. E. Miller; Kent State University

《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评

Those who think that ethnomusicology is a sedate pursuit should read this book. Levin (music, Dartmouth) recounts his travel and research experiences in exotic locations such as Tashkent, Bukhara, and Shahristan. Years after journeying to Central Asia to study Uzbek music at Tashkent State Conservatory, he joined forces with a native colleague to uncover the true musical life of the regionrich and complex, with underlying historical, geographical, political (particularly Soviet), religious, and philosophical influences. Levin clearly relished his interviews with musicians like Tohfaxan, a female wedding entertainer or sazanda, and the Babakhanov brothers, whose colorful forebears include a personal musician to the emir. In this engrossing travelog, Levin includes detailed musical/historical analyses and scores of adventuresome anecdotes, then considers the lives and musical pursuits of individuals who who have emigrated to the New York City borough of Queens. Not to be missed by thoses interested in music and world culture; for circulating libraries with scholarly collections in the arts and humanities.Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Key to Selections on Compact Disc	p. xxi
Guide to Pronunciation and Transliteration	p. xxiii
1 Tashkent
Moscow to Tashkent	p. 1
An Uzbek Fellow Traveler	p. 4
Plan of the City	p. 7
The Conservatory	p. 10
A Russian Composer Finds the East	p. 14
The Last of the Jadids	p. 22
Neofeudalism with a Human Face	p. 30
The Singing Mullah	p. 34
Frozen Music	p. 45
A Traditional Innovator	p. 51
The Avatar of a Master	p. 69
A Contralto and a Pop Queen	p. 76
2 Bukhara
The Imaginal City	p. 85
A Drive to Bukhara	p. 93
A Bukharan Jewish Musical Dynasty	p. 98
The Cupola of Islam Redux	p. 106
More Frozen Music	p. 111
Two Wedding Entertainers	p. 115
Going West	p. 128
3 The South: Surxandarya and Qashqadarya
Karshi	p. 131
A "Traveler" in Baysun	p. 135
Baxshi Chic in Shirabad	p. 146
Xaja Mahmud	p. 149
4 Khorezm
Across the Kara-Kum	p. 157
Khorezm Reimagined	p. 161
Two Evenings of Classical Music	p. 166
A Baxshi and His Pupil	p. 173
Searching for a Zhirau	p. 180
Xalfas	p. 189
5 The Upper Zaravshan and Yagnab
A Mysterious Valley	p. 194
The Yagnab Affair	p. 198
Trekking for Music	p. 200
A Wedding in Dargh	p. 215
Wedding Songs	p. 222
Poetry in the Afternoon	p. 228
Strange Polyphony	p. 231
The Zarb	p. 235
6 Shahristan
A Forbidden Vocation	p. 242
Calling Spirits	p. 245
The Baxshi's Dance	p. 250
More Syncretisms	p. 255
7 Queens
An Apartment in Forest Hills	p. 260
Growing Up Jewish in Kattakurgan	p. 265
A Fool of God in Queens	p. 270
Glossary	p. 289
Notes	p. 294
Bibliographic and Discographic Guide	p. 308
Index	p. 312

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