A STUDY OF ACCULTURATION IN CHINESE-MONGOLIAN <em>ER’RENTAI</em> FOLK OPERA

• Main Author: Shao, Luyin
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2017
• Subjects: Er’rentai; Acculturation process; Chinese-Mongolian Folk Opera; Huo Banzhu; Inner Mongolia; Chinese Studies; Ethnic Studies; Ethnomusicology; Musicology; Music Theory
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/94; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&amp;context=music_etds

Er’rentai, or Mongolian dance and song duets, is a genre of folk opera in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. Er’rentai performances can be categorized into two styles—the “western-style” and the “eastern-style.” The aim of this thesis is to explore the acculturation in Chinese-Mongolian er’rentai genre in the following ways. First, I address the historical background of the western-style er’rentai. Then, I draw on fieldwork with Huo Banzhu, a famous er’rentai musician, to introduce contemporary state of er’rentai's development. Finally, I employ musical analysis to demonstrate the borrowings of Mongolian music and culture in the formation and transmission of Chinese-Mongolian er’rentai.