Tradition and Society in Turkmenistan: Gender, Oral Culture and Song (Central Asia Research Forum) [Hardcover]

Carole Blackwell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0700713549 | ISBN-13: 978-0700713547 | Publication Date: January 12, 2001 | Edition: First Edition

This unique study of Turkmen women and their folk songs looks at religion, ritual and family as seen through the eyes of the women and their songs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Tradition and Society in Turkmenistan makes an important contribution to the growing body of English-language studies on Central Asia ... a valuable resource for historians, anthropologists and sociologists working on Turkmenistan, or more generally for scholars working on gender identity and performance.' - School of Oriental & African Studies

'Unusual and refreshing' - Cornucopia

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; First Edition edition (January 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700713549
• ISBN-13: 978-0700713547
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,007,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating folk songs, February 14, 2001

By 

Meisha Lynne Beyeler (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tradition and Society in Turkmenistan: Gender, Oral Culture and Song (Central Asia Research Forum) (Hardcover)

I have to admit that I was skeptical when I looked at a preview copy of this book. I doubted that it could be both academically rigorous and genuinely entertaining. I'm glad to say I was proved wrong. It is definitely both. Written in clear and lucid prose, and using the author's (an English woman's) own experiences as a way into the fascinating Turkmen culture, this book is always extremely readable. As the first English-language book on Turkmen folk songs, it is inherently a valuable academic treatise. Fortunately, its academic worth far transcends its unique status. Carefully footnoted and written with great sensitivity--at no point are we allowed to forget that the stories being told belong to the women who tell them--this book represents a great contribution not just to folklore from this region but to the study of folklore in general. I was surprised to read that Ms. Blackwell's background was in theater (and not anthropology), though this no doubt accounts in part for the way she was able to put her interviewees at their ease. A great book.