Dissertation Research: Dance, Language, and Power among the Yup'iks and the Inupiat in Alaska

论文研究：阿拉斯加尤皮克人和因纽特人的舞蹈、语言和权力

• 批准号: 0612839
• 负责人: Molly Lee
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0612839&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Dance; Language; Power

This Dissertation Research project by Hiroko Ikuta, PI Molly Lee, will compare dance and song performance and the development of ethnic identity among the Inupiat and the Yup'ik of Alaska. The research will examine how the nature and structure of Inupiat and Yup'ik peoples' aesthetic forms of expression, indigenous language proficiency, and meanings of traditions are manifested in song and dance and shaped by political, economic, and historical events.The modern Yup'ik and Inupiaq Eskimos of Alaska contrast provocatively as to geographical area, subsistence patterns, language, and culture. For both groups, song and dance have long been vehicles for transmitting history, traditions, and cultural values. Today, dance is also a way of articulating ethnic identity, interpreting tradition, and representing culture in political discourse. Among the Inupiat of Barrow, Alaska, dance combines cultural aesthetics with environmental knowledge. For them, dance and song from the past express their identity as an ethnic minority. By contrast, the orientation of Yup'ik dance is to the present, not the past. These comparative situations stimulate several research questions: How are endangered language preservation programs, socio economic situations, and political discourses with the dominant society connected to contemporary Eskimo understandings of tradition? Whereas some indigenous groups define their identity as emergent from old tradition, while others like the Yup'iks use tradition as a starting point for incorporating new styles evocative of modern culture? This study will foster a better understanding of the nature and structure of Eskimo peoples' aesthetic forms of expression, indigenous language retention, their traditionality, and the meanings of tradition wrought by political, economic, and historical events. I hypothesize that dance performances are the key sphere where people regenerate, reinterpret, and renegotiate their traditions to themselves and to wider audiences. Comparative research will provide the basis of my analysis of the meanings of dance, song, and tradition, particularly the relationships between expressive cultures, knowledge systems, and perception of the environment. I will focus on how language endangerment relates to the creation of ritual language through traditional dances and their accompanying songs. By comparing Yup'ik and Inupiaq communities varying as to language maintenance, colonial history, and economic development, this project will contribute to anthropological theory in several ways: 1) role of dance and song as pragmatic, material activities; 2) relationship between song and language endangerment; and 3) tradition defined by indigenous peoples and asymmetrical power relationships.

本论文由伊田弘子、皮莫莉·李主持，将对阿拉斯加因努皮亚族和尤普伊克族的舞蹈和歌曲表演以及族群认同的发展进行比较。这项研究将考察伊努皮亚特人和尤皮克人的审美表现形式、土著语言熟练程度和传统意义的性质和结构如何在歌曲和舞蹈中表现出来，并被政治、经济和历史事件塑造。现代阿拉斯加的伊努皮克人和伊努皮亚克爱斯基摩人在地理区域、生存模式、语言和文化方面形成了挑衅性的对比。对于这两个群体来说，歌曲和舞蹈长期以来都是传递历史、传统和文化价值观的工具。今天，舞蹈也是一种在政治话语中表达民族认同、诠释传统和表现文化的方式。在阿拉斯加州巴罗的因努皮亚特人中，舞蹈将文化美学与环境知识结合在一起。对他们来说，过去的舞蹈和歌曲表达了他们作为少数民族的身份。相比之下，Yupik舞蹈的定位是现在，而不是过去。这些比较情况引发了几个研究问题：濒危语言保护计划、社会经济状况和与主导社会的政治话语如何与当代爱斯基摩人对传统的理解联系在一起？鉴于一些土著群体将自己的身份定义为从旧传统中涌现出来，而另一些人，如雅普伊克人，则以传统为起点，融入了唤起现代文化的新风格？这项研究将有助于更好地了解爱斯基摩人审美表现形式的性质和结构，土著语言的保留，他们的传统性，以及由政治、经济和历史事件产生的传统的意义。我假设，舞蹈表演是人们向自己和更广泛的观众重生、重新解释和重新谈判他们的传统的关键领域。比较研究将为我分析舞蹈、歌曲和传统的含义，特别是表达文化、知识体系和对环境的感知之间的关系提供基础。我将集中讨论语言濒危如何与通过传统舞蹈及其伴奏歌曲创造仪式语言有关。通过比较Yup‘ik和Inupiaq社区在语言维护、殖民历史和经济发展方面的差异，该项目将在以下几个方面为人类学理论做出贡献：1)舞蹈和歌曲作为实用的物质活动的作用；2)歌曲和语言濒危的关系；3)土著人民定义的传统和不对称的权力关系。