Dancing heirs of nomadic culture. The bii biyelgèè dance and heritagisation processes in Mongolia

Danser l’héritage culturel nomade. La danse bii bielgèè et les processus de patrimonialisation en Mongolie

Raphaël Blanchier (1)

1 ACTé - Activité, Connaissance, Transmission, éducation

This article questions cultural and heritage-making policies in contemporary Mongolia, using the example of the Oirat’s bii biyelgèè dance, inscribed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safeguarding in 2009. As it is both the dance of minority groups and a paragon of national nomadic culture, this study proposes to rethink the transmission of the bii biyelgèè within the framework of heritagisation processes. It aims at considering its historical roots (both political and epistemological), as well as the relational positioning of a variety of local actors including recognised “heirs” as well as “users” of heritage. Heritage is viewed as a heuristic lens through which identity-making processes and cultural negotiation in the socialist and post-socialist countries of Eurasia as well as on the global stage can be understood.

Mots clés: Mongolia, dance, heritage, nomadism, identity, culture, public policies

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Musique, musicologie et arts de la scène

Raphaël Blanchier. Dancing heirs of nomadic culture. The bii biyelgèè dance and heritagisation processes in Mongolia. Études mongoles et sibériennes, centrasiatiques et tibétaines, 2023, 54, ⟨10.4000/emscat.6036⟩. ⟨hal-04527004⟩