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Social Science General

Singing Story, Healing Drum

Shamans and Storytellers of Turkic Siberia

by (author) Kira Van Deusen

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2004
Category
General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773526167
    Publish Date
    Mar 2004
    List Price
    $40.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773571518
    Publish Date
    Mar 2004
    List Price
    $110.00

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Description

Endlessly fascinating, often moving, and a must read for anyone interested in the cultures of Siberia. Adele Barker, Comparative Cultural and Literary Studies, University of Arizona The history and contemporary transformation of south Siberia is illuminated through this exploration of the shamanic revival in the Turkic Republics of Tuva and Khakassia. Based on extensive field-work and including folktales, legends, and shamanic poems that elucidate spiritual traditions as well as descriptions of local rituals, Singing Story, Healing Drum is at once travel narrative, autobiography, history, and ethnology. Kira Van Deusen weaves together traditional scholarship and a personal account of her travels through Siberia and contacts with scholars, shamans, and storytellers active in reviving traditional culture. Highlighting the importance of oral literature and music, Singing Story, Healing Drum guides the reader through the often confusing phenomena of the shamanic revival, both in Russia and abroad.

About the author

Kira Van Deusen is a storyteller and musician who has done extensive research on the oral traditions of Siberian Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Inuit. Her previous books include Kiviuq: An Inuit Hero and his Siberian Cousins and The Flying Tiger: Women Shamans and Storytellers of the Amur. She lives in Vancouver, BC.

Kira Van Deusen's profile page

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