Tourism and Grand Song: The Role and Influence on the Life of Young Women in Xiaohuang

ABSTRACT

Folk music forms an integral part of life in ethnic villages, and its importance can be observed in many aspects of the traditional culture prevalent within these settings. Due to the economic benefits associated with tourism, ethnic minority groups have been endeavoring to repackage their cultural heritage into tourism products to maximize their commodity value. While considerable research has been undertaken on folk music in the context of commercialization or authenticity, the impact of tourism on community and link to gender issues has received little attention. Thus, this study explores the Grand Song as an ethnic tourism product and its influence on the present-day life of people residing in the village of Xiaohuang. The key finding is that although ethnic tourism based on the Grand Song performance on stage is not fully developed and cannot yet lead to economic benefits in Xiaohuang, it plays a significant role in preventing young villagers from departing from Xiaohuang in pursuit of work and in providing young married women with leisure opportunities to break the tedium of their daily routines as well as monetary benefits.

摘要

在民族村落，音乐是生活的重要组成部分，其重要性体现在传统文化的各个方面。近年来，在旅游经济利益的驱动下，一些民族村落为了最大化经济效益，竭力将民族音乐包装为旅游产品。虽然已有不少研究从‘商业化’或‘原真性’的角度对民族音乐进行了研究，旅游对当地社区的影响与性别问题仍未受到较多关注。因此，本研究探讨了侗族大歌被开发为少数民族旅游产品后对小黄村村民生活的影响。研究发现虽然以侗族大歌表演为基础的少数民族旅游尚未发展成熟，未能为小黄村带来显著的经济收益，却在一定程度上起到了阻止农村青年劳动力外流的作用。同时，它为小黄村的已婚青年妇女提供了重要的休闲机会，使其能够从单调的日常生活短暂逃离并获得一定的经济收益。

KEYWORDS:

• Folk music
• Grand Song
• women
• Xiaohuang village
• ethnic tourism

关键词:

• 民族音乐、侗族大歌、女性、小黄村、民族旅游

Notes

1. Until the 1950s, when the Chinese government imposed pinyin Romanization on their spoken language, the Dong had remained a strictly oral culture (K. Smith, 2009).

2. According to J. Wu (2017), children of the Dong minority group ‘learn to sing before they can talk’ (p. 12).

3. Gaozeng （高增）is a large village with a population of 1,825 (1993) located in the Duliu River (Oakes, 1997).

4. When we visited Xiaohuang in May, only one hostel was willing to accommodate us.

5. It is a voluntary position.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Young Mi Song

Young Mi Song is Lecturer in the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China (E-mail: [email protected]).

Fang Fang Chen

Fangfang Chen is a graduate student of the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China (E-mail: [email protected]).