Yayla: Musique Et Musiciens De Villages En Turquie Meridionale (with CD) by Cler, Jerome - 2011

Paris: Geuthner, 2011. First Edition. Large 8vo. 354 pp; [4pp color plates. Bibliography. Includes CD in rear pocket. Preface by Niccolas Elias. Color illustrated softcover in fine condition. The Yayla are the pastures where the yörük , nomads and semi-nomads Turkmen, lead their herds in May and it is now more often the place where these nomads ended up settling. Thus, in the southwest of Turkey, not far from the Mediterranean, in a few yayla from Western Taurus, musicians rehearse music over and over again to encourage relatives or friends to dance. The resulting monograph starts from this small country of dancers, its musical conceptions, its habits , exploring the concepts of rhythm, territory and minority. Questioning the deep nature of this rural world which remains very little studied by anthropology, the author proposes a "geomusicology": because music is here not only an object of study, but also a link between a landscape and men who inhabit it.