Grasping Intangible Heritage and Reimagining Inner Mongolia: Folk-Artist Albums and a New Logic for Musical Representation in China

Abstract

This article considers the role of recorded music albums in mediating the position of the individual folk musician in Inner Mongolia, China, in the context of increased scholarly efforts throughout the past decade to collect dying oral traditions and catalog regional cultural diversity in Inner Mongolia. This discussion focuses on the scholarly impetus behind the CD series "Inner Mongolia Ethnic Music Classics—Great Masters Series," which seeks to transform the Intangible Cultural Heritage of oral repertoires into a tangible CD format that can be transmitted to future generations. Highlighting one album of collected recordings featuring the long-song singer Badma, I examine how Badma's designation as a cultural transmitter from Alasha, Inner Mongolia offers a case study of the changing politics of recognition in Inner Mongolia and China over the past decade and a half.