About the participation of G. Dolgorsüren in the 1947 World Youth and Student Festival in Prague

Sur la participation de G. Dolgorsüren au Festival de la jeunesse et des étudiants de Prague en 1947

МУАЖ Г.Долгорсүрэн 1947 онд Прага хотод болсон Дэлхийн Залуучууд Оюутны анхдугаар фестивальд оролцсон тухай

Raphael Blanchier (1)

1 ACTé - Activité, Connaissance, Transmission, éducation

This paper tells a part of the history of Mongolian dance that is seldom told, that of the engaged participation of prominent Mongolian dancers, such as Dolgorsüren, in the Soviet-led institution of the World Youth and Student Festivals, from 1947 onwards. It draws anthropological perspectives from archives and historical material, in order to highlight the role of international exposure (under the Soviet leadership) in the building of Mongolia as an independant, culturally-identified, nation-State. Using the example of the first travel of the Mongolian delegation (in which G. Dolgorsüren was part) to Prague in 1947, it discusses how dance is made an apparently neutral, but in fact very political, tool, in the building of a nation-State, and how the reappropriation of the Soviet cultural model by Mongolia goes through the conscious exposure of one's Mongolness to the eye of international others.

Keywords: Mongolia, dance, identity, culture, history, soviet influence

Domains: Social Anthropology and ethnology; Musicology and performing arts

Raphael Blanchier. МУАЖ Г.Долгорсүрэн 1947 онд Прага хотод болсон Дэлхийн Залуучууд Оюутны анхдугаар фестивальд оролцсон тухай. L’influence de G. Dolgorsüren sur l’évolution de la danse mongole, Conservatoire national de musique et danse de Mongolie, 2023. ⟨halshs-04557970⟩