Culture Of Contemporary Kazakh Aida Benitez Aken

The Kazakh people who live in grasslands, mountain areas, forests and desert created a prosperous pastoral culture. The well-known old proverb "Song and horse are two wings of Kazakh" tells us that singing plays an important role in Kazakh people's lives. Among the sea of folk poetry, Aytis is the unique one which has strong nomadic cultural characteristics. It is an ancient cultural heritage of Kazakh people from generation to generation. Aytis is a traditional cultural gathering which has a broad mass base and deeply loved by the Kazak people. Duet is the basic form of performing. From Aytis people can disseminate knowledge, inspire ideas and maintain the Kazakh people's psychology.'Aken'is the translation of'Aq(?)n'in Kazakh. The former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan had discussed the types of Aq(?)n, including poets, singers, storytellers and improvisation singers. It should be said that the previous classification covering the types of the Aq(?)n.Along with the change of traditional livelihood and living, the traditional Kazakh nomadic culture is also changing. As an important part of traditional culture, Aytis is also experiencing the great change. Since the onslaught of modernization, many young Kazakhs in city have been unaware of Aytis. They do not appreciate this art form, let alone the heritage of Aytis. In pastoral areas, most of the Kazakh young people know about Aytis or can play and sing. But overall, Aytis as a Kazakh traditional folk art has not been inherited and protected well. In order to inherit this Kazakh traditional arts, Yili Normal College Kuytun Campus opened Aytis art classes under the government's help and support to train young Aytis Aq(?)n. Taking the example of Yili Normal College Kuytun Campus Aytis art classes, this research attempts to analyze the possibility of training Aytis Aq(?)n through school education. Considering how to train inheritor of Kazakh non-material cultural heritage in the new historical conditions, this research perhaps makes sense.Combining the example with fieldwork, folk literature, folklore and educational anthropology, this study attempts to evaluate the school training system of Aytis Aq(?)n.In addition to introduction and conclusion, the present thesis is divided into four parts:The first part introduces Aytis, Aytis Aq(?)n and its main activities and the growth environment. This part focuses on the nurturing roles of folk culture on the Aq(?)n.The second part discusses the protection of Aytis arts and inheritor. This part introduces the role of government in the protection and Aytis Aq(?)n's rights and obligations.The third part analyzes the problem of contemporary Aytis Aq(?)n training system through the detailed survey materials. Firstly, the running conditions, curriculum arrangements, the learning of students and the situation after graduation of Yili Normal College Kuytun Campus arts classes are deeply discussed. Secondly, this part introduces the running conditions and teaching experiences of Aytis art classes in Altay.At last, this part analyzes the impact of school education to Aytis Aq(?)n. Taking the examples of Aytis Assembly held by Yili Normal College Kuytun Campus and the annual Aytis Assembly in Xinjiang, also considering the Kazakh people's evaluation of Aytis Aqan training in school education, this part attempts to discuss the influence and role of school education on Aytis Aq(?)n.