Miao Songs In A Cultural Discourse Perspective

This study is an attempt to analyze the discourse of Qianzhong Miao songs in a cultural discourse perspective. The general research question of this study is:What on earth are Qianzhong Miao songs like in a cultural discourse perspective. By regarding the Miao songs as a vivid form of discourses, interdisciplinary methods are applied to the study in both macro level and micro level. In light of the methodology of cultural discourse studies, Qianzhong Miao songs in Miao people’s daily life and in literature were carefully investigated.According to the fieldwork and discourse analysis the speakers of discourse are the Miao people who sing the Miao songs and write literary work in terms of lyrics of Miao songs. The receivers of the discourse are discussed in several aspects. First of all, as for the singing of Miao songs in Miao people’s daily life, the Miao song singers are the speakers as well as receivers of the Miao song discourse due to the interactive feature of Miao songs. Moreover, as for the Miao song discourses in the performances for the guests and tourists in public or on TV, the guests and tourists therefore are the receivers. In addition, as for the written form of the discourse, the receivers of the discourse are categorized into three groups in terms of their identity. Hence, the receivers are the authentic readers of the novel, researchers who study the literary work and the media which is the channel stimulating the communication of Qianzhong Miao song discourse with the audience/receivers of the discourse. The features/characteristics of the discourse representing by Miao songs can be concluded with three words,"interactive","immediate"and "attractive"."Interactive" refers to the way the Miao song discourse shown by Miao singers."Immediate" means the discourse was created in the form of quick response to each other in the context."Attractive" refers to the discourse of Miao songs to the audience in performance. I discussed the status of the discourse of Miao songs in accordance with the findings on the basis of fieldwork and analysis on the discourse of Miao songs in literature. Generally speaking, the Miao song discourse is seen as ethnic culture and exotic custom by Han majority. In the eyes of Han majority and’mainstream’culture, the Miao songs and Miao people’s saying are performances on stage, which is exotic and novel. Neither the Miao ethnicity nor the written form of the Miao song discourse is obvious or known to the readers. Throughout the cultural discourse study on Miao songs, the absence of Miao discourse in mainstream culture was discussed at the end of the thesis.