Lecture by Megan Rancier (UCLA '09): "Using Peircian Semiotics to Understand How Musical Instruments Mean: the Case of the Kazakh Qyl-Qobyz."

Abstract: Recent work by several ethnomusicologists has addressed the fact that musical instruments produce social meanings (Qureshi, Nercessian), and has used the semiotic theories of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) to analyze musical signs and their meaning (Turino). However, the use of Peircian semiotic theory has rarely been applied to the analysis of musical instruments themselves as repositories of meaningful signs, and how those signs function in perceivers to produce various kinds of meaning. This presentation will explore the potential of a semiotic approach to musical instruments, using the case study of the qyl-qobyz, a two-stringed horsehair fiddle from Kazakhstan. The numerous sources of signs that reside in the qyl-qobyz—e.g., its origin story and development, construction, acoustics, and socio-political utility throughout history—will serve as the basis for analyzing the many ways in which musical instruments can mean, and how those meanings can reinforce larger social phenomena such as ethnic nationalism.

Bio: Megan Rancier researches issues of music and national identity in Post-Soviet Central Asia. She received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA in 2009. Her dissertation, entitled “The Kazakh Qyl-Qobyz: Biography of an Instrument, Story of Nation,” focused on the “life history” of a Kazakh fiddle (qyl-qobyz) through several historical periods, and investigated the instrument’s implications for Kazakh nation-building in contemporary Kazakhstan. She has contributed articles and reviews to Popular Music and Society (2008) and the Yearbook for Traditional Music (2008). Currently Rancier works as a lecturer in the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology and an administrator in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Named after Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, the founding chair of the Department of Ethnomusicology and Systematic Musicology, this colloquium series provides an opportunity for students, faculty, and visiting lecturers to share information about their research and discuss other issues important in the field. Please check the department website for details on lecturers.