ABSTRACT
Many revivalist musicologists attempt to return songs to their ‘sources’ – the memories of villagers – with the goals of ‘preserving’ what they call ‘ancient’ culture by keeping it active in people’s minds, and also of enabling villagers to demonstrate their ancient traditions in the dual contexts of local celebrations and wider exposure such as nationally broadcast television documentaries. Since scholars want villagers to set an example and provide an education in old traditions, they exhort them to preserve certain parts of their traditions, while ignoring other parts.
