How central is the music of Central Asia? Before discussing the music of Central Asia, we need to raise an epistemological question: whose perspective makes it central? Reaching almost 700 pages and trying to be politically neutral, The Music of Central Asia first debates the history of the name and the geographical control practiced by Russia, China and Great Britain, reminding the reader of colonial studies. The colonizers, especially the Russians during the 19th century, tried to homogenize the region. Central Asia embraces overlapping identities: 90% of the inhabitants associate themselves with Turkic and 10% with Iranian ethnicity.

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