Lion-hearted Zezva: musical memorial at a funerary horse race
Wheeler, Benjamin Michels
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132597
Description
Title
Lion-hearted Zezva: musical memorial at a funerary horse race
Author(s)
Wheeler, Benjamin Michels
Issue Date
2025-12-10
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Buchanan, Donna A.
Department of Study
Music
Discipline
Musicology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.Mus.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Musicology
Georgia
Tusheti
Mourning
Ritual
Abstract
This thesis is focused on the memorial practices of the Tushetian community of northeastern Georgia, in particular their annual, commemorative festival known as Zezvaoba. Through an analysis of Zezvaoba’s structure, rites, and sounds; an explanation of local histories and beliefs; and personal accounts derived from my ethnographic experience, I contextualize Tushetian practices (musical, equestrian, and culinary) within a broader conversation about regional identity, the politicization of memorial practices, and the utilization of musical performance as a means to both remember the past, and comment on the present and future.
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