“The Real Kazakh is a Dombyra”?: Musical Instruments and Nation Branding in 21 st -Century Kazakhstan

Although both the two-string plucked lute dombyra and two-stringed horsehair fiddle qyl-qobyz possess strong ties to the nomadic heritage of the Kazakhs, the dombyra embodies a much more public, accessible, and officially endorsed musical representation of Kazakh-ness than the mysterious and complicated qyl-qobyz. This article will explore the characteristics that have come to define the dombyra and qyl-qobyz in the Kazakh national imagination, and how musical instruments participate in "nation branding" by reinforcing a desirable image of the nation-state – and by extension promoting a particular narrative of national identity – while also complicating that image by embodying complex and occasionally difficult histories.