Posthuman Aesthetics and Indigenous Knowledge: Elunchun Folk Songs in Contemporary Music Education

Abstract

This study explores the posthuman and pedagogical potential of Elunchun folk songs—an Indigenous musical tradition rooted in the forested ecologies of Northeast China—as a means of fostering aesthetic awareness, cultural empathy, and relational learning in music education. Drawing on qualitative methodologies, including ethnographic fieldwork, song analysis, and interviews with five key informants, the research centers on the song “Elunchun De Hui Yi”, which embodies the Elunchun community’s multispecies worldviews, ancestral memory, and adaptive resilience. The analysis reveals distinct musical elements—such as pentatonic modal frameworks, flexible rhythmic structures, and lyrical natural imagery—that challenge Western-centric models of music pedagogy. These findings situate Elunchun folk songs not only as tools for aesthetic development but as carriers of Indigenous epistemologies that resist erasure in the face of modernization and cultural assimilation. The study advocates for their integration into contemporary educational frameworks through culturally sustaining pedagogy, digital preservation, and intercultural dialogue. In doing so, it contributes to broader posthumanist conversations on the ethical reconfiguration of music education and the recognition of Indigenous knowledge systems as vital to a pluralistic and decolonial educational future.