关键词: 口弦, 述情, 旅游凝视, 他者

Abstract: Kouxian, or jew’s harp, is an important instrument of people of minority ethnic groups of southwest China to express feelings and emotions. In recent years, however, its expressive functions are undergoing a narrowing process to express love between men and women only. Taking people of three minority ethnic groups-the Qiang of Beichuan County, the Yi of Butuo County and the Tibetans of Zhouqu County-as research object and using participant observation in conjunction with in-depth interview as research method, this research applies the grounded theory tool to analyzing the constructional reasons underlying the expressive narrowing of kouxian based on restoration of the original connotation of the expressive functions of the instrument in question. Subjectively, socially marginalized women have greater desire to voice their emotions through kouxian and, objectively, both the consumer media and gaze of the Other in tourism development are oriented to narrow down its expressive functions. This way, the expression of love between the sexes stands out to cast a shadow on the otherwise versatile expressive power of kouxian, consequently narrowing both the object and meaning of the instrument.

Key words: kouxian(jew’s harp), feeling expression, tourist gaze, Other