Gusans

Medieval gusan Barbad playing before Khosrow II[1]
A statue of two gusans in Gyumri, depicting Sheram and Jivani

Gusans (Armenian: գուսան; Parthian for poet-musician or minstrel) were creative and performing artists - singers, instrumentalists, dancers, storytellers, and professional folk actors in public theaters of Parthia and ancient and medieval Armenia.[2]

In Armenia, the term gusan is often used as a synonym for ashugh, a singer-poet and bard.[3][4]

  1. ^ Jean During, Zia Miradolbaghi (1991). The Art of Persian Music (PDF). Washington DC: Mage Publishers. Barbad was a great minstrel (rameshgar, gosan) at the court of Khosrow II Parviz (590-628).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference boyce was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Yang, Xi (5 February 2019). "History and Organization of the Anatolian Ašuł/Âşık/Aşıq Bardic Traditions". In Özdemir, Ulas; Hamelink, Wendelmoet; Greve, Martin (eds.). Diversity and Contact Among Singer-Poet Traditions in Eastern Anatolia. Ergon Verlag. p. 20. ISBN 978-3956504815. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  4. ^ The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2. Routledge. 2013. pp. 851–852. ISBN 978-1136095948. Retrieved 6 August 2020.