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Dhol: Drummers, Identities, and Modern Punjab

Gibb Schreffler

In the early twenty-first century, the Punjab region’s traditional drummers, dholis, were experiencing “the toughest time ever.” Concurrently, their instrument, the iconic barrel-drum dhol, was ... More

In the early twenty-first century, the Punjab region’s traditional drummers, dholis, were experiencing “the toughest time ever.” Concurrently, their instrument, the iconic barrel-drum dhol, was experiencing unprecedented global popularity. This book uncovers why, notwithstanding the emblematic status of dhol for Punjabis, the dholis’ local communities are facing existential crisis. The pursuit of a national identity—which aids in political representation and maintaining historical consciousness during change—has led modern Punjabis to make particular economic, social, and artistic choices. A casualty of this pursuit has been the disenfranchisement of dholis, who do not find representation despite the symbolic import of dhol to that national identity. Through the example of dhol’s subtle appropriation, the book argues that the empowerment gained by bolstering Punjabi identity in the global arena works at the expense of people on Punjabi society’s margins. At its core are the hereditary-professional drummers who, while members of society’s low-status “outcaste” population, created and maintained dhol traditions over centuries. Exacerbated by a cultural nationalist discourse that downplays ethnic diversity, their subaltern ethnic identities have been rendered invisible. Recognizing their diverse ethnic affiliations, however, is only the first step towards hearing hitherto absent perspectives of individual musicians. As a work of advocacy, this book draws on two decades of ethnography of Indian, Pakistani, and diasporic Punjabi drummers to center their experiences in the story of modern Punjab.Less

Performing Environmentalisms: Expressive Culture and Ecological Change

John Holmes McDowell, Katherine Borland, Rebecca Dirksen, and Sue Tuohy (eds)

Performing Environmentalisms: Expressive Culture and Ecological Change is a fresh contribution to the environmental humanities, offering ten original essays anchored in the fields of folklore studies ... More

Performing Environmentalisms: Expressive Culture and Ecological Change is a fresh contribution to the environmental humanities, offering ten original essays anchored in the fields of folklore studies and ethnomusicology that engage productively with forms of traditional expressive culture at the crux of environmental debate and conflict. These essays draw on ethnographic research in several world regions to explore the ways individuals and groups express and perform their connection to the environment as they interpret changing environments, manage ecological crises, and seek to change policies, minds, and practices. Performing Environmentalisms brings together a set of essays that focus on genres and practices of expressive culture—songs, stories, handicrafts, and ritual and activist practices—as these are employed to come to grips with ecological change, and in doing so, argues for performing environmentalisms as a valuable perspective on ecological change and environmental crisis in the Anthropocene. The book consists of a substantial introduction, laying the foundation for thinking about expressive culture as an instrument of environmental discourse, followed by essays grouped into three sections: Perspectives on Diverse Environmentalisms, Performing the Sacred, and Environmental Attachments; a thoughtful afterword by Eduardo Brondizio locates Performing Environmentalisms as a welcome contribution toward a holistic approach to environmental issues.Less

A Respectable Spell: Transformations of Samba in Rio de Janeiro

This book is primarily about the social history and musical changes of samba in Rio de Janeiro from 1917 to the early 1930s, looking chiefly at the era’s commercial recordings. The year 1917 marks ... More

This book is primarily about the social history and musical changes of samba in Rio de Janeiro from 1917 to the early 1930s, looking chiefly at the era’s commercial recordings. The year 1917 marks the first time that a popular song designated as “samba” became a widespread Carnival success in the city. In the early 1930s, a new style of samba became dominant, such that it is still today the genre’s primary point of reference. The book proposes an analysis and interpretation of the differences in the musical styles, highlighting their rhythmic aspects. It also shows how these differences are linked to the way in which samba and sambistas are understood in Rio de Janeiro’s society and culture during this period. The first part of the book, “From Lundu to Samba,” deals with popular music genres created during the second half of the nineteenth century, such as lundu, Brazilian tango, and maxixe, whose musical characteristics came to be shared with old-style samba. The book’s second part, “From One Samba to Another,” deals with the emergence of samba in Rio de Janeiro as a commercial genre of popular music, and with the creation and success of the new style of samba, paying special attention to the trajectories of Ismael Silva and Noel Rosa, composers representative of this transition.Less