Description
Book SynopsisShows how Dalits are fighting oppression through the power of music
Trade ReviewZoe Sherinian's Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology is a landmark study of how music can combat oppression. The book deserves to be read by all ethnomusicologists interested in social justice movements, applied ethnomusi-cology, South Asian musics, and global Christianity.
* Ethnomusicology *
Sherinian's book is of obvious interest to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, and other socially oriented scholars focused on South India and on Christianity, as well as being relevant for students of theology in a global frame (and liberation theology). . . . It also breaks ground as an ethnomusicological study of an individual, because it not only presents a musical biography but also structures its ethnomusicological analyses around the theoretical framework developed by that individual.
* Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith *
[T]his book makes a huge contribution to knowledge of a socially significant genre just as neglected, until now, as the people who perform it. . . . Highly recommended.
* Choice *
Tamil Folk Music as Liberation Theology helps us to understand what is at stake for people making a transformative choice to reclaim local folk music in a particular community and liturgical setting. It powerfully and eloquently traces a complicated history of caste oppression, missionary activity, the internalization of hegemonic attitudes, and loss of identity.
* Asian Ethnology *
Sherinian's book offers a compelling account of Tamil Folk music (complete with transcriptions and links to online recordings); its social locations, and broader theological potential—and makes a number of important contributions along the way.
* Journal of Hindu Christian Studies *
Table of ContentsPreface
List of PURL Audio and Video files
Introduction: Singing The Lord's Prayer and Dalit Liberation in Tamil Nadu
1. Musical Style and Indigenization in Tamil Christian Music
2. Sharing the Meal: A Dalit Family's Dialogue with the History of Tamil Christian Music, 1850-1994
3. Parattai's Dalit Theology
4. Ethnography as Transformative Musical Dialogue
5. Reception and Transformation from the Seminary to the Village:
6. Performing Global Dalit Consciousness
Appendixes
Appendix 1: Music Transcriptions
Appendix 2: Song Lyrics By J. Theophilus Appavoo (Parattai)
Notes
Bibliography
Index
