Singing the Classical, Voicing the Modern: The Postcolonial Politics of Music in South India

by Amanda J. Weidman

While Karnatic music, a form of Indian music based on the melodic principle of raga and time cycles called tala , is known today as South India’s classical music, its status as “classical” is an early-twentieth-century construct, one that emerged in the crucible of colonial modernity, nationalist ideology, and South Indian regional politics. As Amanda J. Weidman demonstrates, in order for Karnatic music to be considered classical music, it needed to be modeled on Western classical music, with its system of notation, composers, compositions, conservatories, and concerts. At the same time, it needed to remain distinctively Indian. Weidman argues that these contradictory imperatives led to the emergence of a particular “politics of voice,” in which the voice came to stand for authenticity and Indianness. Combining ethnographic observation derived from her experience as a student and performer of South Indian music with close readings of archival materials, Weidman traces the emergence of this politics of voice through compelling analyses of the relationship between vocal sound and instrumental imitation, conventions of performance and staging, the status of women as performers, debates about language and music, and the relationship between oral tradition and technologies of printing and sound reproduction. Through her sustained exploration of the way “voice” is elaborated as a trope of modern subjectivity, national identity, and cultural authenticity, Weidman provides a model for thinking about the voice in anthropological and historical terms. In so doing, she shows that modernity is characterized as much by particular ideas about orality, aurality, and the voice as it is by regimes of visuality.

Genres: Music

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Naeem · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for theory then this book is subtle, nuanced, and judicious. She allows you to make up your own mind on how to use her work.

But the real discovery here is historical. Every chapter tells a fascinating story that doubles back on itself three or four times -- there is just no predicting where these stories will go.

One learns a tremendous amount about music in India, the history of India, and the everyday contours of music theory on the street, in the schools, and at the palaces.

I was particularly struck by how the changes in technology -- importing the violin, advent of the mic, incorporation of the gramophone -- influence ideas of modernity/tradition, class/gender, and linguistic nationalism.

If you give this book the time it deserves it rewards you in countless ways. I plan to read it again.