Tamil Folk Music As Dalit Liberation Theology

Zoe C. Sherinian is Associate Professor and Chair of Ethnomusicology at the University of Oklahoma. A percussionist and filmmaker, her ethnographic film on the changing status of Dalit drummers is titled This is a Music: Reclaiming an Untouchable Drum.

"[O]riginal and well written . . . . [S]hould be of interest to South Asianists, especially students and scholars of Dalit studies, [and other readers interested in] South Indian music, global Christianity, and ethnomusicology."—Peter Manuel, CUNY Graduate Center"Zoe 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

• Preface List of PURL Audio and Video filesIntroduction: Singing The Lord's Prayer and Dalit Liberation in Tamil Nadu1. Musical Style and Indigenization in Tamil Christian Music2. Sharing the Meal: A Dalit Family's Dialogue with the History of Tamil Christian Music, 1850-1994 3. Parattai's Dalit Theology4. Ethnography as Transformative Musical Dialogue5. Reception and Transformation from the Seminary to the Village:6. Performing Global Dalit ConsciousnessAppendixesAppendix 1: Music TranscriptionsAppendix 2: Song Lyrics By J. Theophilus Appavoo (Parattai)NotesBibliography Index