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Multiple Authenticities in Motion: Styles and Stances in Sikh Sabad Kīrtan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2018

Inderjit N. Kaur
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Extract

In ethnomusicology and related fields, an encounter in fieldwork with discourses of authenticity is an alert to issues of representation and the need to take the reach of one's conceptualization and analysis beyond the authorizing voices of a limited number of stakeholders. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for recent scholarship on the musical aspects of Sikh sabad kīrtan (sung sacred poetry). In this article I argue that bringing in multiple voices of listeners and musicians enables both a better understanding of this devotional practice as well as an expanded and dynamic conceptualization of authenticity.

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Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 48 , 2016 , pp. 71 - 93
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Copyright © 2016 By The International Council for Traditional Music

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