title: Understanding the Experiences, Attitudes, and Perspectives of Recent Dāphā Trainees
Creators: name: Nepal, Bigyesh
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: music sustainability
subject: intangible cultural heritage
subject: applied ethnomusicology
subject: Nepali music

description: This research explores the issue of music sustainability and intergenerational transmission within the context of dāphā, a traditional music genre from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Once a popular singing tradition among the Newar people, dāphā's popularity has waned in modern circumstances. Among various challenges dāphā faces, multiple sources have reported diminished youth participation as one of the factors causing the decline. Music sustainability is a key study area within ethnomusicology today which encompasses discussions on issues such as music decline, safeguarding, revitalisation, framework and policy developments, and advocacy. Sustainability in ethnomusicology refers to a music culture's capacity to maintain and develop. This concept goes beyond mere preservation, treating musical traditions as dynamic, renewable entities within their unique ecosystems. Ethnomusicologists emphasise sustaining music by supporting the communities that create and maintain these musical traditions, ensuring they adapt and evolve while retaining their cultural significance. Intergenerational transmission is one prominent element among the various factors that contribute towards the sustainability of a genre. The decline of many musical traditions is often attributed to reduced participation from younger generations, resulting from several factors such as contextual issues, modern influences, economic and environmental impacts, and pedagogical challenges. While much emphasis has been given to intergenerational transmission within music sustainability, there is a notable gap in studies examining the experiences and perceptions of younger people. This gap includes questions related to traditional music pedagogy, including the challenges faced in learning and understanding, teacher-student dynamics, and various factors intersecting with the learning process. Pedagogical experience is a key contributor to shaping attitudes and perceptions towards a music genre. These aspects have not received adequate scholarly attention, underscoring the need for a detailed exploration of the younger generation's experience with traditional music pedagogy, and the attitudes and perceptions that materialise. With this in mind, this research focuses on understanding the experiences, attitudes, and perspectives of recent dāphā trainees within the Byanjankar community of Chyasal, Patan. In 2021, the community trained a cohort of around 65 students, primarily teenagers. Despite the impressive number of participants, engagement with dāphā post-training was minimal. This contradictory situation provided a valuable opportunity to explore and gain insights into the factors influencing their participation and engagement with dāphā. Employing an ethnographic approach, this research is an outcome of data collected through participation, observations, and interviews with various people involved in dāphā chiefly from the Byanjankar community of Chyasal. The data analysis led to four key themes: Learning dāphā, Engaging dāphā, Acknowledging dāphā, and Reflecting dāphā. These themes encapsulate the trainees' journey from their initial learning experiences to their engagement with the music, their attitudes, and perceptions. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the broader contextual factors like cultural practices, religious beliefs, and rituals intersecting and influencing the learning process and participation. The dissertation comprises six chapters. Chapter One introduces the research. Chapter Two delves into Newar culture, music, and dāphā. Chapter Three discusses ethnomusicological views on music sustainability, challenges in intergenerational transmission, and the concept of musical ecosystems. Chapter Four outlines the research methodology. Chapter Five presents the findings, and Chapter Six offers conclusions and recommendations.