Music of Hindu Trinidad
Subtitle: songs from the India diaspora
By: Helen Myers.
Series: Chicago studies in ethnomusicology
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 510
Subjects: East Indians -- Trinidad and Tobago -- Felicity -- Music -- History and criticism.; Music -- Trinidad and Tobago -- Felicity -- History and criticism.; Music -- India -- History and criticism.; Hindustani music -- Trinidad and Tobago -- Felicity -- History and criticism.
Description: Like many other small towns in Trinidad, Felicity is populated almost entirely by East Indians. In their Caribbean exile, the residents of Felicity have created and recreated the music of their Hindu ancestors. Music of Hindu Trinidad is a fascinating account of the history and cultural significance of Hindu music that explores its symbolic, aesthetic, and psychological aspects while asking the larger question of how this music has contributed to the formation of identity in the midst of their great diaspora. Myers details the musical repertory of Felicity, which is based largely on north Indian genres including the traditional Bhojpuri folk songs and drumming styles brought by the first indentured laborers in 1845. In her engaging exploration of the fate of Indian classical music and new popular styles such as Hindi calypso, soca, and chutney, she even finds herself at the ancestral home of Trinidadian V.S. Naipaul in India. Copiously illustrated and accompanied by a compact disc, Music of Hindu Trinidad is a model ethnographic study. --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 463-479), discography, and indexes.