South Asian Musics, Multiculturalism and Communities: A Review of Literature and Key Concepts Thomas Hodgson and David Clarke

The UK is home to many diverse South Asian communities who value music not only as a source of enjoyment, but as an activity that allows them to build networks and make their culture audible. As a rich and engaging ground for research, members of academic institutions now more than ever, need to take part in these communities in order to produce ethnographically informed and collaborative projects.

 

The British Isles have always been multicultural. They have been the subject of flows of people from other lands, through migration, invasion and more; creating a culturally plural national identity. Over the last 30 years, there has been an enormous amount of sociological and anthropological interest in Britain’s multiculturalism. Nowadays, sociologists have tried to focus on multiculturalism as a concept, asking questions and having doubts on the benefits and disadvantages of past studies and arguing that multiculturalism should be about valuing cultural diversity (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, p. 8).

 

In its own way, ethnomusicology has approached the concept, focusing on the way in which cultural practices such as music survive in what is known as diasporic settings (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, p. 9). For many years, ethnomusicology has paid a great deal of attention to music and migration but surprisingly, there has been very little consideration of how music might contribute to understand multiculturalism (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, p. 10).

 

Musicology can add a lot of value to the conversation. Migrant groups use music to understand and make their way through the experience of living in multicultural societies. It’s no secret that music carries a deep sense of identity and belonging, offering a current picture of what it means to live in a multicultural society (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, pp. 10-11).

 

Music and the experience of migration

 

For South Asian communities in the UK, music works for a variety of needs tied to multiculturalism and its debate, such as belonging, integration, education or heritage. A community’s sense of belonging and identity can be displayed through cultural forms like music, after all, music provides a window into the migratory experience. (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, pp. 16-17).

 

In the case of South Asian migrants and post-migrants, born and raised in the UK in a multicultural context, music holds a different meaning for each passing generation (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, p. 18). In order to establish the next steps towards developing an ethnographically informed account of South Asian communities, and of multicultural groups, it is important to recognize that many aspects of culture, identity and religion are selected from multiple heritages. And that ethnicities are contextual and always subject to change and evolution (Hodgson and Clarke, 2012, p. 19).

 

Reference: 

 

Hodgson, T., & Clarke, D. (2012). South Asian musics, multiculturalism and communities: a review of literature and key Concepts. AHRC Connected Communities. https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/189228

 

 

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