Music in Western Rajasthan: Stability and Change

Abstract

Ethnologists now generally accept the idea that all cultures are dynamic and ever changing (Berreman, 1968:338). It is clear, however, that the rate of change varies not only from one culture to the next, but also with respect to the different elements within that culture. In some ways, a society is rather like an octopus with its tentacles periodically stretching in different directions—each motion causing at least a slight change in the alignment of forces within it. For analytical purposes, this continuous juggling of forces and pressures can often be comprehended more readily in a series of stop-action vignettes, exactly comparable to the individual frames of a motion picture film. With this technique, it becomes possible to predict that, for instance, a jumper in mid-air will return to earth and, if one knew his velocity and trajectory, just where he would land. However, the forces operating on and within a society are not nearly as well understood as is the force of gravity and thus predictions of change in society are generally much less reliable. Nevertheless, such an examination of the operative forces and their alignments in this kind of stop-action view will undoubtedly add to our understanding of the processes of change in society.

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