“Small Voices Sing Big Songs”

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines intersections of development, institutionalization, and community-building in North Indian contemporary regional music among the Manganiyar, a community of hereditary musicians living in the Thar Desert of western Rajasthan. The Manganiyar have maintained musical practice within a strict patronage system as their caste and livelihood for centuries. This chapter tracks the interplay between themes of tradition, preservation, and modernity in examining Manganiyar music. The dilemmas posed by the need for economic and social stability once secured by hereditary patrons are profound, yet Manganiyar musicians have been extremely resilient and resourceful in creating new opportunities to sustain music as a profession. In recent decades, Manganiyar musicians have performed nationally and internationally, on renowned concert stages like Carnegie Hall and reality television shows like Indian Idol, and are reshaping their image in their villages through empowered acts of economic, social, and cultural reclamation.

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