Tamil Dalit Art and Identity: What to Do With the drum?

0490044 - OÚ 2019 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Hons, Pavel
Tamil Dalit Art and Identity: What to Do With the drum?
South Asia Research. Roč. 38, č. 2 (2018), s. 140-155. ISSN 0262-7280
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA16-02363S
Institutional support: RVO:68378009
Keywords : beef consumption * caste * Christians * Dalits * dance * drums * ethnicity * folk drama * identity * India * Paraiyars * Tamil Nadu
OECD category: Folklore studies
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0262728018767021

Based mainly on printed sources in Tamil, as well as interviews with Dalit activists, this article seeks to map current divergent attitudes of Dalits towards folklore and especially towards the drum. While most activists argue for the rejection of drumming as a symbol of oppression and untouchability, some try to use it as a means of mobilisation. Others speak in favour of the resignification of the instrument and its protection and preservation as a part of their cultural legacy, which they consider to be different from the mainstream. The article also sets out to correlate these attitudes with the ideology of the eradication of caste and points to the ensuing dilemmas connected with emphasising caste-based identities.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0292894