This panel will showcase the latest research in Sikh Studies from emerging scholars in the study of Sikhs and music, highlighting dynamic approaches and diverse themes. Papers offer a multidisciplinary perspective on Sikh culture, identity, politics and practice. This online panel for emerging scholars looks to emphasise inclusivity and global relevance and aims to inspire collaboration and further research. In particular, this panel explores the intersection of technology, music, and cultural expression in Sikh communities to understand how the transmission of Sikhi is influenced by dynamics of power. The panel includes discussions on the mediation of Sikh Kirtan and the socio-political dimensions of Punjabi popular music particularly in light of government bans on Sikh genres.
Two genres of Punjabi popular song were recently banned by different governments: the Punjab state government banned songs valorizing gang activity, and the Indian central government banned songs valorizing Sikh militancy. This paper proposes that despite differing ethical contents, these two genres mutually draw on widespread Punjabi concerns with patronage politics. Using ethnography conducted with armed criminals, Sikh nationalist militants, and songwriters linked to both, this paper examines how Punjabi musical discourse about corruption — illicit but not necessarily illegal patronage networks — connects distinct musics and publics. This paper demonstrates that ostensible technocratic governance of the supply chain permeates discourses of criminal patronage, whether in songs valorizing smalltime mafia bosses, songs valorizing Sikh militancy against “criminal states,” or state censorship of both.
Atop a knee-height, raised platform sits two harmoniums and a tabla, a microphone hovering above each instrument. These microphones route into a mixing board, which connects to an array of JBL speakers situated throughout the main hall and grounds of the gurdwara. When these microphones pick up the instruments or the voices that sing Sikh hymns, they add a cavernous reverb to the sound that gives it an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
Using Blesser and Salter’s theory of aural architecture (2007) and Auslander’s analysis of live performance in mediatized culture (1999), I argue that sacredness in Sikh musical practice is transmitted through the technological filter of reverb. Whereas previous studies on Sikh sacred music analyze affect, metaphysics, and/or spiritual underpinnings, I focus on the technical aspects and mediation of – and striking consistency across – Sikh kirtan in domestic, religious, and broadcast spaces.