Author(s)

Gehong Li ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, United States

Corresponding Author

Gehong Li

ABSTRACT

This article interrogates the epistemological foundations of musical notation in nineteenth-century Bengal. Atarthi (2017) contends that the musicological writings of figures such as Sourindro Mohun Tagore should not be understood exclusively through the lenses of colonialism and musical nationalism [1]. The first section critically examines the multifaceted concept of classicisation, situating it within the broader discourse on Mughal tropes of classicisation while also exploring the pre-colonial motivations behind Tagore's efforts to canonise Bengali music. The second section addresses how Tagore deftly navigated the interests of both colonial authorities and local audiences through his musicological writings, along with the ensuing debates. Drawing on primary sources, including Tagore's transcription of the English anthem "God Save the Queen" into Bengali, this article unpacks classicisation tropes such as "scientific" and "modernity," and critically engages with the dichotomies embedded within these frameworks. Rather than categorising colonial and vernacular knowledge as distinct and opposing entities, this article foregrounds the hybridity of paracolonial knowledge production, thereby examining how Tagore's involvement in these discourses exemplifies this hybridity.

KEYWORDS

Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Bengali Music, Postcolonial Studies, Classicisation, Canonisation, Paracolonial Knowledge, Ethnomusicology

CITE THIS PAPER

Gehong Li, Reimagining Musical Identity: The Classicisation of Bengali Music through S.M. Tagore's Musico-Textual Writings and Postcolonial Debates in 19th Century Bengal. Art and Performance Letters (2024) Vol. 5: 149-156. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/artpl.2024.050422.

REFERENCES

[1] Atarthi, Sagnik. Whither Musicology? Amateur Musicologists and Music Writing in Bengal [J]. Ethnomusicology Forum, 2017, 26(2): 247-268. 
[2] Barz, Gregory F., Cooley Timothy J. Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology [M]. Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 
[3] Capwell, Charles. Sourindro Mohun Tagore and the National Anthem Project [J]. Ethnomusicology, 1987, 31(3): 407-430. 
[4] Farrell, Gerry. Indian Music and the West [M]. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 
[5] Schofield, Katherine Butler. Reviving the Golden Age Again: 'Classicization,' Hindustani Music, and the Mughals [J]. Ethnomusicology, 2010, 54(3): 484-517. 
[6] Tagore, Sourindro Mohun. The Eight Principal Rasas of the Hindus, with Múrtti and Vrindaka, or Tableaux and Dramatic Pieces, Illustrating Their Character [M]. Calcutta: The author, 1880. 
[7] Williams, Richard David. Hindustani Music between Awadh and Bengal, C.1758-1905 [D]. London: King's College London, 2015. 

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