Shaping diasporic sounds: identity as meaning in Bhangra

Leante, Laura (2004). Shaping diasporic sounds: identity as meaning in Bhangra. The World of Music, 46(1) pp. 109–132.

URL: http://web.uni-bamberg.de/ppp/ethnomusikologie/wom...

Abstract

Bhangra originated in India as a male folk dance performed in the villages of Punjab during the harvest festivities. Following the migrations of Punjabis to Britain, a new form of bhangra, characterised by the encounter between the traditional dance and mainstream Anglo-American popular music, spread through the communities of the Indian diaspora, coming to constitute one of the means for immigrants both to identify themselves as "Punjabis in England" and to reaffirm their tradition and social values. This paper investigates the musical processes through which British bhangra is shaped, the grounds on which the appropriation of mainstream pop takes place and how bhangra contributes to the construction of diasporic identity.

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