Over the past several decades vernacular music industries in many parts of South Asia have utilized artistic traditions originating in Dalit communities to create marketable commodities of “folk culture.” Why do music industries that celebrate and seek to raise the profile of “folk arts” (lok sangeet) also routinely neglect and exploit regional “folk artists” (lok kalakar)? By attending to the experiences of musicians from three hereditary caste communities in the Garhwal Himalayas—Baddi, Bajgi, and Jagariya—and by interrogating the body politics of a number of mass-mediated representations, this talk will interrogate the idea that new media and vernacular markets have had a democratizing influence on musical practice. Fiol will demonstrate that entrenched and widely-shared conceptions about caste-based status, function, musical style, and mobility continue to influence who is allowed to participate in regional studio recordings, and how they are ultimately represented on video and cassette albums.

Stefan Fiol Assistant Professor of MusicUniversity of Cincinnati

Schizophonia in the Music Industry of the Garhwal Himalayas

April 5, 2012 4PM • 1117 UCC

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of

Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires

an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please

contact Frederick M. Smith in advance at 319-400-1295 or frederick-smith@uiowa.edu.

This event is sponsored by the South Asian Studies Program in International Programs.

Free and open to the public