Indian classical music has long been fascinating to Western audiences, most prominently since the Beatles' sessions with Ravi Shankar in the 1960s. This fascination with the musical genre still prevails in the twenty-first century.
Hindi Poetry in a Musical Genre examines Thumri Lyrics, a major genre of Hindustani music, from a primarily linguistic perspective. On a cultural level, it discusses the interface between devotional and secular poetry. Furthermore, it explains the impact of social and political change on the musical life on North India.
Well-written and thoroughly researched, this book is a valuable contribution to the field of South Asian studies. It will be interesting to academics across the discipline, including linguistics, politics, sociology, cultural and gender studies.
1. Introduction 2. "I Get No Peace": The Female Voice in Thumri 3. Pining & Pranking: The Themes of Thumri 4. Courtesans & Patrons: The Context of Thumri 5. "My Little Bed is Empty": The Language of Thumri 6. Rhyme & Metre: The Form of Thumri 7. Genre, Authenticity, and Tradition 8. Conclusion. Main Corpus
Biography
Lalita du Perron received her PhD from SOAS, University of London. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Music, SOAS, and she specialises in music and poetry of the classics of Hindustani music 1903-75.
"I approached this study with high expectations and am glad to say that my anticipations were not disappointed... The main corpus of texts makes this book eminently useful not only for academics but also for dancers and singers, for whom such wonderful material is not easily available. A glossary, useful notes, a bibliography and a decent index complete this fine book." Nilima Devi, Centre for Indian Classical Dance, Leicester; South Asia Research Vol. 28:3 (November 2008)
