Abstract
It is my intent for these new readings of Sundar Popo’s song lyrics to not only challenge modern epistemic violence perpetrated against the deemed frivolity of Chutney (as a genre’s) lyrics, but also to utilize the original texts to understand these songs as an essential postcolonial Indo-Caribbean literature. Since the archive of Caribbean literature includes predominantly English, Spanish, French, and various nation languages, I posit the inclusion of Caribbean Hindi as a neglected archive is worth exploring given its rich significations as literature. I engage chutney music, a form of popular music, as poetry to illustrate the construction of Indo-Caribbean identity through the linguistic and poetic features of its lyrics as a cultural production that are created by the syncretisms of the Caribbean. This paper is written in four sections: 1. A Chutneyed Diaspora, 2. Methods and Approach, 3. Chutney Translation and Analysis: Bends Towards Meaning and 4. Diaspora as Chutney. The first section provides a historical stage for the emergence of Chutney music, concentrating on an introduction to the trends of its study by contemporary ethnomusicologists. The second section introduces my own approach to the study of oral traditions as literature and my engagement with my subjective postcolonial positioning as an individual of Indo-Caribbean origin. The third section is a close reading, a deeper look into meaning conveyed by these earlier dismissed lyrics. It attempts to illustrate an ethos thriving in Sunder Popo’s generation of cultural syncretism and linguistic identity. The last section endeavors to conclude this study by positing that Indian-ness itself, its tropes and culturalisms, becomes a type of Chutney by virtue of its syncretic nature. Moreover, it serves as an indication that these transformations of folk music are not cultural remnants, but rather a new expression of Indo-Caribbean identity.
Highlights
Uhi re babur ban pargayal hī dole nā sās jhulawe sasurwā ke ab na jaibe babur ban mẽ jiyāra jargayal hamar
Between the years of 1838 to 1917, about 238,960 East Indians were brought to Guyana under the new system of slavery devised by the British, called “indenture,” to work the sugarcane field of the new colonies
The majority of the Indians brought to the Caribbean were Bhojpuri speakers from the states of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the poorest of the provinces under colonial rule. They were enticed and forced (Mesthrie 46) into laboring abroad through “deception, trickery, blackmail and even kidnapping” (Vatuk, “Protest Songs” 224), with promises of return passage and a living wage if they signed five-year renewable contracts. With them they brought their various North Indian languages that were koined into a vernacular
Summary
Uhi re babur ban pargayal hī dole nā sās jhulawe sasurwā ke ab na jaibe babur ban mẽ jiyāra jargayal hamar. In this way the lyrics of Sundar Popo’s Chutney songs become a literature, a poetry in which there is evidence of Diasporic syncretism that engages a community in mid-shift from Bhojpuri language dominance to English dominance.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
