‘Performance’ and ‘Lived Religion’ Approaches as New Ways of ‘Re-imagining’ Sikh Studies

Abstract

There are between 250,000 and 650,000 Sikh Americans in the United States, as many as half of whom live in the state of California. One of the primary ways that Sikhs have carried Sikh ways of being and knowing with them has been through these sacred musical and performative practices. For the purposes of this chapter, the author discusses how he is employing two increasingly prominent theoretical and methodological approaches which both bring a focused awareness to practice: ‘lived religion’ and ‘performance’ theory. Both of these approaches are informing and challenging the author in the ways that he is currently thinking about Sikhism in the U.S., and about Religious Studies in general. The chapter addresses three inter-related ways that theorizing about ‘performance’ and using it as an interpretive category are informing the author's research on Sikh kirtan performances in the U.S.. Keywords:American Sikhs; lived religion; performance studies; Sikh kirtan ; Sikh studies