Periodizing the Residuality of a Composite Protest Art Form: The Case of Telangana <em>Dhoom Dham</em>

Abstract

The article will document the emergence of the composite art form of “Dhoom Dham” in the state of Telangana, a southern state from India. A mixture of folk song-and-dance routines interspersed with political speeches, Dhoom Dham emerged as a potent form of political protest during the Telangana statehood movement and dominated the cultural imaginary of the movement. It has the characteristics of a residual cultural form as conceptualized by Raymond Williams. Dhoom Dham masterfully combined the elements of folk and repurposed the left protest music traditions to help the cause of the formation of separate state of Telangana. The article will theorize and document a history of the art form starting from its roots in the traditions of left-wing protest music to its contemporary predicament. Dhoom Dham's site of struggle is the state of Telangana and its villages. Dhoom Dham artists during the movement toured every village of Telangana and spread word about the struggles of the people and articulated the nature of their oppression. The first section will outline the socio-economic and historical context of the Telangana movement. The second section will trace the residuality of Dhoom Dham through a history of protest music in the region. The third section will theorize the art form using Walter Benjamin’s idea of politics of aestheticization and engage with the critical and subversive potential of the art form.