Creating Their Own Space

by Ramnarine, Tina K.

• ISBN13: 9789766400996
• ISBN10: 9766400997
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of West Indies Pr

Summary

Characterized by fast-paced, highly danceable rhythms, Chutney is a fusion of traditional and contemporary Indian and Caribbean influences. With its roots in the OutsHindi folk songs performed at birth and wedding ceremonies, Chutney has recently emerged in contemporary Indian-Caribbean life and has gone largely unrecognized in the body of scholarly literature.

In this volume Tina K. Ramnarine explores the evolution of Chutney and introduces the emerging Indian-Caribbean genre into the arena of scholarly discourse about music. Through analysis of the music, Ramnarine provides insights into social processes, effects of the diasporic settlements, and ways the music operates as a symbol of Indian-Caribbean identity. Some of the Indian elements in Chutney are not traditional, rather they are new ideas incorporated into the construction of the Indian-Caribbean identity. This introduction of new cultural elements is a common occurrence among people who have been transplanted to an unfamiliar geographical and cultural environment.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	viii
Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	1	(20)
Tracing the Development of Chutney	21	(22)
Making the Music	43	(32)
Chutney as an Expression of Indian-Caribbean Identity	75	(25)
From Wedding Ritual to Popular Culture	100	(19)
Musical Spaces, Cultural Spaces, Social Spaces	119	(27)
Notes	146	(5)
Glossary	151	(3)
References	154	(9)
Index	163