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| Popular Culture: Music, Texts and Messages |
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Problematizing Cultural Appropriation:
The concept of culture for a society in transition can be understood by its own members in numerous ways. There was a time when modernity or modern culture was better understood by juxtaposing it in complete contrast to tradition or traditional culture. With the “giver” of modern institutions and the “receiver”1 having contrasting, if not “non-reconcilable,” understanding of what was or is being transacted, the generation of meanings has multifarious, if not fused, layers. Be it politics or economy, these multifarious layers find resonance in the everyday cultural articulation of political aspirations of a society, making it even more difficult to understand them from the conventional positionality of the “binaries” like classic versus folk, modern versus tradition, art versus craft, etc. This paper seeks to understand cultural articulation of socio-political aspirations not from a hierarchical binary positioning but by problematizing the notion of cultural appropriation in a milieu of cross-cultural encounters. The attempt at problematization of cultural appropriation is done through a reading of a new genre of Tangkhul popular music epitomized by the works of Rewben Mashangva, an artiste from the hills of Ukhrul, Manipur. FROM THE TUMULTUOUS HILLS: THE POPULAR UNDERSTANDING Rewben Mashangva, the musician, composer and the researcher is generally considered to be the leading torchbearer of the new generation of tribal folk music for many years now. He was born to Shangphai Mashangva (father) and Lasengla Mashangva (mother) in a small village called Choithar in the Ukhrul district of Manipur. He did not have the benefit of a “musical environment” in his childhood as is understood in contemporary times, save for the sound of bamboo instrument called “Talla” that his father occasionally played. Rewben dropped out of school after his tenth class (matriculation) and decided to venture into adulthood trying his hands at ordinary jobs around his ancestral home. Years later, he married Happy Mashangva and raised three daughters and a son. They are now settled at Nagaram, Imphal. It is said that Rewben was influenced by the great American balladeer Bob Dylan3 and the inimitable Rastafarian and reggae icon Bob Marley.4 In an article published by The New York Times in June 2008,5 Rewben recalled how he was initiated into music and songs of Dylan when a friend came over to his place with an album of the singer/songwriter, how it struck him that most of Dylan’s songs were “so relevant” to the landscape he grew up in, and how he acquired his first guitar at the age of fifteen. The guitar was brought to him by a trader from across the border in Burma (Myanmar). He grew up listening to western music and learning about the same through the only link – the communication medium of the poor in many developing countries, the transistor radio. Oh! I was born and brought up The “son of this land/soil” strain in the song is good enough base to construct a mental canvass, large enough to accommodate the imagery of the man and his times. Perhaps this also explains why he has made painstaking efforts in researching and discovering indigenous musical instruments, promoting them and drawing the attention of the new generation to their roots in the backdrop of other popular musical forms. ARTICULATION THROUGH CREATIVE ROOTS Rewben is the principal exponent of “Hao Music.” He has not only rediscovered and reinvented the variegated and rich folk traditions of the Tangkhuls but also refashioned tribal musical instruments to suit the Western tonal scale. Rewben is also credited for the amplification and customizing of the Tingtelia, a fiddle like traditional stringed instrument. Rewben experimented for almost a decade with the original Tingtelia so as to enable him to create a distinct sound that goes harmoniously with the modern acoustic and electric guitar and harmonica. The other instruments which accompany his “Hao Music” include Yankahui, a long bamboo flute, and a yak horn played with a mallet, apart from an assortment of modern and traditional percussions. Rewben has released two seminal music albums called Naga Folk Blues and Creation. It is only to be expected that a man who has been so much in love with the rich folk traditions will also sing songs celebrating “life and beauty.” Many of his songs pay tribute to the beauty and grace of the feminine body at par with nature’s abundant bounty. The most prominent of his compositions, “Chonkhom Philava,” has also been most popular with people who do not even understand the language of the lyric. The unforgettable lilt of the composition is befittingly matched by a numinous lyric. Some parts of the lyric translated into English goes like this: The freshness of youth like the black thorn flower blooms... When he sings of the feminine beauty, Rewben simply cannot be oblivious of the fading green hills, invoking not only a sense of nostalgia for its mystical appeal but also an awareness of the fragility of the ecological settings of the land where he was born: I walk along this red country road… This Tangkhul folk and blues balladeer might be home-grown, but he drinks deeply of life and savours both the joys and travails. What is even more interesting, he has given himself the apostolic mission of popularizing his brand of music – reviving the age-old traditional folk music. Rewben Mashangva is aware that the current crop of young musicians in the region thinks that modern western music is the only path to being a successful musician. But he opines that they can become complete musicians only when they learn about their roots and realize that they cannot treat folk music as outdated.10 ROOTED IN NATURE AND POLITICS As Rewben creates milestones with his experimental music, he acknow-ledges the insights he has gained from his interactions with the vanishing tribe of traditional folk crooners in his community. He remembers fondly how he trudged to remote villages in Ukhrul district looking for enlightening interactions with the traditional folk singers. Each of these interactions had enhanced his understanding of folk arts and instruments. Rewben remembers folk experts Shamphang of Nungshang Village, Akhothing of Phungyar, Shimeingam Shinglei and Stephen Angkang who had all imparted rich insights on different folk art forms and the use of indigenous musical instruments to him. While researching for over a decade on the traditional folk instruments he uses now, he had also inadvertently re-discovered the delicate relation between the people and bamboo which can unmistakably be called the green gold for the Northeast region due to the fact that the livelihood of most communities in the region entirely depended on the rich varieties of bamboo grown here. The plant provides not only construction materials for human shelter and other handicraft products but also food and musical instruments. Like a romantic man I just stood there… With such lyrics and a sound so distinct, yet popular, one is free to make an attempt at portraying the “man” and what he represents. Listening to Rewben’s kind of music does not entail a perfect understanding of the intrinsic politics of poetics which make subtle presence in all his songs, lyrics and the sound. Unlike many who believe in just showcasing talents to the mass without even enabling themselves and others to know that there is a “twine” that binds all forms of sounds with nature and society, Rewben has gone ahead to give an unequivocal statement that human-made “amplified sound” can harmoniously exist with nature while representing turmoil. Through his interactions with the aged and experienced folk artists, Rewben has not only revived passion and interest in the age-old tradition but also created an innovative space for himself. If Rewben has received high accolades for his experimental folk music from the critics, he should also be credited for that innovation and introduction of the folk to the youth. ENCOUNTER AND APPROPRIATION OF UNIQUE KIND The descriptive attributes of Rewben Mashangva would have us believe that his creative expressions are just the representation/reflection of the socio-political turmoil that has engulfed the entire Northeast of India. With claims and counter-claims and associated political polyphony to the very idea of nationhood, community and territoriality, his works has to be placed against them. The popular belief that Northeast tribes are natural born musicians has been attributed to the region’s deep-rooted “folk and oral” tradition. While this is partially true, one should remember that the effect as it is experienced now has a history of appropriation, amalgamation and counter-appropriation. The introduction and spread of western music is as old as the encounter with British colonial expansion. The coming of the Christian missionaries to the region in the early part of 19th century from Europe and America led to the introduction of the English language, hymns and gospel music to the so called “primitive sensibilities.” And the post-colonial history of the region saw political violence of sorts quite unimagined by world watchers then. Remote corners and tiny pockets populated by ethnic groups began asserting for the right to self-determination in variegated hues. Yet, quixotically, the region where Rewben grew up had some kind of affectation for the colonial past quite akin to what David Lal Zou calls “Raj Nostalgia.”13 Unlike some urban pockets in the Northeast, many areas have not yet been saturated by Hindi film music or the popular culture of mainstream India. The advent of Christianity and English education in the region too has not been able to convert all Christians of the region into complete consumers of products representing western popular culture or music in the conventional sense. Numerous rock music bands modelled on the European and the American ones have mushroomed in major cities and towns of the Northeast. That some of them are now ready to experiment with the “form and content” on their own terms are good enough indicators that popular music in the region is in for a state of transformation. |
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NOTES & REFERENCES 1. Northeast India seems to be wearing a permanent garb of a “receiver” owing to the “bundles of contradictions” that the colonial rule brought during the first half of 19th century. This has created fractured selves with several ideational and ideological divides. For more details, see, Bhagat Oinam, “Receiving Communities: The Encounter with Modernity,” Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 3, Issue II, July–Sept., 2005. 12. Deep Red Burning Sky, op. cit. |
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