Review | Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology by Zoe C. Sherinian

Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology. By Zoe C. Sherinian. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014. [xxi, 344 p., ISBN 978-0-253-00233-4, Cloth: $50; E-Book: $43.] Multimedia website.

Reviewed by Vivek Virani

If you play the uṛumai, uḍukai, paṟai, pampai, tavil, tappu, tarai and tapaṭṭai drums with one heart, hallelujah will resound in Galilee.

Fear Not! Fear Not!

All people come together in Christ to bury the corpse of caste.

These words are proclaimed in villages in Tamil Nadu through the songs of Rev. James Theophilus Appavoo (1940-2005), known affectionately to his followers as Parattai Annan (“brother with the wild hair”). Appavoo taught at the Tamil Theological Seminary (TTS) in the southernmost Indian province of Tamil Nadu. His songs are not in the typically “Christian” styles of harmonic hymnals or South Indian classical (Carnatic) music, but in the accessible idiom of Tamil folk music. In Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology, Zoe Sherinian describes his theology, his music, and his efforts to disseminate ideas within the TTS and throughout Tamil Nadu through these folk songs.

The community discussed in this volume is marginalized in two major ways. First, they are part of a religious minority; Christians comprise roughly 2% of India’s population. Second and more significantly, they are Dalits, or members of the endogamous groups that have historically been at the very bottom of India’s caste system. Members of these castes were formerly known as “untouchables” due to the upper-caste belief that physical contact with them would result in spiritual pollution. These various castes are increasingly adopting the unifying identifier of “Dalit” (literally “broken, crushed”) following B. R. Ambedkar’s popularization of the term during 20^th-century social movements. Since the 1980s, Dalit Christians, who comprise roughly 70% of the Christians in India, have increasingly embraced activist ideologies in which the teachings of Christ are interpreted as critiques against social injustice, inspired by the Liberation Theology that developed among South American Catholics during the 1950s and 1960s.^[1]

India’s caste discrimination is a difficult topic to discuss with appropriate nuance. On one hand, scholars must be receptive to the critique leveled most notably by Arjun Appadurai (1986) that liberal scholarship too often treats caste as a reified structure, ignoring its historical fluidity and deep significance in Indian social life as more than only a mechanism of oppression. On the other hand, scholars cannot overlook the extent to which discrimination based on caste is a fact of daily life for their friends and informants, and must be sensitive to the latter’s own conception of caste. Sherinian must be commended for her depiction of caste among Tamil Christians, which is persuasive and informed historically as well as personally. She is no doubt inspired in this portrayal by Appavoo’s own ideology, in which caste is not treated as an isolated category but rather part of a nexus of oppression, inextricably linked with class and gender.

Sherinian’s research draws primarily from 14 months of fieldwork conducted from 1993-1994, when she was in residence at the TTS. During this time, she notes three major activities she observed and in which she participated: the production and transmission of folk songs, the ritualized practice of communal eating (oru olai), and the effort to transform community members into Dalit activists. She returned on subsequent short trips in the years since, including a “reception study” in 2002 during which she assessed the effectiveness of TTS preachers and activists in disseminating their ideology. Following this research, the book is divided into two sections. The first, comprising chapters 1-3, regards the “production” side; it details the history of Christians in South India, Appavoo’s theology, and his goals in composing music. The second part, chapters 4-6, regards the “transmission” side; she discusses the work of TTS graduates outside the seminary, the response of villagers to Appavoo’s teachings, and the global possibilities for Dalit theology.

The first chapter is perhaps the most compelling from an ethnomusicology standpoint. Sherinian describes Appavoo’s ideology and his endeavor to disseminate it through a project of “applied ethnomusicology.” Appavoo believed that Tamil folk music not only mirrored the subaltern status of Dalits, but was the best means to social and cultural empowerment. Sherinian explains that South Indian Christian music most often takes the forms of Western-style harmonized hymnals, or songs in the urban elite classical Carnatic style. The indigenous Tamil culture is implicitly posited as inferior compared to that of both Western Christians and upper-caste Indians. Therefore Appavoo’s project advocates a “re-indigenization” (in the terminology of E. M. Scruggs) that grants a measure of self-respect and cultural pride to low-caste Christians, transforming them from “impure untouchables” to “empowered Dalit activists.” For Appavoo therefore, folk music was not merely a means of disseminating ideology, but meaningful in the process of generating “critical consciousness.”

In the next chapter, Sherinian provides a historical overview of Christianity in South India. I was personally quite surprised to discover that the story began as early as 1535, when 20,000 members of the Paravar fishing caste converted to Catholicism under the influence of Portuguese traders. Sherinian proceeds to describe the efforts of Protestant missionaries during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. During this period, many low-caste Indians converted to Christianity to escape the stigma of untouchability. Sherinian explains that, ironically, many structures of caste discrimination remain among Indian Protestants. This chapter’s narrative is based loosely around several generations of Appavoo’s family, but is also certainly valuable as an isolated resource on Christianity in India. The narrative leads up to the 1980s, when lower-caste Christians in South India began to identify with the unifying Dalit movement. Sherinian’s main goal in the chapter is to emphasize the process of spiritual and intellectual reflection involved in conversion to Christianity, deconstructing the stereotype of “rice Christians” (i.e., the belief that most Christian conversions were simply attempts to secure food aid in the short-term).

The third chapter will be a new territory for many ethnomusicologists; it is an in-depth exegesis of Appavoo’s theology that reflects Sherinian’s training at Harvard Divinity School. She discusses Appavoo’s emphasis on Freirian dialogue through folk music and on the (re)indigenization of Christianity in Tamil Nadu, incorporating indigenous lower-caste theological terminology in addition to the Brahmanical Hindu terminology sometimes invoked in Indian Christianity. Sherinian outlines Appavoo’s theology in three major tenets: 1) the sharing of food in the oru olai (“one pot”), an indigenized form of the Eucharist that is highly significant in the context of traditional caste taboos against communal eating; 2) the belief in Universal Family under God as a bi-gendered parent; and 3) a reversal of received hierarchical values based on praxis of Jesus Christ and Marx. The final portion of this chapter compares the theologies of Appavoo and eminent Indian Christian scholar Sathianathan Clarke, with whom Sherinian studied while at Harvard Divinity School. Sherinian suggests that Clarke’s emphasis on “reconciliation” between lower- and upper-caste derive from his own upper-caste background, while Appavoo’s advocacy for empowerment of the lower castes is more rooted in praxis.

The next two chapters both discuss Appavoo’s followers, respectively describing people and activities within and without the TTS. Chapter 4 discusses the activities of students and the community around the TTS. I was most intrigued by the practice of “criticism sermons,” in which seminary students are expected to speak before the community and engage critically with the teachings they are receiving. In this section, Sherinian also discusses the level of female involvement in the TTS. She lauds the progressive feminist attitudes of Appavoo’s teachings and efforts, but is critical of certain patriarchal structures that remain in place (such as gender-segregated devotional programs that limit female involvement in music). Chapter 5 addresses three case studies of TTS graduates who have proceeded to work as preachers in the surrounding area, and the “reception study” that Sherinian conducted in 2002. She notes that only a small handful of Appavoo’s students use folk music, despite Appavoo’s emphasis on the medium. She expresses dissatisfaction with the “incomplete transmission” of Appavoo’s message, describing examples including villagers changing gender-neutral pronouns in his songs to masculine pronouns, thereby re-inscribing patriarchy. Some of Appavoo’s students also preach to congregations of mainly urban middle-class Christians, who respond with disinterest or negativity to Dalit theology. Sherinian also notes some successes, however, such as the united effort of members of the Chakkaliyar caste to stop playing the parai drum during Hindu ritual functions, in which it was considered essential.

In the final chapter, Sherinian raises the possible global applications of Dalit consciousness. I found this section somewhat puzzling, considering that caste discrimination is generally considered a uniquely South Asian issue, and that Appavoo’s philosophy in particularly emphasizes indigenous theology. Sherinian discusses the example of a group of Dalits entirely unconnected with Appavoo performing at the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban in 2001, although, as Sherinian discusses at length, the UN refuses to acknowledge “caste” as a global category of oppression (categorizing it instead as a subset of “race”). The next part of the chapter involves a thorough analysis of a song by Appavoo, in which Sherinian effectively explicates the connection between his theology and musical style. The book ends by re-emphasizing the significance of Appavoo’s work, as Dalits increasingly participate in raising their own “critical consciousness” through folk music.

In this volume, Sherinian has made an admirable socially and historically thorough contribution to scholarship of an understudied population. I expect reception of this volume will be polarized regarding her decision to focus on the life and work of a single individual, Reverend Appavoo. Following his passing in 2005, this volume reads as a tribute to his substantial intellectual, musical, and social contributions. Works primarily concerned with remarkable individuals are certainly increasingly prominent in recent ethnomusicology (see Ruskin and Rice 2012), and there are undoubtedly notable examples, such as Danielson’s book on Umm Kulthum (1997). However, part of what makes works such as Danielson’s effective is their ability to consider an artist as intertwined with his or her audience – to describe the society through the individual. While I found Appavoo’s ideas and personality captivating, I had a lingering feeling throughout the book that Sherinian’s discussions of his theology (particularly the more theoretical elements) were somewhat abstracted from the day-to-day life and experience of Tamil Christian society. I found myself wanting to know more about the religious and musical life of average Tamil Christians, from lower- and upper-caste backgrounds. Admittedly, this work might be intended for readers already familiar with this population, but that would be a rather small target audience.

Portions of the book ostensibly address the broader community, but these are primarily concerned with gauging the community’s reception of Appavoo’s teachings, and so Appavoo remains the analytical subject. Ultimately this one-sided portrayal undermines Sherinian’s own stated goal of proving that Tamil Dalit Christians are engaged in a “sustainable social movement against caste,” in response to previous scholars’ assertions to the contrary (Moss 2005). To be clear, I believe this population’s activism is entirely deserving of academic discussion regardless of its “effectiveness.” However, Sherinian’s endeavor to prove this effectiveness would likely be better served if the reader had a stronger sense of the community rather than a focus exclusively on Appavoo’s ideology and the extent to which it has been disseminated. In the first chapter, Sherinian challenges ethnomusicologists working in South Asia to cease uncritically repeating the perspectives of “elite culture brokers” (classical gurus), implicitly enforcing Hindu nationalist narratives. While Appavoo is anything but an elite figure or Hindu nationalist, I felt this work would be intellectually enhanced by Sherinian engaging more critically with Appavoo’s ideas and works. Based on her depiction, he would certainly be proud of, rather than offended by, such an endeavor.

The accompanying audio and video media deserve special mention. Both are contained on a website accessible through a URL provided in the book’s opening pages. The video and audio examples provided far exceed what might be possible through a single CD or DVD, and of course will be accessible to library readers regardless of their institution’s organization (or lack thereof) with regards to media CDs. The wealth of examples definitely facilitates a more engaging and complete reader experience, and Zoe Sherinian and Indiana University Press should be commended for adopting this format.

Although younger scholars of South Asia are increasingly turning towards marginalized communities, there remains much work to be done. Zoe Sherinian has set a strong model by working with one such understudied community for several decades. Her subject is fascinating and her impassioned descriptions pull the reader into Appavoo’s temperament of radical zeal. I most admired her intertwined discussion of theology and musical theory and practice, which was intellectually intriguing and personally inspiring. I look forward to more work by Sherinian and other scholars communicating the stories of those innumerable communities in South Asia and elsewhere who are too often denied a voice in critical scholarship.

References

Appadurai, Arjun. 1986. “Is Homo Heirarchis?” American Ethnologist 13(4):745-761.

Clarke, Sathianathan. 1998. Dalits and Christianity: Subaltern Religion and Liberation Theology in India. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Danielson, Virginia. 1997. The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Music, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Moss, David. 2005. “Dalit Christians, Catholic Priests and Dalit Activists in Contemporary Tamil Nadu.” Unpublished Conference Paper. Activism and Civil Society in South Asia, June 26-28. Oxford University, England.

Rajkumar, Peniel. 2010. Dalit Theology and Dalit Liberation: Problems, Paradigms, and Possibilities. Farnham: Ashgate.

Ruskin, Jesse, and Timothy Rice. 2012. “The Individual in Music Ethnography.” Ethnomusicology 56(2):299-322.