Critical Review #2

Dudrah "Drum'n'dhol"

Dudrah’s article begins with a survey of past works on British bhangra music. While useful, the author critiques their analyses for addressing bhangra as a traditional folk culture in Britain and missing the complexity of the fusion between South Asian and urban British culture. Dudrah writes about bhangra as the vehicle through which South Asians navigate their multiple senses of identity (that of the the Punjab region and their British homes). He writes about the way South Asians focus on different aspects of the music itself as a way to make sense of varying social situations. Overall, Dudrah sees the British bhangra music as a multifaceted entity which plays a part in many aspects of the life and identity formation of South Asian diasporic communities.


“British South Asian listeners, as in the example of Manjit, are able to formulate their identity as a process consisting of, among other things: the articulation of memory; generational histories; diasporic travel; affiliations with country of origin; affectionate pleasures of time spent with relatives; and the aroma of different food. In this way, bhangra music opens up dialogic moments for internal reflection that are unique according to individual life experiences” (376). While Dudrah makes an excellent point here, I think this can be a function of more than just bhangra. In what other ways have you experienced music as a “memory maker” and how has it contributed to your personal identity formation?