'A garland of razors':the life of a traditional musician in contemporary Pakistan

• Main Author: Basra, Khalid Manzoor
• Published: SOAS, University of London 1996
• Subjects: 781.62
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.553834

This is a study of the life of a traditional musician in contemporary Pakistan. The tradition is the genre of dhurpad which has a history spanning several centuries. The family with which I am concerned is known as Talwandi Gharana and is represented by two brothers. Malikzada Muhammad Hafeez Khan, (the younger of the two) is the chief exponent of the tradition and it is through my study with him during the past fifteen years that I venture to explore various questions central to the tradition's survival in a hostile milieu, its musical style and core practices. I approach the mix of the material through a narration of my experience with Hafeez Khansahib from our first encounter through to the present day. After introducing the characters and the setting the thesis then describes: the teaching practices of the family; patronage structures; the importance of different media. These issues are discussed in separate chapters but the organic continuity of the experience is not surrendered in an effort to neatly compartmentalise the issues for the convenience of analysis. The concluding chapter evaluates the methodological issues arising out of the experience and its narration. Key questions include; the relevance of my status as a `local' anthropologist; the relationship between an individual biography and the wider social context; orality and the continuation of tradition; the burden of opposition to the wider artworld. These issues are also discussed comparatively through reference to a wider anthropological and musicological literature.