Abstract
Elli Kosteletou
University of Athens
“Music is Seva”: tradition, improvisation, collective memory and the role of the researcher in the field
The following discussion presents an anthropological approach on issues of culture and music concerning the Sikh community in the Athens neighborhood of Tavros. In particular, the concept of “Seva” (voluntary work) is revealed through fieldwork as a crucial idea which affects the community’s musical performance. Moreover, I examine the importance of “interview” as a methodological approach on the concept of “Seva”. In this matter, I argue that “interview”, as “seva”, provides a unique space, within which “orality”, both in verbal and sonic terms, operates as a medium through which the past is regenerated in the present. Meanwhile, this dialogue between text and context reveals the importance of individual narratives and their contribution to the formation of a sense of community.
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