| ID | 142506 |
| Title Proper | Towards a Malayan Indian sonic geography |
| Other Title Information | sound and social relations in colonial Singapore |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Sykes, Jim |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | From the mid-1920s, Indian music scenes developed in Singapore that were not just about the construction of regional and religious forms of Indian diasporic belonging. Drawing upon European, Chinese and Malay influences (musical and otherwise), and performing in contexts that were uncommon in India, Singaporean Indian musicians contributed to non-Indian musics, while incorporating non-Indian influences into Indian genres. Such musical–communal interactions functioned in colonial Singapore to locate the island as a hub for the constitution of a ‘Malayan Indian sonic geography’. By encouraging links between various Indian and other communities throughout the peninsula via radio, films, recordings, touring networks, and performances at hotels and amusement parks, music became a means for Indian communication and integration in colonial Malaya — a sonic geography that would be significantly transformed, though not eliminated, after Singapore and Malaysia parted ways in 1965. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of South East Asian Studies Vol. 46, No.3; Oct 2015: p.485-513 |
| Journal Source | Journal of South East Asian Studies 2015-12 46, 3 |
| Key Words | Indian ; Colonial Singapore ; Malayan ; Sonic Geography ; Sound and Social Relations |