Böcker av Terada Yoshitaka

TeradaYoshitaka, Professor Emeritus at the National Museum of Ethnology,Osaka, Japan began his journey with South Indian music with a rather simplequery.Why had Periya Me¯l ·am (the traditional musical genre featuring thena¯gasvaram and the tavil), which is considered to be extremely important inthe religious and social life of South Indian Hindus, been neglected by bothIndian and non-Indian scholars?As he began his field research,Terada realizedthat the history of Periya Me¯l ·am is inextricably linked with the life of the masterof na¯gasvaram,T.N. Rajarattinam Pillai (1989-1956).T.N. Rajarattinam Pillai: Charisma, Caste Rivalry and the Contested Past in SouthIndian Music focuses on the influential artist's life and work, illuminatingimportant aspects of caste-based relations in South Indian music. Backedby extensive field research and scholarship, this book is also a pioneeringethnographic account of Periya Me¯l ·am, its practitioners and the significantchanges in the genre that took place in the twentieth century.