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26 b/w photographs, 1 map In Echoes from Dharamsala, Keila Diehl uses music to understand the experiences of Tibetans living in Dharamsala, a town in the Indian Himalayas that for more than forty years has been home to Tibet's government-in-exile. The Dalai Lama's presence lends Dharamsala's Tibetans a feeling of being "in place," but at the same time they have physically and psychologically constructed Dharamsala as "not Tibet," as a temporary resting place to which many are unable or unwilling to become attached. Not surprisingly, this community struggles with notions of home, displacement, ethnic identity, and assimilation. Diehl's ethnography explores the contradictory realities of cultural homogenization, hybridity, and concern about ethnic purity as they are negotiated in the everyday lives of individuals. In this way, she complicates explanations of culture change provided by the popular idea of "global flow." Diehl's accessible, absorbing narrative argues that the exiles' focus on cultural preservation, while crucial, has contributed to the development of essentialist ideas of what is truly "Tibetan." As a result, "foreign" or "modern" practices that have gained deep relevance for Tibetan refugees have been devalued. Diehl scrutinizes this tension in her discussion of the refugees' enthusiasm for songs from blockbuster Hindi films, the popularity of Western rock and roll among Tibetan youth, and the emergence of a new genre of modern Tibetan music. Diehl's insight into the soundscape of Dharamsala is enriched by her own experiences as the keyboard player for a Tibetan refugee rock group called the Yak Band. Her groundbreaking study reveals the importance of music as a site where official and personal, old and new representations of Tibetan culture meet and where different notions of "Tibetan-ness" are being imagined, performed, and debated.
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Echoes from Dharamsala Echoes from Dharamsala Music in the Life of a Tibetan Refugee Community keila diehl University of California Press berkeley los angeles london All photographs by the author University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2002 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Diehl, Keila. Echoes from Dharamsala : music in the life of a Tibetan refugee community / Keila Diehl. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-520-23043-4 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 0 -520-23044-2 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Tibetans—India—Dharms˚aala—Music—History and criticism. I. Title. ML338.8.D53 D54 2002 780 .89 954054—dc21 2001005934 Manufactured in Canada 10 10 09 08 07 9 8 7 6 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 03 1 02 The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (TCF). It meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48 –1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).A In memory of Ida Mechan Mackie (1899–1990) Memsahib, theosophist, grandmother Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note to the Reader Preface introduction: theory at home and in the field ix xi xv xvii 1 1. dharamsala: a resting place to pass through 32 2. “there is a tension in our hearts”: constructing the rich cultural heritage of tibet 57 taking refuge in (and from) india: film songs, angry mobs, and other exilic pleasures and fears 101 the west as surrogate shangri-la: rock and roll and rangzen as style and ideology 144 the nail that sticks up gets hammered down: making modern tibetan music 175 “little jolmo bird in the willow grove”: crafting tibetan song lyrics