Dhol: Drummers, Identities, and Modern Punjab

Gibb Schreffler's Dhol: Drummers, Identities, and Modern Punjab is a detailed ethnography and historiography about dhol drumming in the Punjab and Punjabi diaspora. It discusses how the dhol, a barrel-shaped drum used in vernacular music, has become an emblem of a modern Punjabi identity, and how those who play the dhol, despite being the stewards of the instrument and its traditions, have remained unacknowledged because of their social status. Schreffler's central argument is that the cultivation of a transnational Punjabi identity has occurred at the expense of marginalized communities such as those who play the dhol (known as dholis). With this in mind, the book gives recognition to the diversity of ethnic communities who have played the drum in the Punjab, and in doing so yields valuable insights into the relationship between music performance and social structure in the region. This book will be of great interest to scholars of South Asian musicology and history. It also connects to discourses in postcolonial/post-Partition studies, subaltern studies, and migration studies.This book continues Schreffler's previous research on dhol playing. It includes ethnomusicological research conducted among professional dhol-playing communities in both Pakistani and Indian Punjab, as well as among diaspora communities in London, California, New York, Ontario, and British Columbia. Schreffler argues that the identities of traditional dhol-playing communities face an existential threat on account of the instrument being incorporated into a generic Punjabi identity. Schreffler's impetus behind this book is to give recognition to these communities and postulate why, despite the popularity of the instrument, dhol players and their traditional system of values are in decline in modern Punjab.Schreffler begins by situating the dhol within the context of post-Partition Punjab and a discussion about Punjabi identity. Concepts of a modern Punjabi identity center around the idea of migration, in particular around the memory of Partition. Partition (1947) divided the Punjab along state and religious lines, resulting in great violence, rapid migration, and a complete reorganization of the region's culture. In the decades following Partition, identity and culture became strategically essential for cultural nationalists who aimed to craft a unified post-Partition Punjabi identity. Cultural nationalism “serves to delineate a nation through selective identification of shared culture” (38). Artists—such as dholis—maintain an important role in cultural nationalist movements as they create cultural institutions. However, value is placed on a unified view of Punjabi culture, which privileges certain markers of Punjabi identity while neglecting others. Dholis have traditionally been linked to the unlanded and service classes and place great value in their ethnicities and identities (Schreffler discusses these ethnic groups in detail in chapters 3 and 4). Punjabi cultural nationalism neglects the perspectives of such subordinate and marginalized social classes and requires that they divert their particular identities in favor of promoting a unified (middle-class) Punjabi identity.Chapter 2 is devoted to discussing the material object dhol, as well as its functions and uses. Dhols send messages and announce forthcoming events, and different rhythmic patterns played on the drum have specific applications and meanings (Schreffler includes helpful notations and audiovisual examples for different examples). Dhols are played at life events such as births, funerals, and weddings and are used in religious worship. They have also been used as motivational tools for armies going into battle, agriculturalists harvesting crops, and for sports such as wrestling. Most notably, dhol is used to accompany numerous dance forms that are found in the Punjab region, bhangra being the most popular.In chapters 3 and 4, Schreffler outlines the various ethnic groups who are currently linked to professional dhol playing. Dholis have traditionally been from Punjab's lowest-status ethnic communities, and Schreffler's rich ethnography details these ethnicities and the contexts in which they perform dhol. Chapter 4 focuses specifically on the Bazigars, a community of dhol players who were centrally involved in the state-sponsored folkloric programming of Indian Punjabi music during the twentieth century. Schreffler provides a biographical sketch of his teacher, a Bazigar named Garib Dass, to show how the community has adapted to the social changes brought about in post-Partition modern Punjab.Chapters 5 and 6 look at what it means to be a dholi in Punjab and its diaspora, respectively. In the Punjab, dhol playing has long been a professional occupation in which musical performance is directly related to concepts of ethnicity and social class. In the diaspora, however, dhol playing has largely been done by enthusiasts who have operated outside of the traditional social and musical contexts of dholis. The book concludes with Schreffler returning to the Punjab to take stock of the newer generations of dhol players and observe how they have continued to adapt their musical traditions to contemporary changes in their livelihoods.

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