Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology

Zoe Sherinian's Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology is a landmark study of how music can combat oppression. The book deserves to be read by all ethnomusicologists interested in social justice movements, applied ethnomusi-cology, South Asian musics, and global Christianity.

* Ethnomusicology *

Sherinian's book is of obvious interest to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, and other socially oriented scholars focused on South India and on Christianity, as well as being relevant for students of theology in a global frame (and liberation theology). . . . It also breaks ground as an ethnomusicological study of an individual, because it not only presents a musical biography but also structures its ethnomusicological analyses around the theoretical framework developed by that individual.

* Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith *

[T]his book makes a huge contribution to knowledge of a socially significant genre just as neglected, until now, as the people who perform it. . . . Highly recommended.

* Choice *

Tamil Folk Music as Liberation Theology helps us to understand what is at stake for people making a transformative choice to reclaim local folk music in a particular community and liturgical setting. It powerfully and eloquently traces a complicated history of caste oppression, missionary activity, the internalization of hegemonic attitudes, and loss of identity.

* Asian Ethnology *

Sherinian's book offers a compelling account of Tamil Folk music (complete with transcriptions and links to online recordings); its social locations, and broader theological potential—and makes a number of important contributions along the way.

* Journal of Hindu Christian Studi