Papers by Dr. Shumaila Hemani
odīssī is one of the eight classical dance forms in India qaumī naghme patriotic songs qawwālī is... more odīssī is one of the eight classical dance forms in India qaumī naghme patriotic songs qawwālī is a devotional form of music performed at Sufi shrines and the tradition is attributed to Amir Khusraw qir'at refers to reciting of the Quran sufyānā kalām devotional music of Sufis. In case of Pakistan, kāfi is at times interchangeably used with sufyānā kalām. soz is a poetry of lament sung to commemorate martyrdom of Imam Hussain tānbūrī/dambūr refers to the five-stringed lute attributed to the saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (b. 1752). The music at the shrine of Latif is sung with dambūr. tappā is the oldest and most popular genre of the Pashto poetry. The Tappa is a composition of two unequal meters, in which the first line is shorter than the succeeding one, and in music it is sung with the traditional Pashto musical instruments rubāb and mangay rubāb or mangay and/or sitar tilāwat refers to reading of the Holy Quran waī is a section in Shah-jo-rāg (poetry and music sung at the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai) in which the musicians sing in chorus
Country Report, 2021
Historically, there has been very limited representation from Pakistan at the ICTM. The 1950s' bu... more Historically, there has been very limited representation from Pakistan at the ICTM. The 1950s' bulletins mention Mr. Jasmuddin from Dacca and Mr. Mansooruddin (East Pakistan), who contributed discussions on the folk music of Bengal at the ICTM annual meetings. From 1992-1995, the bulletins mention Uxi Mufti, the founder of the National Institute of Traditional and Folk Heritage (NIFTH), a.k.a. Lok Virsa, as the Liaison Officer for the ICTM. However, the ICTM bulletins do not have any reports on Pakistan. Being the first of its kind, this country report, founded on my research between 2009-present, continues the legacy of my mentor, Regula Burckhardt Qureshi, in expanding the understanding of Pakistan within the discipline Ethnomusicology. Based on in-depth conversations with Uxi Mufti and many others who contributed cultural leadership to Pakistan's institutional building, this report summarizes key points from my ethnomusicological research in Pakistan.
The Conversation, 2021
This article makes a case for cultural rights of musicians, women, and minorities to be prioritiz... more This article makes a case for cultural rights of musicians, women, and minorities to be prioritized in the on-going negotiations with the Taliban. It brings an ethnomusicological approach to understand how the music ban impacts Afghan musicians even after they have migrated abroad to Canada.
Folk music is a site of contestation to define national culture and language amongst the cultural... more Folk music is a site of contestation to define national culture and language amongst the cultural elites in Pakistan. The elites who established cultural institutions for the promotion of folk music represented Pakistan either as a cultural unit with Islam and the Urdu language as its unifying bond, or resisted this position by considering Pakistan as a culturally diverse unit, in which national culture could emerge only through a synthesis of regional cultures and not through the imposition of a single culture and language. I apply Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice to situate my informants within the policies of three institutions: national media, Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) and Lok Virsa, in the period between 1965 and 1985. This period covers three major political regimes, when my informants participated in establishing and maintain cultural institutions that were revived after 9/11 to showcase Pakistan in the international community.
Sharing my piece about the significance of intercultural listening during this pandemic. I draw i... more Sharing my piece about the significance of intercultural listening during this pandemic. I draw insights from my research at the University of Alberta, Sufi performance practice, and my teaching experience at Semester at Sea Spring 2020 voyage to inform local debates in Canada about the call to prayer (Azan). https://theconversation.com/as-a-sufi-singer-i-believe-the-sounds-of-world-religions-can-cultivate-compassion-during-covid-19-138045 The global COVID-19 pandemic has taken us into an era of social distancing. By relying on online digital media, we may be isolating ourselves from more local and diverse communities. As an ethnomusicologist at the University of Alberta, my research and musical practices lead me to reflect on how what I think of as a "socially isolated ear" is more prone to resist and be intimidated by cultural and religious diversity. As a Sufi vocalist, through my music I share the message of love and interfaith harmony taught by Sufi mystics-and I explore the crevices of Muslim belief and expression from a feminist standpoint. …
This article locates Pakistani female musicians’ agency within patrilineal constraints and descr... more This article locates Pakistani female musicians’ agency within patrilineal constraints and describes their experience of modernity, in particular, their transition from the colonial Indian public sphere to the postcolonial state of Pakistan. Using women’s voices and narratives alongside mediated voices of male and female scholars, the article shows how national media has facilitated women’s agency beyond the constraints of local customary attitudes of izzat (honor). The Muslim media’s notions of respectability have certainly influenced women singers’ conduct in public, but their life decisions (especially marriage) have also played a major role in sustaining or breaking their careers. Locating the agency of tawāifs (courtesans) from kothā (salons) to national media, on the one hand, and regional women singers from rural minstrel communities, on the other, the article shows how notions of honor have impacted even star singers. Situating these women singers’ agency as negotiating within these challenges by using strategies such as patrilineal identity markers, the article shows that despite constraints, women have contributed immensely to Pakistan’s musical culture over the decades, becoming both advocating and resistant voices of the nation, and creating an intimate cultural listening experience that is at once Muslim and also uniquely Pakistani.
Subject Words:
modernity, Pakistan, female singers, agency, patrilineal constraints, colonial modernity, music economy, nationalism, globalization, technology, tawaif (courtesan), national media, honor.
This is a Literature Review of State funding towards Campus-Community Engagement (CCE) to which I... more This is a Literature Review of State funding towards Campus-Community Engagement (CCE) to which I contributed as a result of my work at Community Service Learning (CSL) at the University of Alberta
Citation: Shumaila Hemani, “Music: Pakistan”, in: Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, Gener... more Citation: Shumaila Hemani, “Music: Pakistan”, in: Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, General Editor Suad Joseph. Consulted online on 15 November 2017. First published online: 2017
A travel blog about my trip to Kazakhstan to attend the International Council of Traditional Musi... more A travel blog about my trip to Kazakhstan to attend the International Council of Traditional Music (ICTM) conference
Margaret Walker traces the roots of Kathak to colonisation and Indian nationalism, dispelling myt... more Margaret Walker traces the roots of Kathak to colonisation and Indian nationalism, dispelling myths about its origins
Thesis Chapters by Dr. Shumaila Hemani
Folk music is a site of contestation to define national culture and language amongst the cultura... more Folk music is a site of contestation to define national culture and language amongst the cultural elites in Pakistan. The elites who established cultural institutions for the promotion of folk music represented Pakistan either as a cultural unit with Islam and the Urdu language as its unifying bond, or resisted this position by considering Pakistan as a culturally diverse unit, in which national culture could emerge only through a synthesis of regional cultures and not through the imposition of a single culture and language. I apply Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice to situate my informants within the policies of three institutions: national media, Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) and Lok Virsa, in the period between 1965 and 1985. This period covers three major political regimes, when my informants participated in establishing and maintain cultural institutions that were revived after 9/11 to showcase Pakistan in the international community.
Teaching Documents by Dr. Shumaila Hemani
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Papers by Dr. Shumaila Hemani
Subject Words:
modernity, Pakistan, female singers, agency, patrilineal constraints, colonial modernity, music economy, nationalism, globalization, technology, tawaif (courtesan), national media, honor.
Thesis Chapters by Dr. Shumaila Hemani
Teaching Documents by Dr. Shumaila Hemani
Subject Words:
modernity, Pakistan, female singers, agency, patrilineal constraints, colonial modernity, music economy, nationalism, globalization, technology, tawaif (courtesan), national media, honor.