Journeys of Love - (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology) by Thomas Hodgson (Paperback)

About the Book

"In much of Western Europe and the US, Muslim migrants are often represented as symbols of multiculturalism's failure, portrayed as self-segregating, backward, and as adhering to orthodox forms of Islam that prohibit music. In practice, Muslim migrants--particularly those from the Mirpur area of Azad Kashmir--occupy rich musical worlds, full of poetic metaphor, that are central to how they survive their migratory journeys. In this project, ethnomusicologist Thomas Hodgson explores the ways that Pakistanis in England from the Mirpur region of Kashmir carry on traditions of reciting a collection of poetry by the nineteenth-century Sufi saint, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, translated by Hodgson as "Journeys of Love." With its themes of remaining true to one's home, of the oppressed being saved from the oppressor, and of the need to be patient, to keep faith in God, the poems are highly valued by Kashmiris in Pakistan and in Britain. The verses are performed and sung regularly at weddings and festivals and recited in day-to-day life everywhere from taxis and barbershops to people's homes. This collection of poems has thus become the story of movement and displacement, not only in terms of its narrative arc, but through the way it has provided a spiritual and ethical framework for settling in new lands. It is this musical life as it exists across borders today that he describes as the poetics of migration. But the tradition as performed in England is notably removed from the public eye. While the British media takes this as a sign of Mirpuris disinterest in British life, Hodgson instead argues that expressions of Mirpuri culture are often intentionally hidden from public view. In urban environments in which the rhetoric of integration dominates political agenda and news cycles, Kashmiris have had good reason to develop strategies of economic, social, and cultural self-reliance. Hodgson shows that the hidden poetics of Kashmiri music-making thus provide a more contemporarily relevant picture of migration and multiculturalism than one drawn along ethnic or religious lines alone. The poetics of migration reveals sensory and affective connections between Kashmir's rural village life and urban centers abroad that allow us to situate current debates about nationalism within the longer history, and future, of multiculturalism in Britain and beyond"--

Book Synopsis

An empathetic and eye-opening portrait of Muslim migrants in England that debunks many misperceptions about their music and poetry.

In Journeys of Love, ethnomusicologist Thomas Hodgson offers a sensitive corrective to harmful portrayals of immigrants-specifically, Pakistanis living in England-as a self-segregating group prohibited from making music, a stereotype that has often resulted in violent Islamophobia. He argues that, in practice, these migrants-many of whom come from the Mirpur area of Azad Kashmir-occupy rich musical worlds, full of poetic metaphors, that are central to surviving migration and its attendant losses.

Hodgson shows how Mirpuris in England, as well as those who remain in Pakistan, carry on traditions of reciting a collection of poetry by the nineteenth-century Sufi saint Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, translated by Hodgson here as Journeys of Love. With its themes of remaining true to one's home, the oppressed being saved, having patience, and keeping faith in God, this work has become the story of movement and displacement in its narrative arc, as well as through the way it provides spiritual and ethical frameworks for settling in new lands. These hidden poetics of migration transform across generations as young Mirpuris develop new expressions of the connections across continents. These poetics reveal the connections between Kashmir's rural village life and urban centers abroad, offering a sensitive and illuminating portrait of migration and multiculturalism in Britain and beyond.

Review Quotes

"This gem of a book demands our prolonged engagement. Hodgson offers us a profound tapestry of sounds, histories, and tales--an ethnography that is as fine-grained and as it is theoretically sophisticated. Situated in and between Pakistan and England, crisscrossing weddings and schools, rap workshops and festivals, Journeys of Love is a must-read for those interested in two of the defining issues of our age--migration and multiculturalism. The book stands out for its readability and empathy, that rare text that will appeal to general readers and find a place on graduate and undergraduate syllabi alike."--Jim Sykes, author of 'The Musical Gift: Sonic Generosity in Post-War Sri Lanka'

"From Mian Muhammad Bakhsh to Zaffar Kunial via rap in Bradford, Hodgson transforms the hardship of Kashmiri migration into a poetic journey, where the spiritual and the everyday intertwine. In this fascinating and original work, Hodgson complicates the experience of a home away from home and vividly explores how poetic verses strengthen the bonds among male migrants, transporting them across space, time, and the duress of borders. To understand migration as being poetic opens up new possibilities and new journeys to theorize on migration, longing, and belonging."--Alessandra Ciucci, Columbia University

"In this beautifully written ethnography, Hodgson leads us lovingly through lost and liminal places still standing whole in memory--a drowned homeland, a demolished photography studio, a Sufi shrine that appears annually from the waters of a dam, the multicultural Bradford streets of his own childhood. Journeys of Love is about the everyday worlds of the hard labor and ordinary striving of multiple marginalized working-class men in the unsung parts of post-industrial England and rural Pakistan. This is an intimate musical ethnography of migration over time and space like no other--it is a magnificent achievement."--Katherine Schofield, King's College London

About the Author

Thomas Hodgson is assistant professor in the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA, where he teaches and researches music and Islam, South Asia, and music and technology.