Assignment
Cultural Assimilation In Folk Music
Submitted To : MD Abdullah Al Muktadir
Department of English language and literature,
Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University
Submitted By : Tahmid Hasan
ID: 20113310
Session: 2019-2020
Department : Film And Media Studies
Submission Date : 04-09-2021
Cultural Assimilation In Folk Music
Bangladesh has faced a huge cultural aggression since independence. The development of the
western capitalist economy has affected all the cases of our lifestyle. music industry suffering a
lot since 1990s . As a result, folk music is now in crisis.
Folk music is characterized as the astringents of the folk culture of a region or country. Depending
on the time and place, it carries on the art trend of the region. Folk music is constantly evolving in
the demands of the age or in the course of time which represents that particular time and thus
creating a distinct trend in the melody, Rhythm, lyrics and presentation of Bengali folk music are
also involving the flowing presence of individuality, indifferent love and deep philosophy. Various
music genres including Bhatiali, Bhauaya, Palligiti and Bauliana highlight the cultural heritage of
Bangla. Globalization is showing its clear impact on this changing tradition. Free communication
has made the culture of the country both domestic and international. In this way, folk music and
culture have been given an opportunity to expand, which has resulted in the fusion of folk music.
Asked about the fusion of folk music, the young folk music artist Ahetesamul Haque said- “The
last few years have seen the advent of western culture in the field of music. The diverse use of
musical instruments has made folk music international in standard. However, the use of
Technology has sometimes distorted the original tone.”
In recent time, it has become a common thing to organize folk music with modern musical
instruments are also seen performing folk songs like bowl and using their musical instrument. In
many cases, it seen that they are presenting the Bauls by modifying their musical instrument.
Besides musical instruments in different part of the world and culture are being used in our folk
songs. Most of the audience is accepting such songs. This fusion of tradition and modernity is
slowly gaining a permanent place in the bangali folk music.
There are some downsides to this fusion of folk music. The whole music arrangement needs to be
urban and modern. Which is destroys the quality of this kind of music. Because the melody of
folk music creates from the surrounding of nature. The sound of water, works, harvesting and so
or is the theme of those melody. It's does not remain intact in the city modernity. In this way, the
presentation of folk music through modernity has shown us that the original sprit of folk music has
change. Thus, the sudden change in folk music will fail to show its uniqueness to the young
generation. Corporate trend, internet and this modern presentation of folk music in the internal
arena simultaneously tell us the story of an aggressive culture and the failure of the national art.
Mukbul Bharti a local Marphati musician. He has been associated with music from all over 35
years. He has witnessed the modernization or fusion of Folk music. According to him, "There was
a time when people were not interested in listening to songs other than country tones. This situation
has changed a lot now specially the new generation want to listen to mostly songs in modern way,
this is why many artist sings like that organizes music using various instrument and computer. In
most cases they distorted the songs of others. And it is enjoyed by a class of people who don't
really understand search music. The artist community should pay a little attention to this matter. "
Picture : In Dhaka international Folkfest. A Baul playing electric guitar
Advance in technology and market economy are making this mixed culture a permanent place in
our cultural advancement through close communication. For example the song ' Mursid Tor laiga
Re ' is a popular murshidi song by Sayad sha nur written over 100 years ago. In recent time an
electric version of the song viral on internet. The original melody of the song is completely
distorted in the version. the rhythm, melody has changed. The fear is that this song has provided
widely in urban and rural area. People are using it as a festival music. which points the finger at
the tolerant culture of our society. It reminds us of how the aggression of foreign cultures can ruin
our culture.
Since the 1980s, there have been a major shift in the nature of music Consumption in the urban
area. This genre is called pop or urban folk. Though, it should be acknowledged that no such
genre of music exist with the name urban folk. But it is a important age of fusion in folk music.
The trend of urban and rural fusion started from this time. So this needs to be discussed.
However, it should be acknowledged that the Baul and all other folk forms of music are not
mutually exclusive categories, since there are considerable instances where one form takes from
another. In most cases of urban folk, the structure and/or the melody has been taken from a
particular folk form and combined with newly written lyrics and newly composed orchestrations.
There is a huge influence of western culture , new types of music industry have been created in
the style of western capitalist market.
The growing size of the market has also influenced former rock ‘n’ roll artists to grab their share
of the pie. By the end of 1990s, they changed their trend , took up the traditional musical
instrument ektara instead of guitars and other ‘glamorous’ instruments, and jostled for duet
albums with artists like Mamtaz whom they had once called a ‘vulgar artist.’ Moreover, the
tradition of the folk-fusion music appeared in the industry almost at the same time. As I said
earlier, folk-fusion is the end product of a conscious experimentation with pop music, invariably
done by musicians within the mainstream pop orientation, whereas urban folk can be described
as the folk musician’s self-stylized learning of pop. As it implies, folk-fusion music is in some
ways a response to the growing market that has been expanded by cultural aggression. Therefore,
to demarcate urban folk music in the music mapping of Bangla is quite difficult. On the one
hand, the tradition of empathetic pops has continued, while, on the other hand, folk-fusion is also
becoming trendy. And it is not unusual to see some urban folk singers adopting the folk-fusion
style nowadays, as some of them are trying to become more ‘sophisticated’ in order to get a firm
footing in the industry. Moreover, consumers of these music are not mutually exclusive, and nor
are the producers. However, some observations can be applied to roughly draw lines between
these three types of music in the following manner:
(1) More often than not, the lyrics of empathetic pop music are third-person narratives, while
those of urban folk and folk-fusion are predominantly first-person narratives.
(2) Folk-fusion productions are techno-based compositions where the outcome is often a
‘remixed’ song, but urban folk and empathetic pops are based on traditional forms and
instrumentation.
(3) Urban folk musicians are always from the lower-class backgrounds, whereas folk-fusion
musicians are mostly from the upper classes.
Both esthetically and sociologically, urban folk music embodies a complex interplay between the
urban and the folklore. In other words, urban folk music folkloricizes the urban experience and
urbanizes the folk tradition. This is the entry to the increasingly complicated politics of urban
folk . Involvement of different agencies and their own sociocultural affiliations – during different
phases of music production, reproduction, consumption, and performance – have constantly been
shaping and reshaping this hybrid form of music. Unlike many music practices of the Western
subcultures, urban folk never intends to be a closed cultural form. Rather, it is becoming a wider
platform where all possible kinds of fusions with folk music are being tested. In a complex
manner, it both accepts and rejects the existing form of pop music at the same time. For instance,
this music resists the metropolitan complexities by offering a folkloricized explanation of urban
experience, while at the same time, it resists the plain pastoral of folk tradition by injecting the
everyday urban ‘poison’ into its vein.
Another part of the musical fusion and cultural evolution occurs in abroad. Bangladeshi who lives
abroad takes part in the cultural mix. A large number of people lives in exile and adopt the foreign
culture but they actually create a mixed culture. As they have a close communication with our
country these cultures spread to our country as well. in the field of music full also notice such a
transaction. and it is increasing day by day. A Sylhety wedding songs titled ' Noya Daman '
recently recomposed by an expatriate artist. The mix of western music make this song horrible in
the perception of Bangla folk music. even then the music has gained widespread popularity.
There are also some good aspects of the fusion of culture and music. It builds a bridge between
tradition and modernity. And this bridge of fusion also gives an opportunity to the people who
born in the age of globalization an experimental across to realize the horizons of folk music Arko
Mukherjee, a folk musician from West Bengal, mixes Bengali folk music with folk music from
different countries. He has garnered a lot of praise in the art world through his aesthetic
presentation. But the biggest problem with that kind of fusion or cultural exchange is that it can
change the culture forever. Through this discussion the atmosphere of folk music fusion in
Bangladesh can be explained.
Folk music has been changing from age to age. This change is normal and natural. This kind of
change is innate in world music. let's not talk about musical instrument. Musical instrument like
harmonium, violin is essential now in Bangla folk music. But the circulation of all this instrument
in Bangladesh started from Europe. All these changes in the nineteenth century during the Bengal
Renaissance have enriched the folk culture. Not only this, Rabindra Sangeet one of the most
popular folk music genre of Bangla was also created through fusion. According to many
musicians. Rabindra Sangeet is a mixture of Kitten, Ramprasadi folk music with Indian and
European classical music. At present Bengali folk music cannot imagine without Rabindra
Sangeet. Rabindra Sangeet in its own way is spreading its grandeur in the world music arena and
presenting the glory of Bangla folk music.
At one time folk music was the main music in Bangla. In the age of globalization when the
whole world is anxious to bring music into one genre, in this context we can capture the fusion
of folk music in the country as an increasingly dependent on western culture and introducing of
indigenous culture to Western tastes. This creates the possibility for traditional art forms to
gradually transform into Western style, as it happening in the fusion of our folk music.