Dr. Mahesh Radhakrishnan,

Australian National University

South Indian Carnatic singing and sean-nÌ_s–

an ethnographic, musical and linguistic comparison of two distinct performance traditions

Abstract: Despite sharing some interesting linguistic and cultural connections in a very distant past, South Indian and Irish musical cultures have emerged from highly distinct contexts and influences. Drawing on doctoral research within the respective cultures as practiced in Australia, this seminar presents a comparison of Carnatic and sean-nÌ_s singing from the perspectives of anthropology, ethnomusicology and linguistics. In the process, some interesting theoretical insights emerge about performance and the relationship between music and language.

Biography:

Mahesh Radhakrishnan is a language and music scholar with a research interest in the performance of language, linguistic diversity, language ideology, interaction and the intersections between language and music in singing. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Macquarie University, Sydney, for a thesis on Irish traditional singing and South Indian classical Carnatic singing in Australia. He has conducted linguistic research on Tamil, Irish, English, Telugu, Sanskrit and Jawoyn, an Australian Aboriginal language.

Mahesh is also a singer, musician and composer with over 20 years of training and experience in the Carnatic tradition and he has explored a range of styles, particularly Irish traditional sean-nÌ_s and instrumental music. He has directed and advised on music for stage productions and leads the worldy folk music group Tapestries of Sound which he founded in 2002.

Mahesh is currently a Visitor in the School of Anthropology at the Australian National University and is collaborating with Dr. Lillis ÌÒ Laoire on a project titled ‰Û÷Irish language, sean-nÌ_s and linguistic ecologies of traditional performance’

For more information contact lillis.olaoire@nuigalway.ie