By Barnes L Mawrie
In this music-loving region of North-east India no other factor can influence the youth as much as music itself. The youth of our region are not only music lovers but they are musically gifted as well. This is proven by the fact that our region has produced so many versatile and prominent musicians even at the international level. Music is undoubtedly “the universal language” because it appeals to everyone no matter what genre it bears or what region it comes from. Music breaks the barriers of race, colour, creed and generation.
Music as a self expression of an individual or a community is perhaps one of the oldest forms of human art. Like drama, music is often used as a mirror of society to express its socio-cultural and religious ethos. Music as an expression of emotions is even more powerful than drama because of its combination of sound and word. This is the reason why specific genres of music emerge as responses to the changes in socio-cultural contexts. Thus the black Africans deported as slaves to North America to slog in the cotton fields, reflected their sufferings and hardships through a type of music known as the Soul and the Blues. Again in the 1960s and 70s the emergence of Pop culture saw the entry of a new genre of music known generically as “Pop music” which demonstrated a rebellion to anything that is traditional or classical. Today with the popularity of Punk and Hip-hop culture, a new type of music has also emerged on the scene which emphasizes self expression and freedom from adult control.
Today we hear of Emocore music which started in the States and has spread all over the globe. Emo is an abbreviation of the term Emotion Hardcore or simply Emocore. It originally refers to a type of musical expression that emerged in the early 1980s in the United States. It is closely associated with hard punk music. Rites of Spring band founded by Guy Piccioto is universally accepted as the founder of earlier emocore music. Emocore spilled into the mainstream culture in the early 2000s with the platinum selling success of Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional and others.
Emocore music has two basic characteristics, viz, it is an assertion of one’s personality and a sincere and an uninhibited expression of one’s emotions. In the first place it is an attempt to assert oneself as unique and incomparable. For this reason, emocore music is characterized by a special beat and rhythm. It has dramatic vocalization which has a mesmerizing effect on the audience. It often leads to screams and loud responses. emocore music is a way by which one group distinguishes itself from its peers. Secondly, emocore is characterized by an addition of the emotional elements into the music. Thus sentiments of sadness, love and angst are distinct in this type of music. Uninhibited sentiments are expressed in their lyrics which at times demonstrate violence and vulgarity. Sentiments of love are usually expressed in vulgar terms and slangs. Emo-culture today has spread beyond music into other aspects of life (dress, hair style, language etc).
Music as a self expression of an individual or a community is perhaps one of the oldest forms of human art. Like drama, music is often used as a mirror of society to express its socio-cultural and religious ethos. Music as an expression of emotions is even more powerful than drama because of its combination of sound and word. This is the reason why specific genres of music emerge as responses to the changes in socio-cultural contexts.
Today some people associate this sub-culture with what they term “emo cutting” or “self injury”. Actually, the tendency for self hurt or self harming is associated with mental disorder or borderline personality disorder. Sometimes it occurs among persons who suffer from trauma, emotional upset or depression. This is the reason why emo- cutting can never be considered as a general expression of emo-culture. However, it is true that this small percentage of persons with such mental disorders get easily attracted to emocore music because of its emphasis on self expression and deep exploration of human emotions. Although emocore music often expresses the darker emotions of the human psyche, yet seldom does it suggest that listeners undertake drastic actions. It is absurd to link as some people seem to do, the incident of suicide of a Loreto student recently in Shillong, to the influence of emo-culture. Probably, the girl had some mental health disorders that drove her to such a fatal act.
Today there is a serious concern among the school authorities and the parents regarding the silent invasion of emo-culture in educational campuses. It is reported that there are school students who have taken to emo cuttings or self harming. It is reasonable for school authorities and parents to be worried about such developments in children’s behaviour. This is something undesirable for a tribal society like ours where communitarian life takes precedence over individualism. Many of these odd sub-cultures emerge in Western societies where individualism and excessive liberalism thrive. Such a philosophy of life does not pertain to the tribal people not even to the Indian society in general. Who says that whatever comes from the West is “good” or “imitable”? It is true that culture has also a personal dimension but let us not forget that this personal aspect is always in reference to the community. The “communitarian” dimension is so vital to culture that undervaluing it would adversely affect the community itself. In fact it is this dimension of culture that binds a community or a tribe together. If personal expression of culture is to be given free rein then why should we worry about our youth adopting the emo-culture? Let them do what they like best. But precisely because culture has also a communitarian dimension (keep in mind that culture is associated always with a community and not with a single individual and its origin is based on social acceptance) that we need to take stock of these recent developments in our young people because they endanger the integrity and purity of our basic tribal culture. If culture is to be left to personal choice then we will end up with a laissez-faire culture that would spell doom for the community.
It is important to understand clearly that cultural transitions as we see them happening in Western societies, have come about as a cultural process. On the other hand, the cultural changes that we see among our tribal youth today is not the result of a process but a matter of imitation. What takes place as a process is healthy and normal but what comes out of imitation is far from being normal. It is like taking steroid to boost up our muscles but which in the long run will ruin our health because it is not normal growth. In a crazy world like ours where egocentric behaviour is taken as a fashion and what is traditional is termed as “boring” or “militarizing”, it is not surprising that such sub-cultures should become popular.
One may argue that these imitations are only peripheral aspects of culture and will not in the least affect our identity. This is a deceptive argument because it considers these influences like the costumes we wear which could be removed any time we like. But the fact is that these sub-cultures affect a person’s psyche, modify his/her worldview and consequently lead to behavioural changes. If more individuals begin to act likewise then a “pastiche” culture will soon replace our traditional culture. The concern displayed by the educational authorities and the parents regarding this emerging sub-culture is a legitimate one. I think the awareness about emo-culture should be more widespread and parents and schools should co-operate in educating our youth regarding the futility or even the harm of aping such alien cultures.
(The author is a scholar on Khasi culture)