UC Riverside

This dissertation is an ethnographic and historical study of transnational Sikhism through the lens of Gurbani kirtan, the living Sikh tradition and central religious practice of musically performing the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib (the central Sikh scripture). It traces the history of Gurbani kirtan from the time of Guru Nanak (1469-1539, the first Guru of Sikhism) through its major developments and current practice in south Asia, and its role in the transference of Sikhism around the world, focusing especially on the Sikh

community in America--which has roots dating back to the arrival of the first Sikh in America in the 1790s, but has grown rapidly since U.S. immigration reform starting in the 1960s. It is based on eight years of ethnographic research (primarily participant observation at Sikh sites and events, and formal and informal interviews) within American Sikh communities, especially among members of the mass movement to teach young generations of Sikhs in the U.S. how to perform Sikh sacred music. The latter chapters examine the internationally mobile population of students, performers, and teachers of the Gurbani kirtan tradition. It draws theoretical insights from performance studies and diaspora theory to interpret communal performances of Sikh sacred music as spaces for plural aesthetic experiences of Sikh-ness in new contexts and explores how Sikh religious and cultural identities in America are being formed, performed, and re-interpreted through participants' relationship with the practice of Gurbani kirtan.