Sensational Rhythms of the Ineffable: Ethical Affects in Sikh Sabad Kä«rtan

At the intersection of music, philosophy, and religion, Sensational Rhythms of the Ineffable explores intimate collaborations between rhythm and body, showing how they engender deep devotional experiences and ethical sensations. The focus of ethnomusicologist Inderjit N. Kaur’s study is Sabad Kirtan--the congregational singing of Sikh scriptural verses--integral to Sikh worship and everyday life in South Asia and its diaspora. Building on her lifelong practice of Sabad Kirtan as a singer, composer, and listener, Kaur implements a decolonial approach to research, theorizing, and writing, and the translation of Sikh sacred song-texts. Drawing on the Sikh metaphysics of Anhad Nad--the common vibration of all existence--Kaur uncovers the intertwining of scriptural philosophy, musical practice, and everyday living--what she names a ＂Sikh theory of lived rhythm.＂ Engaging the ethnographic method of participant-sensation and an interdisciplinary phenomenological approach, her investigations elucidate musical rhythm as a process that amplifies the ineffable vibrations of the inherently rhythmic vital body, interweaving the rhythmicities of sound and lived life.

The first book on Sikh devotional experience to combine new insights from scriptural songs with in-depth analyses of all three major styles of Sabad Kirtan, Sensational Rhythms of the Ineffable argues that diverse musical styles of Sabad Kirtan are but various means of intensifying the sensation of ethical interconnectedness. Offering unique perspectives on both Sikh Kirtan and Sikh philosophy, Kaur’s study illuminates how Sikh musical worship is a practice of the embodiment of a relational oneness--a foundational ethical principle in Sikh philosophy and beyond.

Inderjit N. Kaur is a scholar of Sikh sacred music, with expertise spanning the classical, popular, folk, and devotional musical cultures of South Asia, and the analytical lenses and methodological approaches of phenomenology, and sound, sensory, and affect studies. She has been particularly interested in issues of the intertwining of aesthetics and ethics, representation of native epistemologies, and decolonial modes of academic research, writing, and teaching. Kaur has shared her work on Sikh K?rtan in numerous published articles and conference presentations. She currently serves as co-editor of the journal Music & Politics, and is Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.