Mary Frances Dunham (New York, NY)

submitted: 2/2/95 (by mail)

Mary Frances Dunham
Ethnomusicologist

520 East 86th Street
New York, NY  10028  USA

phone: 212-472-9491

Description of work:

Main academic interest: the vernacular performing arts of Bangladesh.

Current work: preparing a book in English to be published in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, in 1995 or 1996, on the poetry, music and dance of folk
performances derived from the Shia / Shi'a Muslim Muharram festival
activities that flourished in the 19th c., but survive today in modified
forms:  "jari-gan" (lamentation songs and bardic recitation sessions
having to do with the battle of Karbala / Kerbala), "jari-nac" (dances 
and "stick play" that enact Karbala themes), dramas based on Shia history 
and legend, etc. The book will include examples of poetic texts (in 
Bengali with English translations); music notations (in Indian as well as 
in staff form), analyses of the music examples, photographs of 
performances, contextual taxonomies, and an explanation of Bangladeshi 
Muharram celebrations.

Mary Frances Dunham,
M.A., Indic Studies, 1972
Middle East Dept.
Columbia University