Listening to the Infinite: Sikh Soundscapes, Media, and Audiovisions

Abstract

What are Sikh media? This dissertation seeks to answer this question by asking if indeed Sikh media are more than simply audiovisual media that feature Sikh persons and historical figures, or media produced by Sikhs. The question is complicated by asking from a media-theoretical perspective, especially with methodologies from German media theory such as media archaeology, what we can know from Sikh media forms, platforms, and devices (from the digital platform SikhiToTheMax to specialty doorbells) through the temporality of their functioning and their emplaced use in particular sites and contexts. Individual chapters address Sikh media-theoretical concepts and dilemmas such as naad; animation in cinema as a preeminent Sikh audiovisual media form, featuring films such as Chaar Sahibzaade and Nanak Shah Fakir; a soundwalk from the media-laden cultural touristic urban area around Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, India; and issues in media archaeology and creative practice related to the production and exhibition of audiovisual media and performance related to Sikh sounds, images, and media devices. This final chapter features documentation from installation and creative practice also pursued by the author under the rubric of Critical Media Practice as a secondary field of research, carried out concurrently with the completion of this dissertation.