Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has left an indelible mark on the world by virtue of his avant-garde actions and philosophy. A testament to his popularity, stems from the fact that he is referenced in pop culture even outside India. This paper attempts to scrutinize the portrayal of Gandhi and his philosophy in French pop songs released outside the Indian subcontinent.
The paper titled ‘ The Mahatma in Music: Representations of Gandhi in French songs’ was initially presented at a Seminar on The Multifaceted Mahatma: Revisiting Gandhi on His Sesquicentennial Birth Anniversary. It was later published in French as ‘Le Mahatma et la musique : Représentation de Gandhi dans les chansons françaises.’
The story behind the article
I’m intrigued whenever there is a reference made to Indian cultural icons and products in popular culture in another country. It’s interesting to see how the others perceive national cultural icons. These perspectives feed into my perceptions of identity.
One fascinating discovery while I was researching this paper was Dr. Subodh Kerkar’s series on Gandhi in Art. In addition, there were multiple events and research publications in the run up to the Sesquicentennial Birth Anniversary of Gandhi and this paper is my attempt to objectively analyse the way the Father of the Nation is perceived by french singer and songwriters.
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