Raga Rock - Orientalism

Orientalism

Some scholars approach raga rock and other uses of non-Western musical materials in Western popular music from sociological perspectives, especially as a manifestation of Orientalism. Common themes include drug use, sexual exploration, and spirituality. Jonathan Bellman writes that "the Kinks use of eastern musical influences to allude to personal and sexual matters is directly in keeping with historical uses of exoticism as signifier for forbidden sexuality." Bellman and other scholars suggest that the Orient once again becomes a Western fantasy land, mediated to mass culture audiences of the mid and late twentieth century through Rock and Roll.