Abstracts of issue 16 (2002)

Amin-e Diwaneh: The Musician as Madman

Amin-e Diwaneh was a folk musician, a dutār player, who lived in the city of Herat in Afghanistan. Within the local society he was known as “madman” (diwaneh). His “madness” was expressed in his social behavior, his anti-conformism and relationship with outlaws, as well as in his musicality: his innovations in the playing techniques and the construction of dutār. Being an eccentric social and musical personality, Amin became a “folk hero” for the people of Herat. In the following article, Baily invites us to know Amin via the rhetorics of the musicians who were related to him – rhetorics and memories reverberating the mythology of the legend of the “mad” musician.

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