Migration Discourses In Viral Bhojpuri Songs: An Analysis Of Narratives During The COVID-19 Pandemic"

Abstract

During the COVID-19 lockdown, many viral Bhojpuri songs captured the pain and plight of migrants, gaining massive traction across social media platforms with millions of views. This trend highlights how powerful social media can be in bringing these voices of neglect to the fore. The mainstream Hindi media largely dealt with COVID fatalities and displacement narratives in a regulated manner, but. A few Bhojpuri songs vividly articulated the migrant experience. They highlighted the state's role in migration, examining migration dynamics, why migrants migrate, and the repercussions faced. These songs also vividly illustrated the plight of poor migrant labourers from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh who have been crucial to urbanisation but cannot survive for even a few months without work. The paper is based on digital ethnography during the COVID-19 and selected viral songs for analysis.