Priyanka, Pritu
(2023)
Understanding Kabir in the singing bodies of Malwa.
Master thesis, Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation.
Abstract
This research is based in the Malwa region where Kabir has been orally transmitted for years. In the oral transmission of Kabir’s philosophy, the body becomes a carrier and storage. In other words, the body constantly acts as transmitter and receiver and in this process, the body changes in the given time, space, and historical context. The research is, thus, an attempt to understand the embodiment of Kabir in the context of Yatra and the village, where the body operates. In addition to this, I also examine the socio-cultural dynamics of the Yatra and the village.
While numerous studies have examined Kabir's philosophy and its textual manifestations, there is a limited understanding of how this philosophy is lived and embodied by contemporary Kabir singers of Malwa in their everyday lives where the social surroundings hold central importance. On one hand, the ethnographic work of Hess (2015) discusses the oral tradition and examines singing in Malwa but does not pay detailed attention to the attributes of caste and gender in specific. Although Hess (2015) passingly mentions about the issues of gender representation in Kabir singing and poses a question to address the same, “In the Malwa region, Kabir’s singing has been largely represented by male singers. It would be worthwhile to examine gender more fully in relation to Kabir, including who sings, speaks, and worships; and how people understand the representation of women and female voices in Kabir’s poetry” (Hess 2015, 55). On the other hand, Virani (2016) locates the nature of the new context in which Kabir is sung by singers of Malwa and the emergence of Malwi1 Kabir singing outside of Malwa. Both their works help in orienting and giving an overview of singing culture but do not look at the detailed embeddedness of Kabir’s philosophy with the socio-cultural context of Malwa. Thus, it is worthwhile to study the principles that led to the embodiment of Kabir’s philosophy and the vehement presence of the context. It is in this background; that the thesis attempts to answer how Kabir’s philosophy is embodied by the contemporary singers of Malwa. This further leads to the secondary question of how Kabir’s philosophy is embodied by the lower caste singers in the socio-cultural setting where the caste system is dominant.
Moreover, from gender perspective, for female singers the Kabir singing operates in the context where patriarchy is vehement in their familial network. Kabir singing here functions as a mode of liberation. He is popular among female singers of the Malwa region who follow and sing his verses. Such a phenomenon is interesting to study because of the prevalent discourse in the literature that labels Kabir as misogynistic2. The popularity of Kabir amongst female singers in Malwa region, in a way, contradicts the allegation against Kabir and his contribution to the status of women. This makes me curious to understand and explore the basis of this popularity amongst women in Malwa region and what does Kabir's philosophy do to these women? This then takes me to explore how is Kabir's philosophy embodied by the female singers of Malwa, specifically in the context of dominant patriarchal prevalence in the family structure? Thus, the study aims to explore the embodiment of Kabir's philosophy in the contemporary Kabir singers of the Malwa region in totality, as it covers the problem of caste and gender that is present in the socio-cultural environment of singers.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Mucciarelli, E. | | Faculteit GGW, Vergelijkende Religiewetenschap | e.mucciarelli@rug.nl | | Berger, P. | | Faculteit GGW, Vergelijkende Religiewetenschap | P.Berger@rug.nl |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation |
| Academic year: |
2022-2023 |
| Date of delivery: |
30 Nov 2023 14:21 |
| Last modified: |
30 Nov 2023 14:21 |
| URI: |
https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/784 |
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