Organizer: David Curley, Western Washington University
Discussant: Gloria Raheja, University of Minnesota
Before the adoption of 'modern' genres in the 19th century, India in the 18th and 19th centuries saw the creation of novel but 'premodern' theatrical works, and novel genres of works which were performed or recited. Although belonging to many regional traditions, these works seem to us to have interesting features in common. Together, they suggest a dynamic image of 'premodern' literary and theatrical activity.
Although created by elites, these new works and genres often use themes from folk culture which transgress and invert expected hierarchies. They often include derogatory or ironic intertextual references to once authoritative texts or authors, and parodies and satires of serious characters, decentering the authority of the elite tradition upon which they comment.
We note the connection to times of fluidity, opportunity and risk. We want to explore ways performed works sought to allow and/or contain new understandings of the world; for example, by new and ambivalent emphases on desire, consumption and aesthetics.
We also note the possibility of new understandings of subjectivity and desire, in treating erotic themes especially. We are interested in the ways performed works may have guided the construction of an "imagined self" among their audiences, by both idealized and parodic self-representations of their characters.
Finally, performed works took place in a somewhat public space which they themselves created. We look for evidence about how they were performed. We are interested in the composition of their audiences. We hope finally to raise questions about changes in performance traditions over time.
When the Love-god Laughs: Brahmins, Courtesans, and the Problem of Satire in
Sanskrit Temple Dramas from 18th-Century South India
Indira V. Peterson, Mount Holyoke College
In this paper I will examine the problem of satire in the Sanskrit one-act plays of the bhana genre, which were performed at temple festivals by Brahmins in Tamilnadu in the 18th century. In the bhana, a single dramatic monologue covering the events of a single day, the Vita, a Brahmin playboy, wittily comments on the amorous affairs of Brahmin men (himself included) and the temple-dancers, courtesans and housewives they pursue.
The Vita is a learned, elegant, and above-all, sensitive Brahmin hero whose liaisons with genteel and magnanimous courtesans are tender, romantic and successful, rather than coarse and comic. His sharpest criticisms are directed against "virtuous" Brahmins and chaste housewives who adhere to the letter of dharma at the expense of "heart."
I argue that, although the bhana is one of two traditional genres of satirical drama in Sanskrit, the sensibility reflected in these 18th-century south Indian bhanas renders their classification as satire problematic. Although Sanskrit bhana share themes and concerns in common with regional language comedies of the period, the limitation of the performance to Brahmin audiences, the romanticized self-portrait of the Brahmin Vita, and undercurrents of ambivalence towards the "dharmic" world, of which Brahmins have traditionally idealized themselves as guardians, subvert the criticism of moral corruption that characterized older examples of the bhana. This ambiguity towards satire, I suggest, is an expression of the Brahmin community's ambivalent response towards the changing social and cultural world of 'premodern' south India, and towards their own role in that world.
The 'Thief of Love,' Gifts of Food, and the Raja of Nadiya
David Curley, Western Washington University
This paper will examine the Vidya-Sundar narrative of the Annada-mangal, a novel mangal-kabya written by the court poet Bharat'candra of Nadiya and first performed in 1751-52 at the court of his patron, Raja Krsnacandra of Nadiya.
Bharat'candra's story of Sundar, the 'thief of love,' can be treated both as an erotic comedy, and as a work of serious didactic purpose, teaching worship of Kali. As in other didactic versions of the Vidya-Sundar story, Kali is the goddess who gives, only to her own devotees, exactly what they most desire.
This paper will argue that Bharat'candra has intervened to highlight themes which are familiar from 18th-century South Indian literature and theater: an elevation of bhoga which values an aesthetic of erotic passion above ordinary dharma, and a satirical treatment of dharmic concerns; and a corresponding exploration of subjectivity which is linked to sensual experience of the body.
In Bharat'candra's work, however, this story is framed by one with apparently quite different concerns. In place of an ideology of bhoga, the framing story, which teaches worship of Annada, stresses the link between control of desire, gifts of food, payments of tax revenues, and acquisition of higher status in the Mughal land revenue system.
The giving of "food" and the sequestration and enjoyment of "food" may be understood as complementary political strategies, each proper in its own time. This paper will conclude with an exploration of the poem's Tantric icon of divine power and time, presented in an epiphany of continually shifting and increasingly "contrary" images.