Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Humanities, 2019
In India the concept of "folk culture", "folk literature", "folk art form" and other forms of man... more In India the concept of "folk culture", "folk literature", "folk art form" and other forms of many indigenous folk cultures seem to be considered not aesthetic but quaint, due to the dominance of "classical" art forms which are valued more. One can witness the dearth of qualitative understanding of the experience of beauty in these actions and objects which are not considered as art objects or artistic performances in Indian context. A theoretical perspective which tries to understand these genres and even ritual forms is also rare. In the contemporary academics, many scholars both from the Indian tradition and non-Indian traditions are attempting to understand a different kind of aesthetics that the art forms of these people express. Thus, in this paper, I claim that understanding indigenous art is possible using theories of everyday aesthetics rather than through other special theories of aesthetics. While not arguing for a relative view of aesthetics, this paper uses the ideas of everyday aesthetics and beauty to understand art in folk and cultural contexts in India.
Drawing from the study of a ritual in South India called bhuta kola, we explicate the possible th... more Drawing from the study of a ritual in South India called bhuta kola, we explicate the possible theoretical conceptualizations that can explain the aesthetic movement from the individual to the collective universal. The multi-layered nature of a socio-religious ritual performance lends itself to two main conceptual frameworks. The first is the aesthetic criterion of order and place that is embedded in the collective memory of the audience. The second is the experience of shared aesthetics among community members who are immersed in the performance. The theory of Rasa in Indian traditions of thought affords itself to the explanation of such a cognitive movement during ritual performance that is co-constituted by socio-religious symbolism as well as an aesthetic display.
The overarching history of the term 'performativity' seems to have undergone variety of meaning s... more The overarching history of the term 'performativity' seems to have undergone variety of meaning starting from linguistic studies to gender. This variation in meaning, however, seems to differentiate the term 'performativity' from the other term which has the same root word, i.e. 'performance'. The association between 'performativity' and 'performance' doesn't seem to be studied extensively with reference to theatre. This article tries to examine the possible connection between these two terms and the role of imagination in the process of connecting these two terms. Taking into the account the idea of transformation of actor into a character and the role of imagination this article examines the subtleties of performance and performativity. The article discusses this connection with the help of an example from the mid-sixteenth century.
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Humanities, 2019
In India the concept of "folk culture", "folk literature", "folk art form" and other forms of man... more In India the concept of "folk culture", "folk literature", "folk art form" and other forms of many indigenous folk cultures seem to be considered not aesthetic but quaint, due to the dominance of "classical" art forms which are valued more. One can witness the dearth of qualitative understanding of the experience of beauty in these actions and objects which are not considered as art objects or artistic performances in Indian context. A theoretical perspective which tries to understand these genres and even ritual forms is also rare. In the contemporary academics, many scholars both from the Indian tradition and non-Indian traditions are attempting to understand a different kind of aesthetics that the art forms of these people express. Thus, in this paper, I claim that understanding indigenous art is possible using theories of everyday aesthetics rather than through other special theories of aesthetics. While not arguing for a relative view of aesthetics, this paper uses the ideas of everyday aesthetics and beauty to understand art in folk and cultural contexts in India.
Drawing from the study of a ritual in South India called bhuta kola, we explicate the possible th... more Drawing from the study of a ritual in South India called bhuta kola, we explicate the possible theoretical conceptualizations that can explain the aesthetic movement from the individual to the collective universal. The multi-layered nature of a socio-religious ritual performance lends itself to two main conceptual frameworks. The first is the aesthetic criterion of order and place that is embedded in the collective memory of the audience. The second is the experience of shared aesthetics among community members who are immersed in the performance. The theory of Rasa in Indian traditions of thought affords itself to the explanation of such a cognitive movement during ritual performance that is co-constituted by socio-religious symbolism as well as an aesthetic display.
The overarching history of the term 'performativity' seems to have undergone variety of meaning s... more The overarching history of the term 'performativity' seems to have undergone variety of meaning starting from linguistic studies to gender. This variation in meaning, however, seems to differentiate the term 'performativity' from the other term which has the same root word, i.e. 'performance'. The association between 'performativity' and 'performance' doesn't seem to be studied extensively with reference to theatre. This article tries to examine the possible connection between these two terms and the role of imagination in the process of connecting these two terms. Taking into the account the idea of transformation of actor into a character and the role of imagination this article examines the subtleties of performance and performativity. The article discusses this connection with the help of an example from the mid-sixteenth century.
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