Abstract
On part of the mutual learning program,
this paper would like to familiarize audience with some of the key debates
around “folk performance” in India. Most often, such performance is viewed from
an ethnocentric perspective which not only denies its political dimensions but
also obfuscates its artistic and aesthetic factors.
Indeed, folk performances have both an artistic and a political dimension and
both go together in its creative process. The aesthetico-political framework
attempts to reconcile both these elements together in its understanding of folk
performance and its broader connection with culture and society. Thinking
through language, landscape, rhythm, body and movement, this paper would like
to discuss the aesthetic and the politics of Indian folk performance and its
ongoing appropriation in corporate cultural industries and marginalization in
academic discourses. The paper suggests that Indian
folk performance is not a homogenous category, and therefore, the hierarchies
within the folk society also need to be recognized.
Speaker:
Dr. Brahma Prakash
School
of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU
Venue: Committee Room, Central Library, JNU
Date and Time: 17th April 2014 (Thursday), 4:30
pm
