Sukanya presents on ‘Performing [as] Bauls: Renegotiating ‘Folk’ Identities Through the Lens of Performance’

Meadenhall, Stanford University. January 26, 2015, 12:00pm.

We are delighted to announce Oral Literature and Literate Orality. This Geballe workshop examines the relationship of oral and written literature from a multidisciplinary perspective, considering topics such as the transmission and textualization of folk literature, the interplay between spoken word and written text, and the sociology of reading and performance. We are tremendously excited by our lineup of speakers, coming from across many disciplines, this coming year and hope that you will be able to attend as many sessions as possible.

Sukanya Chakrabarti (TAPS)

‘Performing [as] Bauls: Renegotiating ‘Folk’ Identities Through the Lens of Performance’

“The Bauls are traveling folk musicians and spiritual performers from Bengal. In my dissertation, I analyse how ‘Baul’ has come to signify varied heterogeneous identities over time. The cultural diversity within this community destabilizes the notion of a cohesive, unified homogenous group belonging to a pure and authentic past.”