Unearthing Gender: Folksongs of North IndiaUnearthing Gender is a compelling ethnographic analysis of folksongs sung primarily by lower-caste women in north India, in the fields, at weddings, during travels, and in other settings. Smita Tewari Jassal uses these songs to explore how ideas of caste, gender, sexuality, labor, and power may be strengthened, questioned, and fine-tuned through music. At the heart of the book is a library of songs, in their original Bhojpuri and in English translation, framed by Jassal’s insights into the complexities of gender and power. The significance of these folksongs, Jassal argues, lies in their suggesting and hinting at themes, rather than directly addressing them: women sing what they often cannot talk about. Women’s lives, their feelings, their relationships, and their social and familial bonds are persuasively presented in song. For the ethnographer, the songs offer an entry into the everyday cultures of marginalized groups of women who have rarely been the focus of systematic analytical inquiry. |
Contents
The Unsung Sing | 1 |
The Daily Grind | 33 |
Singing Bargains | 71 |
BiyahBiraha Emotions in a Rite of Passage | 115 |
Sitas Trials | 155 |
When Marriage Is War | 189 |
Taking Liberties | 219 |
Community Harmonies | 251 |
Notes | 261 |
Glossary | 271 |
| 277 | |
| 289 | |
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Common terms and phrases
agricultural articulate Atara Awadh Ayodhya bābā bahinī ballad Barsara Bengalin betī Bhagirathi bhaiyā bhatār bhauji Bhojpuri Bihar birahā Brahmin bride brother brother-in-law CASSETTE caste and class celebrations Chamar Chanaini chapter chastity CHHAPRA conjugal home context courtyard cultural Dalit daughter dhīre elopement emotions episodes evokes exogamy father female festival fieldwork folksongs gailen gailī gālīs gender grinding songs groom hamrā hierarchies Holi household husband Jassal jatsār Jaunpur Jaunpur district Kshatriya labor Laichi Lorik Lorikāyan lower-caste male Mallah Manjari marital home marriage married masculine Misraulia mood mother motif Munraji narratives natal home norms north India nu re ki patriarchal peasant Rama Ramāyanā RANGEELA recordings region repertoires ritual rural Sadiapur sakhī Sāsu serve sexual Shanti singers singing sister sister-in-law Sītā Sita Devi Sita's social song genre suggests sung theme tion traditions upper-caste upwardly mobile Uttar Pradesh village wedding wife woman women women's songs Yadavas