In this Book
- Unearthing Gender: Folksongs of North India
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: Duke University Press
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
summary
Unearthing 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.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xvi
- Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation
- pp. xvii-xviii
- Introduction: The Unsung Sing
- pp. 1-32
- Chapter One: The Daily Grind
- pp. 33-70
- Chapter Two: Singing Bargains
- pp. 71-114
- Chapter Four: Sita’s Trials
- pp. 155-188
- Chapter Five: When Marriage Is War
- pp. 189-218
- Chapter Six: Taking Liberties
- pp. 219-250
- Conclusion: Community Harmonies
- pp. 251-260
- Bibliography
- pp. 277-288
Additional Information
ISBN
9780822394792
Related ISBN(s)
9780822351191, 9780822351306, 9781478091547
MARC Record
OCLC
1082920233
Pages
315
Launched on MUSE
2019-06-24
Language
English
Open Access
Yes
Creative Commons
CC-BY-NC-ND
Copyright
2012