Stuart Blackburn
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202054
- eISBN:
- 9780520916807
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202054.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book travels inside a little-known form of shadow puppetry in this work about performing the Tamil version of the Ramayana epic, describing the skill and physical stamina of the puppeteers in ...
More
This book travels inside a little-known form of shadow puppetry in this work about performing the Tamil version of the Ramayana epic, describing the skill and physical stamina of the puppeteers in Kerala state in South India as they perform all night, for as many as ten weeks, during the festival season. The fact that these performances often take place without an audience forms the starting point for its discussion—one which explores not only this important epic tale and its performance, but also the broader theoretical issues of text, interpretation, and audience. The book demonstrates how the performers adapt the narrative and add their own commentary to re-create the story from a folk perspective. At a time when the Rama story is used to mobilize political movements in India, the puppeteers' elaborate recitation and commentary presents this controversial tale from another ethical perspective, one that advocates moral reciprocity and balance. While the study of folk narrative has until now focused on tales, tellers, and tellings, this work explores the importance of audience—absent or otherwise. Its translations of the most dramatic and pivotal sequences of the story enhance our appreciation of this unique example of performance art.Less
This book travels inside a little-known form of shadow puppetry in this work about performing the Tamil version of the Ramayana epic, describing the skill and physical stamina of the puppeteers in Kerala state in South India as they perform all night, for as many as ten weeks, during the festival season. The fact that these performances often take place without an audience forms the starting point for its discussion—one which explores not only this important epic tale and its performance, but also the broader theoretical issues of text, interpretation, and audience. The book demonstrates how the performers adapt the narrative and add their own commentary to re-create the story from a folk perspective. At a time when the Rama story is used to mobilize political movements in India, the puppeteers' elaborate recitation and commentary presents this controversial tale from another ethical perspective, one that advocates moral reciprocity and balance. While the study of folk narrative has until now focused on tales, tellers, and tellings, this work explores the importance of audience—absent or otherwise. Its translations of the most dramatic and pivotal sequences of the story enhance our appreciation of this unique example of performance art.
Stuart Blackburn
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202054
- eISBN:
- 9780520916807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202054.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter describes the oral commentary for the shadow puppet play performance of Kampan's text, which spins auxiliary stories and quotations around the text to place it within a wider frame of ...
More
This chapter describes the oral commentary for the shadow puppet play performance of Kampan's text, which spins auxiliary stories and quotations around the text to place it within a wider frame of reference, focusing on the commentary of the episode concerning the first defeat of Rāvana. It suggests that the individual verses in Kampan's text serve as stepping stones to the wider world of Rāma stories from which his text derives.Less
This chapter describes the oral commentary for the shadow puppet play performance of Kampan's text, which spins auxiliary stories and quotations around the text to place it within a wider frame of reference, focusing on the commentary of the episode concerning the first defeat of Rāvana. It suggests that the individual verses in Kampan's text serve as stepping stones to the wider world of Rāma stories from which his text derives.
Stuart Blackburn
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202054
- eISBN:
- 9780520916807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202054.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the conversations in puppet play performance in the episode concerning the death of Indrajit, which cover not only verbal exchanges but also dialogic relations between oral ...
More
This chapter focuses on the conversations in puppet play performance in the episode concerning the death of Indrajit, which cover not only verbal exchanges but also dialogic relations between oral commentary and the chanted verses. It argues that this dialogism further weakens the poet's voice and permits the puppeteers to tell a Rāma story in their own terms.Less
This chapter focuses on the conversations in puppet play performance in the episode concerning the death of Indrajit, which cover not only verbal exchanges but also dialogic relations between oral commentary and the chanted verses. It argues that this dialogism further weakens the poet's voice and permits the puppeteers to tell a Rāma story in their own terms.
Stuart Blackburn
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202054
- eISBN:
- 9780520916807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202054.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book describes the performance of Kampan's medieval text Kamparāmāyanam as a shadow puppet play in Kerala, south India, analyzing the puppeteers' particular telling of the story though ...
More
This book describes the performance of Kampan's medieval text Kamparāmāyanam as a shadow puppet play in Kerala, south India, analyzing the puppeteers' particular telling of the story though translations of their performances. It also explores the wider issues of audience interaction, the interpretative role of oral commentary, and the intertextuality of Rāma stories.Less
This book describes the performance of Kampan's medieval text Kamparāmāyanam as a shadow puppet play in Kerala, south India, analyzing the puppeteers' particular telling of the story though translations of their performances. It also explores the wider issues of audience interaction, the interpretative role of oral commentary, and the intertextuality of Rāma stories.
