Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Poet's Song: 'Folk' and its Cultural Politics in South Asia

The Poet's Song: 'Folk' and its Cultural Politics in South Asia

Basu, Priyanka

Paperback

Series: South Asian History and Culture

AnthropologyMythology & FolkloreGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 1032574569
ISBN13: 9781032574561
Publisher: Routledge India
Published: Jan 30 2025
Pages: 300
Weight: 0.99
Height: 0.67 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English

This book explores the 'folk' performance genre of Kobigaan, a dialogic song-theatre form in which performers verse-duel in contemporary West Bengal in India and Bangladesh.

The book shows how the genre, thought to be a nearly extinct form, is still prevalent in the region. The author shows how, like many other 'folk' practices in South and South-East Asia, the content and format of this genre has undergone vital changes, thus raising questions of authenticity, patronage, and cultural politics. She captures live performances of Kobigaan through ethnographies spread across borders--from village rituals to urban festivals, and from Bengali cinema to television and new media. While understanding Kobigaan from the practitioners' points of view, this book also explores the crucial issues of gender, marginalisation, and representation that are true of any performance genre. Drawing on case studies, it underlines the issues of artistic agency, empowerment, cultural labour and heritage, rituals, authenticity, creative industries, media, gender, and identity politics.

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