Androgyny and Female Impersonation in India
Nari Bhav
Paper Type: Art Paper (Matt) | Size: 222 x 150mm
All colour;23 colour photographs and 4 black and white photographs, 356 pages, Hardback
ISBN-10: 9385285467 | ISBN-13: 978-93-85285-46-2
795 | 20 | 12.99
Androgyny is an
engaging subject of discussion and research in the present times. This volume
makes an effort to understand concepts of androgyny and ‘nari bhav’ or sensibility of the feminine beyond the
anatomy-directed definitions circumscribed within the dubious realm of the ‘third sex’, or ‘third gender’. As expressed through various literary and
performative traditions in India that emphasize inter-relatedness of art and
society, the concept of ‘nari bhav’
is a deeply rooted cultural belief in the fluid interplay of the female and the
male symbolized, for example, as Ardhanariswara.
The belief that the constant interplay of duality engenders balance and harmony
in both personal and social aspects of human life, and the acknowledgment of
the existence of male and female tendencies—physiological and/or
emotional-psychological—within each individual has aesthetic validity, may be
seen to form the basis of female impersonation in India. Such perception urges
more inclusiveness in social attitudes, easier acceptance of different
sexualities and ways of expressing gender. The volume discusses concepts of
androgyny that permeate Indian cultural ethos and as expressed through female
impersonators not only in religion, theatre and dance but also in contemporary
performative mediums like films, television, and the internet. The volume also
presents interactions with performers of the dying art form of female
impersonation.
Niladri R. Chatterjee
Author
Niladri R.
Chatterjee is Professor, Department of
English, University of Kalyani, West Bengal. A recipient of Fulbright
Scholarship and the British Council-Charles Wallace Fellowship, he has been
teaching a course in gender studies at his university since 2009, and runs a
facebook group called New Gender Studies,
which has over 11,200 members.
Tutun Mukherjee
Author
Late Tutun
Mukherjee was Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad,
India and had also taught courses at Centre for Women’s Studies and Department
of Theatre Arts in the university. Her specialization was Literary Criticism
and Theory and research interests include translation, women’s writing, theatre
and film studies. She had written extensively on these subjects which overlap
in her work. Besides articles and book chapters in national and international
journals, as single author and editor her publications include I.A. Richards’
Contribution to New Criticism; Chicago Critics, an evaluation; jointly edited
Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literature and Comparative Cultural
Studies, to mention a few. She was on the editorial team of several journals
and is a reviewer for publishers.