Seeking Bauls of Bengal

ISBN-13: 9780521811255 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 304 str.

Jeanne Openshaw

Opis

Bauls have achieved fame as wandering minstrels and mystics in India and Bangladesh. They are recruited from Hindu and Muslim communities and renowned for their beautiful songs. Using fieldwork and oral and written texts, Jeanne Openshaw analyzes the rise of the Bauls to their present revered status, traversing from the conventional historical and textual approaches towards an ethnographic study of their world, where love and the body are valued and women extolled above men. Her approach is challenging and sympathetic to this spiritual and creative people.

Recenzje

'This book is a tour de force, certainly the best book in English on the subject. It looks at Bauls with fresh eyes, is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, and provides many new insights into the subject. The book reflects Openshaw's dedication to her subject. … It will no doubt transform the way in which scholars view Bauls. It may even change popular perceptions.' Journal of the American Oriental Society

Spis treści

Part I. Background: Literature on 'Bauls' and 'Baul-songs': 1. 'What's in a name?' The advent of 'the Baul'; 2. The making of 'the Bauls': histories, themes, 'Baul-songs; Part II. In Search of 'Bauls': 3. Fieldwork in Rarh; 4. Fieldwork in Bagri; Part III. Received Classifications: 5. Two shores, two refuges: householder and renouncer; 6. Evading the two shores: the guru; Part IV. Reworking the Classifications: 7. Affect: love and women; 8. Theory: images the 'I' and bartaman; Part V. Practice and Talking about Practice: 9. Practice (sadhana); 10. Four moons practice and talking about practice (hari-katha); Conclusion.