| ID | 188750 |
| Title Proper | Singing the River in Punjab |
| Other Title Information | Poetry, Performance and Folklore |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Kumar, Naresh ; KAPURIA, RADHA |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This paper traces the centrality of rivers in twentieth-century and contemporary popular music and poetry in the regional context of Punjab in the north-west of the subcontinent. In contrast to the riverine imaginations in the songs of eastern or central India, we look at the very different evocations of rivers—both real and conceptual—in the subcontinent’s north-west. Rivers feature centrally in the love legends, devotional and folk poetry, and songs of Punjab, and here we trace a river-based ‘hydropoetics’ in Punjab, querying land-focused perspectives. From the metaphysical and the sacred to the sensual, and from the realms of the quotidian to those of mourning and trauma, we argue that in Punjab, ‘singing the river’ is central to people’s definitions of regional and ontological identity, and to the way they understand their place in the world. |
| `In' analytical Note | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 45, No.6; Dec 2022: p.1072-1094 |
| Journal Source | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol: 45 No 6 |
| Key Words | Performance ; Identity ; Music ; Poetry ; Folklore ; Hydropoetics |