Narrativity and Self: Voicing Memories of Betrayal, Anger, Loss and Silence through Performances

  • Preeti Kalra Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies, University of Delhi, North Campus, Delhi, India.

Abstract

Performance, per se, is aesthetic movement, which includes expression of behaviour, gestures, beliefs, norms and rituals circumscribing the individual and community identities. The image with which one performs becomes an integral part of one’s self, it is rather projected in one’s own image of ‘who an individual is.’ It is in this parlance , the paper intends to explore the narratives of self and analyse how the “blank spaces” are being filled by defining the “hidden narratives” of the self through performances. What one sees through the construction of this discourse is how and to what extent an individual carry different selves and identities in ‘the back room of one’s mind.’ The intention to explore the multiple selves in art through the medium of performance brings into purview the multiple narratives of self, which remains hidden under the public persona. The paper explores how performance unmasks the ‘falsity of the self’ through its well arched repetitive and restored behaviours. The work looking at the narrtives of self expression resonate two different objectives of performance. On one hand, the self-expression finds a voice in performance, on the other hand, it intends one to understand, explore and form one’s own self. Thus, performance is looked upon as the ‘reflection’ and ‘formation’ of self and identity in the paper.


How to cite this article:
Kalra P. Narrativity and Self: Voicing Memories of Betrayal, Anger, Loss and Silence through Performances. J Adv Res Eng & Edu 2021, 6(1): 3-7.

References

1. Singh A. Art Matters: Short stories on Partition.” Ndtv. https://www.youtube.com/watch? reload=9 &v=23 gRVu3ITIQ
2. Nayak B. Personal interview at India International Centre, New Delhi, 2018.
3. King R. To Have or Not to Have Sex in Critical Theory: Sexuality in the Early Writings of Wilhelm Reich and Erich Fromm. Mid-American Review of Sociology 1992; 16(2): 81-91.
4. Shahidi D, Chadha A. Dastangoi- Dastan on Indian Partition.” Jashn-e-Rekhta, 2016). https://youtu.be/ FaoyKafD7EU
5. Gabriele D. Women’s Movement and Religion. Women’s Studies in India: A Reader. Ed. Mary E, John. 2008; 511.
6. Funkhouser E. Singing in Dark Times. Harvard Review 2005; 29: 108-126.
7. Eubanks, Paula K. Art Is a Visual Language. Visual Arts Research 1997; 23(1): 31-35.
8. Sarabhai M. Excerpts from Sita’s Daughter. Youtube, uploaded by Asian Art Museum, 2015. https://www. youtube.com/ watch?v=06oVQl8dstk
9. Nabaneeta DS. Alternative Interpretation of the Ramayana: Views from Below. Women Studies in India: A Reader. Mary E, John. (India: Penguin Books, 2008).
10. Agarwal P, Savarkar, Surat et al. Legitimizing Rape as a political weapon.” Women Contesting Culture: Changing Frames of Gender Politics in India. Ed. Kavita Panjabi and Paromita Chakravarti. (Kolkata: STREE Publishing House, 2012).
11. Madhu R. Reviving the Bol of Storytelling through Dastongoi.” The Quint, 2017. https://www.thequint. com/campaigns/bol/reviving-the-bol-of-storytellingthrough- dastangoi
12. Roychowdhury A. Voices of Partition: One UP Muslim and two Pakistan born Hindus recollect the horrors of 1947. The Indian Express 2017.
13. Kaur R. How I Reclaim My Body After Trauma.” SikhNet. 2016. https://www.sikhnet.com/news/how-i reclaimmy- body-after-trauma-rupi-kaur
14. Hashmi S. Oral history with Salima Hashmi”. Interview conducted by Fakhra Hassan. The 1947 Partition Archive, Lahore, Pakistan.
15. Gupta SR. The Ambiguity of the historical Position of Hindu Women in India: Sita, Draupadi and the Laws of Manu. UCLA Historical Journal 1994; 14: 212-230.
16. Klammer S. The Five Stages of Creative Self-Expression. Expressive Art Inspirations: Reflections on the Creative Path. https://intuitive creativity. typepad.com/expressive art inspirations/ 2016/ 02/ the-five-stages-of creative- self-expression.html.
17. “Subh-e-Azadi, An Anguished Evocation of the Pain of Partition.” The Penguin India Blog. https:// penguinindiablog.wordpress. com/2017/08/14/subh-eazadi- an-anguished-evocation-of-the-pain-of-partition/
18. Langner S. Feelings and Form. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1953).
19. Chakravarty U. Betrayal, Anger and Loss: Women Write the Partition in Pakistan. Speaking of the Self: Gender, Performance and Autobiography in South Asia. Ed. Anshu Malhotra and Siobhan Lambert-Hurley (New Delhi: Zubaan, 2017; 122.
20. Butalia U. The Other Side of Silence. (New Delhi, Penguin Books, 1998; 357.
21. GaneriwalY. Mrinalini Sarabhai: The Dancer Whose Feet Wrought Change. Feminism in India. 2018. https:// feminisminindia.com/2018/06/ 12/mrinalini-sarabhaiindian- classical-dancer-and-activist-indianwomenin history.
22. HusainY. A Dastangoi tribute to lives lost during Partition. The Times of India. 2016. https://timesofindia. indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/A-Dastangoi-tribute-tolives- lost-during-Partition/articleshow/51083798.cms.
Published
2021-03-11
How to Cite
KALRA, Preeti. Narrativity and Self: Voicing Memories of Betrayal, Anger, Loss and Silence through Performances. Journal of Advanced Research in English & Education, [S.l.], v. 6, n. 1, p. 3-7, mar. 2021. ISSN 2456-4370. Available at: <http://thejournalshouse.com/index.php/Journal-English-Education/article/view/76>. Date accessed: 04 mar. 2025.