Folklore, religion and the songs of a Bengali madman : : a journey between performance and the politics of cultural representation / / by Carola Erika Lorea.

• Superior document: Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture, Volume 22
• VerfasserIn: Lorea, Carola Erika, 1987-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2016.; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Jerusalem studies in religion and culture ; Volume 22.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (350 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This book explores historical and cultural aspects of modern and contemporary Bengal through the performance-centred study of a particular repertoire: the songs of the saint-composer Bhaba Pagla (1902-1984), who is particularly revered among Baul and Fakir singers. The author shows how songs, if examined as 'sacred scriptures', represent multi-dimensional texts for the study of South Asian religions. Revealing how previous studies about Bauls mirror the history of folkloristics in Bengal, this book presents sacred songs as a precious symbolic capital for a marginalized community of dislocated and unorthodox Hindus, who consider the practice of singing in itself an integral part of the path towards self-realization.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Carola Erika Lorea -- Introduction / Carola Erika Lorea -- 1 Context: Bauls, Baul Literature and the Absence of Bhaba Pagla / Carola Erika Lorea -- 2 Composition: The Songs of a Migrant Avadhūta / Carola Erika Lorea -- 3 Performance: Music for Money, Songs for Salvation / Carola Erika Lorea -- 4 Transmission, Tradition and Technology: Training and Learning in the Bhaba Pagla Community / Carola Erika Lorea -- Conclusions / Carola Erika Lorea -- Appendix: A Selection of Songs of Bhaba Pagla in English Translation / Carola Erika Lorea -- References / Carola Erika Lorea -- Index of Names / Carola Erika Lorea -- General Index / Carola Erika Lorea.