A GLANCE AT FOLK PERFORMANCE AND NON-NATIVE AUDIENCE

Performance is an interesting subject of study and it is the point of intersection for many academic fields within humanities and social sciences. The studies on performance, thus, could provide opportunities for exploring different aspects of human behaviours and their creative reflections on the matters that are intrinsic to the concept of performance. In pursuit of performance studies, one could come across various knots that connect performance with every aspect of the socio-cultural life of people by redefining the stereotypical notions of “stage”, “actors” and “audience.” Further, the studies on performance could not be placed on a single trajectory as several approaches, perspectives and orientations that have emerged ever since the delimitation of performance happened by opening up its boundary for interdisciplinary studies lead by the undefined ‘performance studies’ of Richard Schechner. However, by dealing with the performance as a live presentation in all perceived forms of “stages”, a significant question has been asked in this paper as a token of beginning on the “problematic” presence of audience as outsiders (non-native and non-belonging) who, by their nature of reception and response, are understood as those who have no concern either for the performance or for the performers. While each form, in the folkloristic sense, is comprising of its natural context along with a dedicated or defined audience, it seems to be a surprising phenomenon as it developed over a period of time as a result of the prodigious and irresistible globalization process. Thus, the unintended and unsolicited transformation, as an impact of globalization, in the traditional and modern performances has shaped the nature and role of ‘audience’, making it an insignificant and irrelevant entity for the consumption with aesthetic appreciation and conviction on the values demonstrated. So this article problematizes the nature of audience in the decontextualized performance context by drawing insights from performance studies, semiotics, and other cognate disciplines. Based on the insights drawn from the fieldwork on Sarhul festival held in Ranchi district a few years ago, this paper argues that the role of audience cannot be understood unless there is a clear perspective on the nature of performance and performance tradition as defined by the community.

Hidden Music in Early Elizabethan Tragedy

In modern times, scholars have widely regarded early Elizabethan tragedy, like Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville’s Gorboduc (1561/62) and its successors at the Inns of Court, as verbose and unlyrical. Those criticisms may reflect an incomplete understanding of the original performance tradition, however. Like Senecan tragedies from this period, those plays include act-ending choruses, mostly in pentameter and in various stanza configurations. This study proposes that in the English tragedies, at least, those choruses were very likely sung, most probably to tunes from the emerging repertoire of metrical psalms. These findings would significantly affect the character of such plays and how they are perceived by scholars and audiences alike.

Performing the Argument

This chapter elaborates on a predominantly oral performance tradition called Talamaddale which is linked to the popular traditional form of Yakshagana performed in the southern state of Karnataka, India. Unlike the song, dance, and spectacle of Yakshagana, Talamaddale is known for the improvisatory verbal skills of actors who engage in intricate debates around specific characters and situations from the Ramayana narrative and other puranas. Highlighting the performative aspects of Talamaddale, the chapter interrelates three layers of texts which are illustrated with vivid examples: the written prasaṅga or narrative; the songs from the prasanga sung by the bhāgawata or lead singer; and dialogues that are improvised between the actors in each performance. Focusing on the relationship between Talamaddale and the Ramayana narrative tradition, the chapter shows how episodes from the source texts are selected, elaborated, interpreted, and textured into argumentative performances in which different episodes from diverse versions of the Ramayana narrative come alive through debating techniques and verbal repartee.

The Challenges Ahead

The concluding chapter focuses on the challenges that lie ahead in researching the multiple dynamics and contexts of performance in the Ramayana tradition. It highlights the need to prioritize the vocal and acoustic dimensions of Ramayana performance which tend to be undermined by the priority given to the visual aspects of movement, gesture, and spectacle. At an interpretive level, the essay calls attention to the ways in which specific codes and conventions of a particular performance tradition can be altered through individual performative choices. Calling attention to the challenge of translating the nuances of context-specific performance categories from different Indian languages, the chapter also highlights the need to research Ramayana performances as a means of livelihood for subaltern performers. The essay concludes by reflecting on the challenges posed by the political culture of the Hindu Right, which tends to oppose a pluralist affirmation of diverse renderings of the Ramayana narrative.

Questions around Rām Vijay

In conversation with Sri Narayan Chandra Goswami, the renowned sattradhikar (abbot) of the Natun Kamalabari Sattra in Assam, the co-editors of the volume, along with translator and annotator Parasmoni Dutta, raise questions relating to the history of the monastic Vaishnavite performance tradition Sattriya. Performed by monks as part of their devotional service in the sattras (monasteries) of Majuli in Assam, this tradition is attributed to the Assamese saint and social reformer, Sri Sankaradeva (1449–1568), whose play Rām Vijay is the only play in his oeuvre focusing on Ram through his marriage to Sita. Using the play as a catalyst for the discussion, Sri Narayan Chandra Goswami expounds on a range of issues—the socio-historical and cultural dimensions of Sattriya; its patronage by kings; its use as a popular means of proselytizing bhakti (a personalized devotional worship); and the representation of everyday life in the larger social and cultural context of the regional history of Assam.

Performing the Ramayana Tradition

Performing the Ramayana Tradition: Enactments, Interpretations, and Arguments, edited by Ramayana scholar Paula Richman and Rustom Bharucha, scholar of Theater and Performance Studies, examines diverse retellings of the Ramayana narrative as interpreted and embodied through a spectrum of performances. Unlike previous publications, this book is neither a monograph on a single performance tradition nor a general overview of Indian theater. Instead, it provides context-specific analyses of selected case studies that explore contemporary enactments of performance traditions and the narratives from which they draw: Kutiyattam, Nangyarkuttu, and Kathakali from Kerala; Kattaikkuttu and a “mythological” drama from Tamil Nadu; Talamaddale from Karnataka; avant-garde performances from Puducherry and New Delhi; a modern dance-drama from West Bengal; the monastic tradition of Sattriya from Assam; anti-caste plays from North India; and the Ramnagar Ramlila. Apart from the editors’ two introductions, which orient readers to the history of Ramayana narratives by Tulsidas, Valmiki, Kamban, Sankaradeva, and others, as well as the performance vocabulary of their enactments, the volume includes many voices, including those of directors, performers, scholars, connoisseurs, and the scholar-abbot of a monastery. It also contains two full scripts of plays, photographs of productions, interviews, conversations, and a glossary of Indian terms. Each essay in the volume, written by an expert in the field, is linked to several others, clustered around shared themes: the politics of caste and gender, the representation of the anti-hero, contemporary reinterpretations of traditional narratives, and the presence of Ramayana discourse in everyday life.

The Role of an Actual Brand Positioning: An Analysis of Digital Advertisements

The purpose of this study was to: (a) investigate the actual positions in digital communications; (b) assess the relationship between position-congruity among intended positions (i.e., how a firm desires to be perceived by consumers), actual brand positions, and perceived brand positions (i.e., the perceptions that customers have in their minds); and (c) understand the role of actual positioning (AP) in the positioning process. Multiple methods (one-on-one and focus group interviews, content analysis) were applied to analyze positions. Brand managers, golf consumers, and digital advertisements in Golf Digest magazine were sampled. Content analysis, frequencies and percentages, percentage difference, and regression analysis were performed for all positions for each research brand. The results revealed that: (a) tangibility-based positions (88.5%: great quality, innovation) outnumbered intangibility-based ones (11.5%: tour performance, tradition) in digital AP, (b) there was no positive correlation between the degree of congruence between intended and AP and the degree of congruence between intended and perceived positioning, and (c) the AP mediated between intended and perceived positioning in the brand positioning model. The study provides empirical evidence for the mediating role of AP and suggests modifications to the previous positioning process.

„Wozu die Mühe?“ Über Begleiterlizenzen und ihr Schwinden aus der Auführungspraxis des Kunstlieds. Mit Tonträgeranalysen zu Richard Strauss, „Zueignung“ op. 10 Nr. 1

A performance tradition stemming from the 19th century permitted lied accompanists to deviate considerably from the notated score when a flexible reaction to concrete performance situations was necessary. In this article some of these ‘accompanist’s licences’, as well as their decreasing acceptance in 20th century’s performance style, are described according to written sources. A comparative analysis of recordings of the lied “Zueignung” op. 10 No. 8 by Richard Strauss illustrates exemplarily the decline of ‘accompanist’s licences’ during the decades after 1900. Finally, the results are interpreted against the background of general developments in musical performance style.