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UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb R,oa(L ADn AIbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313n61-4700 800/521-0600 l The embroidered word: Using traditional songs to educate women in India Alllishree Varma Cul1ure and Values in Education McGi/l University, Montreal March,1997 A thesis submitted to the Faculty ofGraduate Studies andResearch in partialfulfilment ofthe requiremel1ts ofthe degree ofMaster ofArts 'e Anushree Varma, 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A QN4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 canada canada Our fils Notr. rsféff1flCII The author has granted a noo­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library ofCanada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies ofthis thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son penmSSlon. autorisation. 0-612-29518-4 CanadN l This Ihesis cOllsiders the pOlential ofusing women's traditiona/folk songs as a primary resource in the cOlltext ofwomen's educationalprograms in India. Listening to the voices ofprotest in women's ancient songs willnot only keep womel1 in Jouch with the long history oftheir stroggle, hut will also retunl worth and importance to the devalued oralnarratives that have bee/l the repositories ofwomens Imowledge and experiencefor centuries. Education programs that grow out ofthe rich and variedmaterial offolk songs will, by definition, deal with the issues lhat are repeated/y raised, like embroidered pattenls, in the songs themselves. Fami/y, love, chi/d-rearing and the myriadproblems offulfilling personal d:!sire within the confinements ofpatriarchy will ail, under scrutirry, yielden/cial subject matterfor education programs. At the same lime, spinning new folksongs out ofoldol1es will challenge Y/omell to think critica/ly, and with the creativity essenliallo reworking our cultures so lhat both women andmen are able to rea/ize themselves more who/ly. Cette essai traite des chants folkloriques des ftmmes comme ressource première dans l'élaboration de programme éducatifpourjëmmes en Inde. Les voix du défi qui surgissent encore de ces chansons anciennes nous permettrent non seulement d'accéder à la longue histoire de la révolte des jëmmes mais redonneront aussi de la valeur et de l'importance aux traditions orales qui. pendant des siècles. ont étaient les seuls recueils de l'expérience et de la sagesse des jëmmes. Les programmes éducatifs qui naîtront de cette tradition riche et variée seront nécessairement axés sur les thèmes qui se fissent continuellement à travers ces chansons. La famille. l'amour. les enjQnts et les multiples problèmes que la patriarchie impose auxfèmmes dans la réalisation de leurs désirs personelsfourniront une matière essentielle au programme éducatif L'élaboration des nouveaux chants à partir des traditions anciennes emmenera les jëmmes à porter un regard critique sur la matière. toul en apporlant un degré de crealivité. Cette creativité sera essentielle à tout projet qui cherche à retravailler nos cultures pour que les femmes aussi bien que les hommes soient/ibres de s'épanouir plus complètement. 1 wou/d like to Ihank Professor Ratna Ghoshfor her encouragement andhumour. Without her support the horizons that 1 reached as a graduate sludent wou/dhave beell far narrower andless c%uifu/. Thanks to Sophie Lorenzofor her he/plu/ editorial advice and unswervingfaith. Most especia/Iy. 1 wou/d like to thank my mother andfather, Uma Khanna and Sohall Vanna. for their love andsupport throughout my sIl/dies. Bol, ye thora waql bahut hait Bol. ke sach zinda haï ab tak­ Bo/. ke jan ab lak teri haï. Bo/. jo kuchh kahna haï kah-le! (Faïz) Table ofContents Prologue L Songs andStories History The Ancient Period A History ofWornen: The Vedic Age The Later Vedic Age: The Decline in Women's Status Mother Goddesses & Women ofAncient India EarlySongs Therigatha: Songs ofthe Buddhist Nuns Life Stories ofthe Theris Unequal Power Relations in the Sangha The Medieval Age Origïns ofBhakti Women Within the Bhakti Movement Speaking a Common Language Women Bhakti Poets: Their Lives, Myths and Songs Mahadeviyakka Mirabai Mira Bhakti: Undoing the Marital knots IL Song Rituals as Resistance Origins ofthe Debate Songs & Other Fonns ofEveryday Resistance Traces ofthe Past in the Present: Songs as History Different Points ofView The Song Fenced In: Sorne Problems Concerning Action Rooting Out the Bad Song: Historical Destruction ofWomen's Narratives Song Versus Structure: A 19th Century Case Study in BengaJ Other Casualties ofWomen's Folk Culture The Song Untied: Moving Towards Action IlL Song Traditions and Education Working Hand in Hand Communicating with Wisdom Bud and Leaf: Growing Education Programs Out ofNarratives Development & Developing Long-Tenn Plans Different Birds: Songs as a Means to Encouraging Cultural Diversity Non-Literate Peoples & the Powers that Be Work Like Queen Bees: Misogyny in Oral Traditions Making New Songs Out ofNew Hopes Implications for Education Folk Culture as Co-operation and Sharîng Values Inherent in Educating through Folksongs Epilogue Bibliography l An 'anldta' reJers to the signature. the name or evocation ofthe beloved's nome. that a Indian composer imprints into her song like a stamp to show that the words are hers. When il comes to the songs that women in India compose and sing. as they have sungfor centuries. the ankita is most oflen a signature written on air rather than on paper. Its inkflows out ofthe voices ofthe women who have handed these lyrics down through generations. as emblems of their own experiences. In this paper 1attempt to study the social power. both actual and potential. that women's voices embody. The thesis is divided into three sections: The first section considers the lives and works ofwomen poets ofthe ancient and medieval age in India. This section is prefaced by a brieflook at the early social history of women in India. beginning with the Vedic age in which women's status was comparatively better. and continuing through later periods which saw the erosion ofwomen's position in society. The stories and the myths ofthe lives ofthe poets are interwoven with the greater life ofthe society in which they were born. The composers whom 1have included all sang songs that were circulatedby word ofmouthfOr centuries before they were ever put to paper. Many ofthese songs even now circulate through the towns and villages ofIndia. sung by non-/iterate wandering singers who have oceans ofmusic inscribed on their memory. The expression ofpain ftlt within the confinements ofpatriarchy. as wel/ as pronouncements as to how inegalitarian social stnlctures ultimately penetrate into the marrow ofintimate relationships between women and men. are given especial emphasis in my reading. The secondpart explains how oralfolk traditions. and the views embedded wilhin them. may be construed as a point. or a constellation ofpoints. ofresistance against the goveming patriarchal norms that restrict women's freedoms. Interspersed throughout this section and the nert are excerpts offOlksongs. from a/l over India. that have been composed by women. These songs have their roots in the deep past. yet are alive in the dai/y /ives andjëstivals ofIndian women as they continue to sing them today. In the thirdandfina/ part ofthe paper 1exp/ore how women's oral traditions. in the context oftheir personal. /ived experiences. can become the means for education for liberation. This section addresses itselfto women's educational initiatives that define as their intent the improvement ofwomen's lives in poorer countries. 1 have attempted to Lay out some ofthe manifold reasons as to why il is essentialthat education seeldng to he/p women shouldgrow out ofthe voiced history ofthese women's strugg/es. rather than eut itselfofffrom these vital roots. This study treats song. history and education as ways in which we, men and women both. learn to know each other. It ca/lsfor changes in the imp/anred social organisms that hinder us /rom knowing each other, and our own abi/ities.

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