Gender Subversions in Indofijian Performances by Vicky Vishal Shandil
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(RE)VIEWING THE OTHER: GENDER SUBVERSIONS IN INDOFIJIAN PERFORMANCES BY VICKY VISHAL SHANDIL A thesis Submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington (2019) Copyright © 2019 by Vicky V. Shandil All rights reserved 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures iv Acknowledgment viii Abstract ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Purpose and Research Questions 6 Background 12 Literature Review 13 Theoretical Guide: 19 Performativity 20 Articulation Theory 21 Methodology: 23 Oral History 25 Chapter Outline 27 Chapter 2: The Liminal Other 29 Introduction 29 Being IndoFijian 29 Liminality 32 Contextualising Liminality 33 Gender Parody 38 Subversion and Society 46 Identifying the Other 52 Conclusion 56 Chapter 3: Displayed Difference: A Historical Analysis of Qawwali 5 7 Introduction 57 What is Qawwali? 57 Contextualised History and Change: 60 Religion and Society 61 Media 62 Responses to Changes 64 Qawwal: Mentoring and Training 71 ii Structures in Qawwali 72 Performance Routine 75 Qawwal 77 Other Features of Qawwali: 80 Purpose/Context 80 Variability 89 Clarity of Text 93 Audience Interaction 95 Sitting Arrangement 97 Female Qawwal 100 Conclusion 102 Chapter 4: Analysis of Qawwali Performances 103 Introduction 103 Sushil versus Vijendra 103 Shalini versus Rishi 113 Shalini versus Dhiren 123 Conclusion 137 Chapter 5: The Dancing Other: Roots and Rituals of Lahanga Naach 138 Introduction 138 What is Lahanga Naach? 142 Nachaniya 142 Performance and its Paraphernalia: 147 Song, Music, Dance 147 Attire, Make-up, Hair, Jewellery 152 Abstinence and Observances 156 Naming 157 Contexts of Performances 160 Motivation for Performing 169 Audience Response 174 The Off-stage Scene 175 Changes to Lahanga Naach 179 iii Conclusion 180 Chapter 6: Analysis of Lahanga Naach Performances 181 Introduction 181 Rani Performs Sumirni 181 Johnny and Rafiq’s Performance 187 Kushwa’s Rural Labasa Performance 198 Bijuriya’s Diwali Naach 205 Aishwariya’s Wedding Dance 208 Monto’s Stage Show 212 Rani Performs for Religious Celebration 219 Monto Performs for Chatti 225 Conclusion 227 Chapter 7: Managing Subversive Identities: 228 Pathways to and Issues for Liminal Embodiments Introduction 228 Performativity and Performance 233 Stereotypes: 232 Hegemony: A Double Bind 235 Resilience 237 Gender Fluidity and Rights: 238 Othering: Actions and Reactions 240 The Question of Change: 243 Media and Change 245 NGOs and Change 246 Conclusion 251 Chapter 8: Conclusion 252 Bibliography 254 Appendix 271 iv LIST OF FIGURES Fig. Title Page 1 The first picture shows a veil separating male audiences from females. The 69 veil is removed about an hour after the performance began, thus joining the gendered spaces. 2 The Darga in Navua. 75 3 The photo shows Dhiren during a religious qawwali performance in 98 Auckland. 4 Dhiren's opponent at the same qawwali muqabala. 99 5 Sushil Krishna in a 1994 qawwali muqabala. 102 6 Shalini and Rishi on-stage. 114 7 Shalini versus Dhiren. 124 8 Picture of a lahanga sewn and designed by Johnny. 139 9 In this image Monto can be seen seated on the lap of an elderly gentlemen 150 with Monto's veil over the man's head. 10 Monto performing this trademark LN movement of moving forward and 151 backwards with skirt held up on both sides. 11 The image shows Gorilla in Pundit Amrit's grandson's wedding, dancing 152 with arti in his hand. 12 An example of a handmade tiara designed by Johnny. 153 13 An example of a kurta or blouse. 154 14 A photo of ankle bells that were worn by nachaniya. 155 15 This belt was tied to the waist to enhance the image of rotating hips 156 16 The picture shows Ashley playing Sita in a 2014 Ramlila in Navua. 162 17 Photograph of Johnny (in green sari) while performing in a Nautanki. 163 18 Manju plays the harmonium as her daughter (navy blue t-shirt) performs a 164 pachra. 19 Rani performing Sumirni. 182 20 Johnny awaits in the background with musicians as Rafiq moves upstage to 189 perform. 21 Rafiq on center stage, performing. 190 v 22 Kushwa interacts with an audience member, mid-performance. 199 23 Kushwa performing at a Labasa wedding. 200 24 Bijuriya Performing for event marking Diwali at Tavua Market. 206 25 Aishwariya performing in Vunika Wedding. 209 26 Monto performing a stage show in Hamilton. 216 27 Rani's performance invaded by a nachaniya imposter. 222 28 Bijuriya seen performing for a chatti function while holding a baby. 225 29 Monto performing a song for chatti. 226 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ‘Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever’, says 1 Chronicles 16:34. I would indeed not be writing this if it was not for God’s favour that saw me through this mammoth project of research and writing. I wish to thank the following family, friends, colleagues, and mentors, without whom the dream of finishing a PhD would have remained just that, a dream: ✓ My family members, Cathrene, Hosanna, Brendan, who accompanied me on this journey and choose still to follow me. Nicky, Vineta, Hannah and Adwin for their support. Victa and Rashika for the couch and extra mattress to crash on. Ronald for being my driver in Labasa. Mausa for taking me to Tavua. My late nana for sharing the story of Ram Chandar before you passed away in 2018. ✓ My supervisors, Dr. April and Dr. Brian. Never has a PhD candidate been blessed as much as I was in having supervisors of your calibre and personality. Vinaka Vakalevu. ✓ Thank you, Emma and Nate, for helping me fight for my identity of being an IndoFijian, who is not an Indian in Fiji. ✓ Victoria University of Wellington, for the Victoria Doctoral Scholarship, the logistical support, and more importantly the trust in me to become part of the Va’aomanu Pasifika family. 6KP will always remain a home away from wherever I head next. ✓ All scholars who contributed to this thesis, past and present, especially Professor Naidu for not being too busy to speak with an upcoming academic. ✓ My field participants for sharing their stories with me. The qawwal and nachaniya who narrated their lives and experiences with me. The cultural experts who chose to talanoa with me to allow documentation of the things they have learnt over many years. vii ABSTRACT Cultural performances are more than forms of entertainment and vehicles for conveying social and religious traditions. These acts are political acts that can exceed their role of promulgating hegemonic formations and instead be used to subvert and deconstruct existing social realities. This doctoral research focuses on performances that subvert IndoFijian heteronormative gender(s), namely: performances by female singers of qawwali, a genre of competitive singing historically exclusive to males; and lahanga naach, dances by cross- dressed males in Fiji and in the IndoFijian diaspora in New Zealand. Situated within the interdisciplinary field of Pacific Studies, this research draws upon cultural and gender studies as well as materials and knowledge from and about Pacific and Indian cultures to examine these cultural performances. Concepts such as Butler’s theory of performativity and Hall’s theory of articulation are employed to argue that cultural performances are performative in the sense that they not only depict what already exists, but initiate and materialise what can be. This argument is discussed and illustrated through both ethnographic and historical engagement and research methods, interweaving transcriptions of performances with relevant academic literature and oral history interviews of performers as well as cultural experts represented by community leaders, academics and gender activists. This dissertation begins by discussing the idea of a liminal other in relation to ethnic and gender identities and establishes the liminal other’s position in the overarching argument of this research. This is followed by detailed descriptions and analysis of qawwali and lahanga naach, respectively, in accordance with an additional research objective of documenting and creating archival records for these two performance genres. The latter part of the dissertation returns to themes of gender subversion, hegemony and performativity, discussing examples of the real-life implications of embodying liminal identities. The dissertation concludes by emphasising the need for more research on performance cultures in the Pacific and draws attention to how individual agency can promote social change and impact meaning-making mechanisms of social groups through the means of cultural performance. Importantly, this research presents an alternative outlook on the viii gendered understandings of IndoFijians by including the voices of the disadvantaged who occupy liminal spaces in society. ix Chapter 1 Introduction Subversive behaviour exhibits the capacity to point both towards and away from received convention, at once legitimatising the cultural order as naturally given and destabilising it as artificially contrived. (Brightman, 1999, p. 273) Within IndoFijian society, there is a pressing preoccupation with portraying an image of connectedness and stability. This concern is driven by the pressures of being a settler population acutely aware of their differences from both a distant India, and the indigenous iTaukei1 population of their Fijian home. This concern manifests in attempts to control all aspects of daily life in order to present a sentiment of coherence. The effort to maintain the status quo is significantly vigorous in propagating and policing adherence to gender ideals. In an earlier research undertaking, I studied the role folk performances have in producing culturally gendered beings from biologically sexed ones. That project clarified that IndoFijian folksongs performed for wedding ceremonies are meant to create, reiterate and reinforce conventional femininity and gender hierarchy (Shandil, 2016). Considerable emphasis through discourses of religion, culture, and tradition is placed on gendered ideologies in discursive forms like cultural performances.