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The Artifice of Brahmin Masculinity in South Indian Dance

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The Artifice of Brahmin Masculinity in South Indian Dance Luminos is the Open Access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Ahmanson Foundation Endowment Fund in Humanities. Impersonations Impersonations The Artifice of Brahmin Masculinity in South Indian Dance Harshita Mruthinti Kamath UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advanc- ing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2019 by Harshita Mruthinti Kamath This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses. Suggested citation: Kamath, H. M. Impersonations: The Artifice of Brahmin Masculinity in South Indian Dance. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.72 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kamath, Harshita Mruthinti, 1982- author. Title: Impersonations : the artifice of Brahmin masculinity in South Indian dance / Harshita Mruthinti Kamath. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2018061418 (print) | LCCN 2019003975 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520972230 (Epub) | ISBN 9780520301665 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Brahmans—India, South--Social life and customs. | Gender identity in dance—India, South. | Female impersonators—India, South—Social life and customs. | Kuchipudi (Dance)—Social aspects—India, South. Classification: LCC DS432.B73 (ebook) | LCC DS432.B73 K36 2019 (print) | DDC 306.4/846081109548—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018061418 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 for Baliakka Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Note on Transliteration xv Introduction 1 1. Taking Center Stage: The Poet-Saint and the Impersonator of Kuchipudi Dance History 33 2. “I am Satyabhama”: Constructing Hegemonic Brahmin Masculinity in the Kuchipudi Village 55 3. Constructing Artifice, Interrogating Impersonation: Madhavi as Vidūṣaka in Village Bhāmākalāpam Performance 80 4. Bhāmākalāpam beyond the Village: Transgressing Norms of Gender and Sexuality in Urban and Transnational Kuchipudi Dance 104 5. Longing to Dance: Stories of Kuchipudi Brahmin Women 134 Conclusion: Rewriting the Script for Kuchipudi Dance 159 Notes 169 Bibliography 193 Index 219 Illustrations FIGURES 1–2. Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma in the village of Kuchipudi 3 3. Ramalingeshvara and Balatripurasundari temple in the center of the Kuchipudi village 15 4. Siddhendra’s mūrti (image) in a temple in the Kuchipudi village 45 5–11. Vedantam Venkata Naga Chalapathi Rao donning Satyabhama’s strī-vēṣam 60–61 12. Chinta Ravi Balakrishna as the sūtradhāra 83 13. Satyabhama addressing Madhavi 84 14. Madhavi and Satyabhama offer flowers to Krishna (performed by Yeleswarapu Srinivas) 90 15. Sasikala Penumarthi enacts Satyabhama 110 16. Vedantam Raghava as the sūtradhāra 112 17. Madhavi and Satyabhama 113 18. Madhavi wears Satyabhama’s nose ring 115 19. Satyabhama combs Madhavi’s hair 126 20. Author impersonates Krishna 129 21. Vedantam Rajyalakshmi in her home in the Kuchipudi village 139 22. Chavali Balatripurasundari in her home in Hyderabad 151 x Illustrations MAPS 1. India (2018) 16 2. The Kuchipudi village 17 TABLE 1. Sūtradhāra/Madhavi/Madhava across Bhāmākalāpam performance contexts 117 Acknowledgments Writing is a performative act that demands collective labor in the guise, or vēṣam, of a singular voice. Although a monograph, this book would not be possible without the collective efforts of teachers, mentors, colleagues, and friends. My Kuchipudi guru, Sasikala Penumarthi, first introduced me to Kuchipudi through her exquisite skills in performance. Chavali Balatripurasundari, the daughter of guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, deepened my knowledge of Kuchipudi through her persistent dedication to her father’s legacy. Inspired by Baliakka’s story, I dedicate this book to her. I am deeply indebted to Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger, my incredibly generous advisor who has supported me throughout, from the start of this project to its finish. Joyce’s intellectual insights, deep love of India, and commitment to her students are truly remarkable, and she has been the single force that has shaped my academic training over the years. Velcheru Narayana Rao has sparked my interest in all things Telugu since the day I met him. I am grateful not only for Narayana Rao’s unbridled enthusiasm for reading Telugu texts, but also for his insightful observations and inspirational claims. My mentor at the University of Hyderabad, Anuradha Jonnalagadda, has been a guiding force through this project. Anuradha’s expansive knowledge of Kuchipudi dance history is an inspiration, and she is the single most influential scholar of Kuchipudi dance to date. I also thank the other scholars who influenced the shape of this book, including Laurie Louise Patton, an intellectual tour de force who prompted me on the path of scholarly work in South Asian studies. Vasudha Narayanan, the authority on South India, has shaped the arc of my scholarship from dissertation to book. I am extremely grateful to Anne Monius for her ongoing support of my research and scholarly career, as well as her xi xii Acknowledgments insightful feedback on drafts of the book. I also thank Sara McClintock for her careful eye when reading early versions of the book in its dissertation stage. I extend my gratitude to the many members of the Kuchipudi dance community who supported my fieldwork in India. In particular, I am indebted to the late Vempati Ravi Shankar for the countless hours spent discussing dance, Vedantam Venkata Naga Chalapathi Rao for his enthusiasm, Vedantam Raghava for his insights, and my dear friend Pasumarti Mrutyumjaya for his continuing encouragement. I thank the women of Kuchipudi village families who I interviewed in 2014, particularly Vedantam Rajyalakshmi, Vedantam Lakshminarasamma, Vempati Swarajyalakshmi, and Chavali Balatripurasundari, for their insights. Baliakka’s daughter, Sarvani, brought joy to my fieldwork. In addition, I am incredibly grateful to the following members of the Siddhendra Kalakshetra who took time to answer my questions, teach me dance, and support my project: Pasumarti Rattayya Sarma, Vedantam Radheshyam, Vedantam Ramalingasastry, Chinta Ravi Balakrishna, Yeleswarapu Srinivas, and Pasumarti Haranadh. I am also grateful to Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma, P.V.G. Krishna, Pasumarti Keshav Prasad, Nataraja Ramakrishna, Kalakrishna, Uma Rama Rao, Ajay Kumar, and Haleem Khan, as well as my remaining interlocutors for their willingness to speak with me. I thank Madhavi Puranam, Aruna Bhikshu, and the late G.M. Sarma for their support of this research. Finally, I am deeply grateful to the late Modali Nagabhushana Sarma for his willingness to meet with me in Hyderabad for hours upon end to discuss Kuchipudi dance history. The research for this book was supported by grants from the United States Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program and Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion’s Initiative in Religious Practices & Practical Theology. I also received support from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Fellowships Research Publication Grant and Emory University’s Center for Faculty Development and Excellence Scholarly Writing and Publishing Fund to complete the manuscript. I thank Reed Malcolm, Archna Patel, Emilia Thiuri, Paul Tyler, Tom Sullivan, and the editorial board at the University of California Press for their support. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their feedback to the manuscript. I am indebted to my outstanding editor, Petra Shenk, for her keen eye and insightful comments on many drafts. I am grateful to the staff at the Sangeet Natak Akademi Archives in New Delhi and the Tirupati Oriental Research Library in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. In addition, I thank Velcheru Narayana Rao, P. Venugopala Rao, Bethavolu Ramabrahmam, and Durga Yerramalli for their assistance in translat- ing my primary source materials from Telugu into English. I am grateful to Carla Freeman at Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Sarah McKee at Emory University’s Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry for their support in publishing this book as an open access monograph. Thanks also to Ben Pease for his detailed maps, Uzma Ansari for her beautiful photographs, and Chris Dodge for indexing. Acknowledgments xiii I am indebted to my colleagues at Emory University for supporting my scholarship, particularly Devin Stewart, Scott Kugle, Ruby Lal, Vincent Cornell, Rkia Cornell, Roxani Margarati, Ofra Yeglin, Brajesh Samarth, Juana McGhee, Paul Courtright, Arun Jones, Ellen Gough, Bobbi Patterson
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