Reasons Why Dravidian Boys in Australia Do or Do Not Choose to Learn Bharatanatyam Author Menon, Vidyakartik Vijayadas Published 2017 Thesis Type Thesis (Professional Doctorate) School School of Education and Professional Studies DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3305 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367366 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Reasons Why Dravidian Boys in Australia Do or Do Not Choose to Learn Bharatanatyam Vidyakartik Vijayadas Menon M.Ed (Bond University), B.Commun (Hons) (University of Queensland) School of Education and Professional Studies Griffith University Gold Coast Campus Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Education July 2016 ABSTRACT This thesis explores the attitudes of Dravidian boys in Australia towards learning and performing bharatanatyam—a classical dance form that traces its origins to Tamil Nadu in South India. The study argues that at present, research into immigrant South Asian men’s attitudes towards performing identity through classical art forms such as bharatanatyam is highly disjointed and underdeveloped. This thesis identifies significant gaps in existing research, including the role of performing arts education in the negotiation of cultural and gender identity among immigrant men; the experiences of the South Asian diaspora in Australia; and in particular, younger members of the community; and the perceived contribution of classical bharatanatyam in the cultural preservation of diasporic South Asians. This study, therefore, investigates how attitudes towards gender and culture have shaped the way in which boys from immigrant Dravidian backgrounds have negotiated and renegotiated their gender and cultural identities in bharatanatyam spaces in Australia, and in turn, the influence this has had on the choices Dravidian boys make to engage with the art form. The investigation is centred on the following two questions: How do attitudes towards gender influence the decisions of Australian- Dravidian boys to learn or not to learn bharatanatyam? and How do attitudes towards culture influence the decisions of Australian-Dravidian boys to learn or not to learn bharatanatyam? A postcolonial theoretical framework was used in this investigation to recognise and highlight the experiences and challenges marginalised social constituencies undergo when seeking representation in the face of existing powerful Western discourses. Consistent with this theoretical paradigm, 20 Dravidian men and boys in Australia were interviewed to deepen the understanding of Dravidian-Australian men’s perceptions and attitudes towards learning and practising bharatanatyam. The organisation of the analysis chapters has drawn inspiration from the way Braidotti has considered alternative visions of difference in social groups on three levels: the difference between groups, the difference among members of a group, and the differences within individual members. This has attended to the project’s need to speak of difference in a positive way and conceptualise Dravidian boys and men as a strategic group without degenerating into discourses about arrested, essentialised categories. ii The narratives presented align with other literature on postcolonial masculinities that claim that men in the postcolonial world face many challenges and complexities in the way they negotiate their cultural and gendered identities. There is also a very clear indication that these challenges and complexities have a powerful impact on the choices of Dravidian boys and men to learn bharatanatyam in Australia. The findings of this study not only have a number of pedagogical implications for bharatanatyam educators and practitioners in Australia, but also include key points of consideration for the wider Dravidian community in relation to the way in which gender and cultural identities are negotiated in performing arts spaces. Finally, the study provides recommendations for further research in the field. iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. _____________________________ Kartik Menon iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .......................................................................... viii GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 Part A ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Preamble ................................................................................................................................ 1 Significance ........................................................................................................................... 5 Part B ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Personal Motivation and Hypothesis ..................................................................................... 7 Bharatanatyam: An Overview ............................................................................................. 11 Gendered History of Bharatanatyam ................................................................................... 13 The South Asian Diaspora................................................................................................... 16 What’s in a Name? Being Dravidian ................................................................................... 17 Tamil. .............................................................................................................................. 20 Indian. .............................................................................................................................. 22 South Asian. .................................................................................................................... 23 Hindu. .............................................................................................................................. 24 Desi. ................................................................................................................................ 25 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 28 An Overview ........................................................................................................................... 28 Theorising Gender: Biological, Social and Post-Structural Paradigms ................................... 29 Masculinities and Masculine Theory ...................................................................................... 33 The Poor Boy Syndrome ..................................................................................................... 34 The Power Approach ........................................................................................................... 35 Embodiment ........................................................................................................................ 36 Postcolonial Perspectives on Masculinity ............................................................................... 37 Boys and Education ................................................................................................................. 39 Masculinity in Arts Education................................................................................................. 42 Cultural Identity ...................................................................................................................... 43 Diasporas and Cultural Identity ............................................................................................... 45 South Asian Diaspora and Cultural Identity ........................................................................... 47 The Performance of South Asian Diasporic Identities through Performing Arts ................... 49 The Negotiation and Performance of Masculine Identities in Diasporic Bharatanatyam Spaces ...................................................................................................................................... 51 The Need to Investigate the Bharatanatyam Education Trends of South Asian Boys in Australia .................................................................................................................................. 53 v Summary ............................................................................................................................. 56 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN, THEORY AND METHODOLOGY .......... 57 A Preamble: