Comic Performance in Pakistan (eBook)

The Bhānd

Claire Pamment (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2017 | 1st ed. 2017
XX, 229 Seiten
Palgrave Macmillan UK (Verlag)
978-1-137-56631-7 (ISBN)

Infos

This book explores comic performance in Pakistan through the vibrant Indo-Muslim tradition of the Punjabi bhānd which now holds a marginal space in contemporary weddings. With irreverent repartee, genealogical prowess, a topsy-turvy play with hierarchies and shape shifting, the low-status bhānd jostles space in otherwise rigid class and caste hierarchies. Tracing these negotiations in both historical and contemporary sites, the author unfolds a dynamic performance mode that travels from the Sanskrit jester and Sufi wise fool, into Muslim royal courts and households, weddings, contemporary carnivalesque and erotic popular Punjabi theatre and satellite television news. Through original historical and ethnographic research, this book brings to life hitherto unexplored territories of Pakistani popular culture and Indo-Muslim performance histories.

Claire Pamment is Assistant Professor of World Theatre in the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance at the College of William and Mary, USA; former Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Worship and the Arts Fellow (2015-16), and has taught at various universities in Pakistan. Her articles on South Asian performance, censorship, burlesque, comedy and transgendering have appeared in TDR, Comedy Studies and Asian Theatre Journal. She is Performance Reviews Editor for Ecumenica.

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This book explores comic performance in Pakistan through the vibrant Indo-Muslim tradition of the Punjabi bhand which now holds a marginal space in contemporary weddings. With irreverent repartee, genealogical prowess, a topsy-turvy play with hierarchies and shape shifting, the low-status bhand jostles space in otherwise rigid class and caste hierarchies. Tracing these negotiations in both historical and contemporary sites, the author unfolds a dynamic performance mode that travels from the Sanskrit jester and Sufi wise fool, into Muslim royal courts and households, weddings, contemporary carnivalesque and erotic popular Punjabi theatre and satellite television news. Through original historical and ethnographic research, this book brings to life hitherto unexplored territories of Pakistani popular culture and Indo-Muslim performance histories.

Inhalt

Introduction.- Part One: Genealogies.- 1.In the Centres and Margins of the Historical Record.- 2.Brahmin Jesters and Sufi Wise Fools.- Part Two: Contemporary Performance.- 3.Wedding Bhānds: ‘From the Donkey Cart to the Aeroplane’.- 4.Bhānds in the Drawing Room: The Popular Punjabi Theatre.- 5.Satellite Bhānds: Playful Outsiders.- Conclusion: Future Moves? 

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.5.2017
• Reihe/Serie: Palgrave Studies in Comedy
• Reihe/Serie: Palgrave Studies in Comedy
• Zusatzinfo: XX, 229 p. 29 illus., 11 illus. in color.
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Tanzen / Tanzsport
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
• Schlagworte: bhand • bhānd • Censorship • Clown • clowning • Comedy • comic performance • Fool • Humour • jester • Marginality • naqqal • Pakistani performance • Pakistani theatre • popular theatre/performance • Punjabi performance • Punjabi theatre • Slapstick • South Asian performance • South Asian theatre • Sufi
• ISBN-10: 1-137-56631-0 / 1137566310
• ISBN-13: 978-1-137-56631-7 / 9781137566317