S. Karmegam :”Being Nomad, Becoming ‘Native’: Performance, Identity, and Everyday life of Shadow Pupper Performers of Tamilnadu.”
This paper looks at the shadow puppet performers of Tamilnadu, who were migrated from Maharastra. While the Tamilnadu shadow puppet performers perform Kamban’s Ramayana in Kerala, these Marathi performers performed Ramayana stories in rural Tamilnadu. Like Karagattam, this art form also lost the ritual significance among the rural Tamil society. The performers, who were in constant migration earlier, were forced to settle in one particular place due to the present socio-cultural milieu. In a dialogue with the local society, they developed new strategies of living and also to make their cultural life meaningful.
With the support of local community, they started story-telling to the school children through their puppets. On the other hand, some of other performers learned Villupattu, another performance which has highly ritual importance. Thus, this study raises some series of questions on the performance arts, linguistic nationalism, and the agency of the performers.
Biological Statement:
S. Karmegam is a doctoral student in Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His research interests include Healing & Ritual studies, Performance studies, and Folkloristics. His doctoral research is about the Kalari festival traditions of Southern Tamilnadu.
