Lecture Notes: ChatGPT - Exam Prep Crash Course

Overview

• Purpose: Prepare for an exam with 2 fifteen-markers and 3 ten-markers.
• Focus: Key points, possible questions, quick revision tips.

High Priority Texts (15-markers)

1. The Influence of These Nautch Girls by Julie Peakman

• Themes:
  • Representation: Erotic performance vs. colonization.
  • Gaze: Colonial vs. indigenous perspectives.
  • Decline: British moral standards' impact.
• Quick Notes:
  • Nautch = dance seen as seduction by Westerners.
  • Seen as entertainers and prostitutes.
  • British reduced respected artists to immoral figures.
• Possible Question: Transformation of nautch girls under colonial rule.

2. Jogappas by Makepeace Sitlhou

• Themes:
  • Gender fluidity in religion.
  • Marginalization vs. reverence of trans communities.
• Quick Notes:
  • Men becoming women serving Goddess Yellamma.
  • Divine yet socially excluded.
• Possible Question: Jogappa's challenge to traditional gender roles.

3. Body, Myth and Culture in Arekti Premer Galpo by Nilanjan Chakraborty

• Themes:
  • Queer identity, body politics, performativity.
  • Theatre, memory, protest.
• Quick Notes:
  • Uses dual narratives for critique.
  • Body as a site of protest.
• Possible Question: Use of performance to critique societal norms.

Mid Priority Texts (10-markers)

4. Politics of Exclusion by Umar Tharamel

• Focus: Mappila songs as anti-colonial folk resistance.
• Possible Question: Exclusion of folk art forms.

5. Unfinished Gestures by Davesh Soneji

• Focus: Devadasis as complex cultural agents.
• Possible Question: Impact of colonial modernity on devadasis.

6. Only Sometimes a God by Prateek Prajosh

• Focus: Performance as a political tool, myth, faith.

7. Sanda Seivom by Arivu

• Focus: Protest rap, Dalit rights, resistance.

8. Chandni Bar (Film)

• Focus: Bar dancers, gendered labor, survival.

Quick Revision Strategy

• Remember: WHO is represented, HOW, and WHAT politics play.
• Use buzzwords: Performative, marginalization, colonial gaze, resistance, agency, identity.

Sample Paper Breakdown

Davesh Soneji's Article

• Key Points:
  • Critiques homogenization of devadasis.
  • Uses oral history and performance to reconstruct history.

Sanda Seivom as a Call for Equality

• Key Points:
  • Dalit protest song reclaiming voice.
  • Uses rap for mobilization.

Nautch Girls

• Key Points:
  • Respected artists reframed by colonial lens.
  • Shift served colonial control over sexuality.

Umar Tharamel on Kerala Renaissance

• Key Points:
  • Exclusion of marginalized voices.
  • Brings folk art into conversation.

Chandni Bar as a Mirror

• Key Points:
  • Focuses on marginalized bar dancers.
  • Intersection of crime, poverty, patriarchy.

Only Sometimes a God’s Politics

• Key Points:
  • Performance spaces reflecting power hierarchies.

In-Depth Discussions

Nautch Girls

• Possible Questions:
  • Misunderstood status, colonial redefinition, cultural resistance.
• Model Answers: Discuss shifts in identity due to colonial narratives.

Jogappas

• Possible Questions:
  • Gender role challenges, intersections of caste and gender.
• Model Answers: Ritual empowerment vs. systemic marginalization.

Arekti Premer Galpo

• Possible Questions:
  • Intersection of performance and marginalization.
• Model Answers: Dual narratives exposing societal norms.

Unfinished Gestures

• Possible Questions:
  • Reliving history through embodied performance.
• Model Answers: Critique of colonial narratives through dance.

Politics of Exclusion

• Possible Questions:
  • Critique of Kerala Renaissance’s exclusion.
• Model Answers: Highlights Mappila songs’ resistance.

Only Sometimes a God

• Possible Questions:
  • Micro-society's reflection of larger politics.
• Model Answers: Intersection of divinity and exclusion.

Sanda Seivom

• Possible Questions:
  • Politics of protest in performance.
• Model Answers: Dalit protest through music.

Kozhi Punk (Daakko Daakko Meka)

• Possible Questions:
  • Subaltern masculinity performance.
• Model Answers: Working-class resistance through body politics.

Chandni Bar

• Possible Questions:
  • Intersection of gender and violence in urban survival.
• Model Answers: Performance tied to survival and societal critique.

• Next Steps: Create flashcards, summarization sheets, or quizzes for review.