Cultural Politics of Popular Performances: The Structure and Representation of the Odia Jatra
explores how, as a consequence of modernity, the hybridization of living theatre forms like jatra, allows 'authentic' folk traditions to not only survive but flourish by taking on new shapes without losing their traditional identity. The evolution of jatra from folk theatre in the premodern era to popular/mass theatre in modern Odisha has led to it attaining a dominant position in the entertainment industry. It is consumed by a large audience and is mediated by mechanisms of the capitalist market, surpassing the scale of modern Odia cinema. By responding to social-cultural forces, it has expanded its cultural consumption, production and participation, and now caters to the entertainment needs
of the masses in both urban and
rural areas.
This book explores how this dominant form has revived mythological interpretations in modern, secular stories, thereby creating new spectacles in the countryside by producing a cinematic-hybrid culture in the changing social structure of modern-day Odisha.
Sharmila Chhotaray is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Tripura University. Her work focuses on the question of identity in popular performance art. She is currently engaged in exploring the socio-cultural history of the popular Bengali jatra. Her other research interests include gender, sanitation and the social history of Tripura tribes on the border of Bangladesh.
THIS BOOK IS an attempt to study continuity and change in a popular theatre genre called jatra (touring/mobile theatres) in eastern India, particularly in Odisha. Popularly known as gananātya (gana means people and natya stands for drama/theatre), operas, and nācas, these groups travel throughout the state in the jatra season (from the end of July to the end of May). Jatra evolved from a folk theatre form in premodern times to a popular/mass theatre in modern Odisha. It is established today as a dominant entertainment industry, consumed by a large audience and mediated by a market that has overtaken modern Odia cinema. The multicrore jatra industry known as 'Jollywood' has opened production units through new business ventures and established a system of distribution by organizing jatra committees across the region.
More than 200 jatra troupes travel around rural villages and urban areas in Odisha. Standing on the highway or at a bus stop, one would frequently find trucks carrying loads of chairs, stage equipment and jatra performers rushing to their next destinations to set up their show. The banners and posters in vibrant florescent colors, hanging at every crossroad/bus stop, the captivating titles of jatra plays announced in an arresting voice echoing from a distance-all attract people in large numbers. The spectacles are followed by a display of music, dance, and drama in the evening. The long queues at ticket counters reveal the great demand of jatra shows. The close interaction of the spectators, who get excited, thrilled and emotional with every movement of the performers on stage demonstrates the continuing popularity of Jatra.
These facets of travelling theatre troupes fascinated me when I witnessed my first jatra show in January 2002. The preliminary piece of research was like scratching the surface that subsequently led me to research this field for about a decade. After a decade of fieldwork, it is now relatively easy to mark the tremendous growth noticed from amateur touring companies to the corporatization of the jatra industry.
South Asian performing arts in general have been changing as 'authentic' folk traditions are either declining or being revived as a hybridized cultures in the age of modernity. The present book is not an attempt to add to earlier studies on such indigenous cultural practices; rather, I intend to examine jatra as a culture of the masses that not only provides entertainment, but one that has been an integral part of its participants' lives. In order to reflect upon the interdependence between popular culture and social structure, this study of cultural politics of popular jatra suggests that the changing aspects of the genre-both structural and representational- shape and reinforce social, religious, political, and cultural realities. This premodern art form, an inalienable part of popular culture, has gone through substantial changes and, like other social institutions, it has had intended and unintended consequences.
MY INTEREST IN JATRA, a form of popular folk theatre in Odisha, stemmed from my childhood experience with folk musicals like pālās and dāskațhiä in my locality. We would run to occupy a place on the ground next to the elevated stage and were transported into a world of myths and legends. Years ago, I was a street-theatre activist. The scanty scholarships in the social sciences, performing arts, cultural studies and Odishan studies did not facilitate an understanding of the popular-entertainment form. The idea to pursue this research originated in my curiosity to understand the world of jatra, which drew viewers from 'low class, low taste and mostly male' backgrounds. I have been told many times that jatra is not meant for 'daughters of respected urban families'. In fact, some twenty years ago, our tickets (mine and that of a friend) for a jatra show in Paradip were cancelled at the last minute for this very reason. However, I strongly believed for a long time that the study of jatra could somehow fit into the disciplinary boundaries of sociology. Since then, a journey was begun to understand the oeuvre of jatra.
My major sociological concerns in this book are as follows: first, if folk traditions in South Asia are waning, how did jatra transform into a popular/mass form of entertainment, showing resilience in an industrialized society in an age of modern mass media? Second, how can we contextualize the relation between jatra and Odia social structure? Due to the wide-ranging social transformations in the state, I was consequently interested in examining jatra with reference to the Odia community.
Odia jatra is a regional form of folk theatre that developed in Odisha. There have been many manifestations of jatra not only in the state, but also in West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, and Bangladesh. Although the development of jatra occurred parallelly in each region, its Odia form was influenced by the neighbouring Bengali jatra in the colonial period. Often, Bengalis become the reference group for Odia literature and culture. Odia jatra as a general phenomenon, and the impact of other jatra forms on it, occupies an important place in this book.
Travelling folk theatre has mostly been a subject of folklore studies and is largely preoccupied with the concept of an authentic form. This book contextualizes jatra within this framework but builds on the concept of cultural continuity that allows folk culture to survive in the modern context. This survival is contingent upon its transformation into a popular/ mass form of theatre. Unlike museumized folk art, jatra is not entirely decontextualized from its origins in the changing social structure but survives through the commercialization of leisure. It has expanded its performing context from rural to urban areas as well as from live open-air theatre to television, audio, video cassettes, and print media.
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