What role does dance, theatre, art and literature play in liberatory struggles? From anti-colonial struggles during the colonial era to ongoing struggles for democracy, this program will explore the role played by art forms and artists in resisting colonial domination, negotiating power structures and offering counter-narratives.  Our program will examine forms of resistance that arose in the context of colonial India, as well as those that mark the postcolonial experience of India as a nation of diverse communities.

Through our study of history, literature, dance, theatre and political economy, we will examine the ways in which marginalized communities in India have used various art forms to “talk back” to narratives of domination and create public spaces that counter the psychic and social oppressions of colonialism, neocolonialism and neoliberalism today.  Some of the art forms we will explore include: the street theatre, dance and literature that played a significant role in anti-colonial struggles; the music, traditions and lives of devadasis who contested the strictures of gender and class by living lives that flouted the dominant norms of womanhood and femininity; as well as the music and street theatre of contemporary marginalized communities facing displacement and dispossession.  Throughout the quarter, we will use the lenses of political economy to contextualize the backdrop of material conditions in which these art forms were practiced historically, as well as the conditions in which they are performed today.