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The seminar will introduce students to the oral (of or relating to the mouth, spoken) and aural (of, relating to, perceived by the ear) aspects of India's socio-cultural history and contemporary realities. Much scholarly attention has been paid to the classical interface and dichotomies of the 'written' and the 'oral' traditions in India as in other regions of the world. This seminar will shift the attention to the sonic dimension of speaking and listening. How do the two permeate the everyday practices of praying, communicating, instructing, perceiving and knowing in colonial and post-colonial India?
By focussing on the history of orality and aurality in India, the seminar will aim to overcome two academic fixations:
Firstly, the pre-occupation with the visual whereby this seminar will emphasize the sonic dimension of language usage. Secondly, the primary importance given to the semantics of language, the 'meaning' and content of what is said whereby this seminar will delve into the aesthetic dimension of language usage -- how what is said sounds, how it is heard and how it is spoken. In other words, to see how language is effective in its phonology, grammatical structure, semantic content and logical aspects but also that it has an aesthetic, emotive or sensory dimension.
We will look at texts as varied as commentaries on Brahmanic Hinduistic learning methods, where 'reading' translates into the Sanskrit word 'reciting'; the devotional songs played on loudspeakers on religious festivals where the tunes belong to famous Bollywood songs and the words adapt to devotional themes; the slogans used for political party campaigns during elections and the rhethoric of the most well-known 'star-speakers' of India -- its politicians. The methods of instruction practiced in the academic system at large in contemporary India become another revelatory arena for how aurality/orality percolates through the veins of the country as a legitimate learning and knowing technique. They point to the importance of listening and therein the significance of speaking itself. What can we learn from these examples about pervasion, persuasion, speaking, listening and therein knowing in contemporary India? |
