Engendering Performance - Indian Women Performers in Search of an Identity
BISHNUPRIYA DUll & URMIMALA SARKAR MUNSI
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Engendering Performance is a comprehensive critical
history of women artistes in Indian theatre and dance of
the colonial and post-colonial periods. Its underlying premise
is that one cannot evaluate such performances in the Indian
context without looking at dance and theatre together, unlike
the course taken by traditional scholarship. The authors
weave. together issues of sexuality and colonialism, and
culture and society to provide a holistic account of women
performers in India.

The distinguishing features of this book are: a close reading
of archival materials, field surveys and extensive interviews
that provide new information and insights. The book is divided
into two sections, on the Actress and on the Danseuse, and
displays how the two evolved in different ways. In doing
this, it explores the theme of identity and body politics,
while simultaneously balancing a historical narrative with
emphasis on crucial individual topics.

The book adopts a pluralistic approach combining history,
economics, cultural studies, popular culture, anthropology,
ethnography and feminist criticism. Archival photographssome
of which have never been published before-make it
a collector's item.

To purchase a copy:
SAGE publications www.sagepub.co.uk