Pond-Women Revelations: The Subaltern Registers in Maithil Women's Expressive Forms

Authors

Coralynn V. Davis, Bucknell UniversityFollow

Publication Date

2008

Description

Ponds are ubiquitous in the Maithil region of Nepal, and they figure prominently in folk narratives and ceremonial paintings produced by women there. I argue that in Maithil women's folktales, as in their paintings, the trope of ponds shifts the imaginative register toward women's perspectives and the importance of women's knowledge and influence in shaping Maithil society, even as this register shift occurs within plots featuring male protagonists. I argue further that in the absence of a habit of exegesis in their expressive arts, and given the cross-referential, dialogic nature of expressive practices, a methodology that draws into interpretive conversation the multitude of expressive forms exercised by Maithil women enhances analytical access to Maithil women's collective perspectives on their social and cosmological worlds.

Journal

Journal of American Folklore

Volume

121

Issue

481

First Page

286

Last Page

318

Department

Women's & Gender Studies

Publisher Statement

• Published as "Pond-Women Revelations: The Subaltern Registers in Maithil Women's Expressive Forms." Journal of American Folklore 121(481):286-318 (2008) by the American Folklore Society

Recommended Citation

Davis, Coralynn V.. "Pond-Women Revelations: The Subaltern Registers in Maithil Women's Expressive Forms." Journal of American Folklore (2008) : 286-318.