Voyages of body and soul : selected female icons of India and beyond

Voyages of Body and Soul: Selected Female Icons of India and Beyond includes scholarly essays and performance/choreographic notes from a diverse range of contributors on the themes of “Mad and Divine: India's Female Saint-Poets” and “Epic Women of India and Beyond.” The contributors explore the tendency of patriarchal societies to label exceptional saint-poets yearning for the divine as “mad” because of their resistance to normative and acceptable female behavior. Scholars and performers journey across history, with discussions ranging from the 8th century Tamil mystic poet Andal's divine poetry, to the 16th century saint-poet Meerabai, to figures across the Indian subcontinent, including Kashmir's Lalleshwari and Maharashtra's Janabai, who, as a low caste member, joined the sacred path partly to escape caste oppression.The definition of “epic women” in this volume is multi-faceted: from looking at commonly accepted epic figures, such as the iconic Sita from The Ramayana, to examining epic women in politics, to probing dark women with passions of epic proportions, to legendary teachers of the classical dance style of bharatanatyam, to women with monumental courage and creativity across historical time-periods and geographical locations – Ancient Greece, Ancient India, 20th century Mexico, and Myanmar.Voyages of Body and Soul recognizes creative and courageous female saint-poets, and outspoken women in ancient epics and in contemporary times who follow their chosen paths with deep devotion. Their lives and works are models for the human community in the 21st century. Part I. Mad And Divine Female Saint-poets Of India And Beyond -- Institutionalizing Identity Through Divinity : Female Saint Poets Of Maharashtra / Madhavi Narsalay -- Āṇṭāḷ Of A Thousand Names : Viṣṇu's Beloved Mediator / Archana Venkatesan-- Translating The Autobiography Of A Goddess / Priya Sarukkai Chabria -- From Melody Queen To Muslim Madonna : Pakistani Female Singers Transcending The Secular/sacred Divide / Fawzia Afzal-khan -- Meerabai And St. Teresa Of Avila : Lives In Parallel Worlds / Nirupama Vaidyanathan -- Part Ii. Performing Artists' Process/choreographic Notes : Mad And Divine Mystic Saint-poets Of India -- Darshan : Seeing / Malavika Sarukkai -- Aditi Mangaldas / Interviewed By Nirupama Vaidyanathan -- Like Camphor On Fire / Madhu Nataraj -- Aikya : In The Voice Of Akka Mahadevi / Mythili Prakash -- Soulful Abhangs And Thoughtful Vaakhs / Rama Vaidyanathan -- Part Iii. Epic Women Of India And Beyond -- A. Female Icons Of India's Ancient Epics Re-visited -- The Living Heroines Of Indian Myths And Legends / Prema Nandakumar -- Womanity : A Psychic Continuum Of Selfhood And Tenacity, Keynotes Of Sañgam Women / Swarnamalya Ganesh -- The Places And Spaces Inhabited By Sita : Freedom And Captivity / Veenapani Chawla -- On Sita Parityagam : The Abandonment Of Sita / Kapila Venu -- B. Epic Women Of Indian Dance : T. Balasaraswati, Rukmini Devi, Chandralekha, Indrani Rahman And Mrinalini Saraghai -- Remembering My Teacher : T. Balasaraswati / Nandini Ramani -- Remembering Rukmini Devi / Katherine Siebel Kunhiraman -- The Honest Body : Remembering Chandralekha / Padmini Chettur -- My Mother Indrani Rahman / Sukanya Rahman -- Mrinalini Sarabhai : Cosmopolitan Patriot And Epic Woman / Andree Grau -- C. Dark Women Of Epics And Dramatic Literature -- Magical Connections Among Women With Passions Of Epic Proportions : Medea, Lady Macbeth, Surpanakha / Ketu H. Katrak -- D. Epic Women In Politics -- Epic Women In Politics / Ammu Joseph -- E. Feminist Evaluations Of Epic Women -- The Power Of Performance And Human Agency : Re-assessing Feminist Evaluations Of Epic Women / Kalpana Ram -- Part Iv. Performing Artists' Process/choreographic Notes : Epic Women Of India And Beyond -- Eleni Of Sparta : An Indo-greek Re-telling / Rajika Puri -- The Good Wife : Arnaea & Arundhati From Sthreedom : Notices On An Immaculate Conception / Chitra Sundaram -- Golden Peacock : On Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi / Anusha Subramanyam -- On Kaanhopatra & Mata Hidimba / Rajashree Shirke -- Pulambal : Anguished Voice / Lakshmi Vishwanthan -- In The Spirit Of Frida / Kalpana Raghuraman. Edited By Ketu H. Katrak, And Anita R. Ratnam. Includes Bibliographical References. Voyages of Body and Selected Female Icons of India and Beyond includes scholarly essays and performance/choreographic notes from a diverse range of contributors on the themes of "Mad and India's Female Saint-Poets" and "Epic Women of India and Beyond." The contributors explore the tendency of patriarchal societies to label exceptional saint-poets yearning for the divine as "mad" because of their resistance to normative and acceptable female behavior. Scholars and performers journey across history, with discussions ranging from the 8th century Tamil mystic poet Andal's divine poetry, to the 16th century saint-poet Meerabai, to figures across the Indian subcontinent, including Kashmir's Lalleshwari and Maharashtra's Janabai, who, as a low caste member, joined the sacred path partly to escape caste oppression. The definition of "epic women" in this volume is from looking at commonly accepted epic figures, such as the iconic Sita from The Ramayana, to examining epic women in politics, to probing dark women with passions of epic proportions, to legendary teachers of the classical dance style of bharatanatyam, to women with monumental courage and creativity across historical time-periods and geographical locations-Ancient Greece, Ancient India, 20th century Mexico, and Myanmar. Voyages of Body and Soul recognizes creative and courageous female saint-poets, and outspoken women in ancient epics and in contemporary times who follow their chosen paths with deep devotion. Their lives and works are models for the human community in the 21st century. This volume includes scholarly essays and performance/choreographic notes from a diverse range of contributors on the themes of "Mad and Divine: India's Female Saint-Poets" and "Epic Women of India and Beyond." The contributors explore the tendency of patriarchal societies to label exceptional saint-poets yearning for the divine as "mad" because of their resistance to normative and acceptable female behavior