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Performing Histories of Abhyudayamu and Yakśagānamu: Reading Performance and Performative Literatures of Early Modern South India as Historiography
No full textScholars have established over the past decades that the tradition of historiography in South Asia was not altogether a Western import. This has allowed us to revisit South Indian vernacular literary texts in a new light. Historians A. K. Warder, Romila Thaper, Nicholas Dirks, and the trio of Sanjay Subramaniam, Velcheru Narayana Rao, and David Shulman have argued eloquently in their writing about seeing Indian literature as serious sources of historical evidence. For example, the trio identify sources such as Karanam-s (service gentry who were book keepers/accountants), Raya Vācakamū-s (chronicles of Vijayanagara Kings), and Tārikh-s (modern members of society who wrote history), all seemingly non-traditional sources authored by ministers, court chroniclers, accountants, army chieftains, and others as important materials. I further this argument to investigate the vernacular performative literatures of Abhyudayamu-s in the yakśagānamu style, from early Modern Tañjāvur. Raghunātha-abhyudayamu, a Telugu Yakśagānamu text written by Vijayarāghava Nāyaka in the seventeenth century, records the daily life of his father Raghunātha Nāyaka.
Abhyudayamu is in the versified prose format of dvipada (poetic metre). It enumerates the genealogy, lifestyle, events, people, and place, as well as the escapades of the King. It literally sequences the dawn-to-dusk life of the Telugu Nāyaka King. The Raghunāthaabhyudayamu, is written in the yakśagānamu genre and has a distinct performative quality with song and dance as its central modes of expression. Performing the yakśagānamu, which extolls Raghunātha’s greatness through historic conquests, administrative prowess, warfare genius, processions, cultural and romantic alliances was a way to report history. It was also the assertion of kinship and identity by the Bahujan (historically serving class) Nayaka Kings. Performing the yakśagānamu daily in open court must be read as layered modes of embedding historic memory in public consciousness.
While some of the performative literatures have been brought to light in the past, through publications and discourse, it is in fact in the experience of performance that vestibules the past into the future that cultural memories are built. Parts of the performed rendition are embedded as videos in this article for illustrative purposes. This study, is therefore a reading of literature complimented by embodied practice, that is rendered as performing histories: enacted literary performances imbuing the interpretive tools for cultural research
Rethinking Endings: Amany’s Persistence
No full textThis article relies on reflexive ethnographic methods to theorize artistic and creative ownership claims. It seeks agency for three women through writing and concrete production performance with a live audience. Focusing on the performance Encounters—a production based on the life story of the dancer, Amany of the early and mid-nineteenth century, I explore the history of a group of Indian dancers from Puducherry and Yanam who were taken to Europe in 1838 to perform at numerous European venues.1 By revisiting the repertoire performed by them and the representation of the dancers, I argue that these dancers were and remain misrepresented in the historical record as Devadasis (“servants of god”), generally misunderstood to be prostitutes. These Devadasis were termed “La Bayaderes” to mean “a female dancer” in French. Autoethnography revealed facts that make these women at once relevant to the present-day performing artists in particular and society at large. This article is also a narrative of women claiming their little-known platform, as three histories of Amany, Mangatayaru, and I come together
Leadership Alignment: Teachers’ and Administrators’ Perspectives within Two Schools
No full textMany school administrators struggle to find a reliably efficient and effective way of stabilizing academic reform implementation within educational institutions. Questionnaire responses were collected from two administrators and six teachers across two schools in the same school district, with the intent of examining if teachers’ and administrators’ perceptions of administrative leadership align within the same school. The findings of this research study conclude that educational leadership can be effectively implemented through the shared vision of the school, communication, collaboration, and supportive resources, along with humane characteristics utilized throughout those categories to create rapport and positive school culture. This study contributes to the greater understanding between the academic structures of top-down leadership and transformational leadership. Limitations include the small sample size, short time frame of the study, and only middle school representation. The concluding message is that by distributing responsibilities, schools have a greater change to cultivate academic and social change
Self-Efficacy in Early Childhood Educators: The Impact of Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, several early childhood education programs in the United States and around the world were forced to shift to online instruction. While virtual learning was found to be challenging for all age groups, this mode has been especially challenging for early childhood educators. The present study explored the challenges that teachers faced when adjusting their early childhood education practices to an online format during the COVID-19 health crisis and also explored those activities that teachers found most effective. Furthermore, this study explored the role of online teaching in teachers’ senses of self-efficacy and assessed whether support from families and program administration played a role in teacher self-efficacy. Lessons for the role of online education in early childhood, with implications for practice, are discussed. As online instruction becomes more prominent in all areas of education, the lessons learned during the pandemic should prove informative long after the crisis is overcome
Feeding into Complicit Bias or Promoting Agents for Change: A Reflection on Pedagogy-Where’s the Justice?
No full textEngaging Families and Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences in Early Head Start
No full textSupporting parenting and home environments for children through collaborations with families is a critical function of Early Head Start (EHS)/Head Start (HS) providers. Building a strong partnership with caregivers allows educators to identify family strengths and identifying areas of concern in parenting and home environments, such as those linked to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Family Map Inventory (FMI) is a tool used to screen for ACEs among children birth to 5 years-of-age while respecting the family needs. The effectiveness of FMI in its original paper format (p-FMI) has been validated. This study examined the validity of a new, web-based Family Map Inventory (e-FMI) by (1) comparing the distribution of ACEs risks captured in e-FMI with the traditional p-FMI, and (2) investigating the association of ACEs captured through e-FMI and parental warmth. Further, this study documented decreases in ACEs risks after center-based EHS services
The “Wicked Problem” of Locating and Safeguarding Dance in Bangladesh
No full textThe history of dances in Bangladesh reads almost like a history of the belief systems crisscrossing this deltaic plain, entrenched as these dances are within indigenous myths and philosophies. However, in the recent past, regional and global dance traditions have superseded indigenous dances by nearly erasing them from within mainstream, specifically urban, practice. Even a cursory interrogation confirms that the historical hierarchization of dance in Southasia1 has spurred this divide between the evaluation of present-day manifestations of dance within local cultural expressions and, on the other hand, the dominant genres of classical and contemporary artistic representations of dance. This highbrow, selective notion of dance from beyond the borders has led to a gradual decline and devaluation of traditional dance, especially within the non-subaltern social classes, resulting in its “invisibility” in those circles. Therein lies the “wickedness” of the problem. Borrowing from theoretical notions in the social sciences, a “wicked problem” is a puzzle. Furthermore, adverse sociopolitical circumstances of the indigenous heritageholding communities contribute to the endangerment and diminishment of their dances. At this juncture, a combination of research and practical action is the need of the hour (Nielsen). Action research, or ethnographic activism, can be a form of ethical praxis that can overcome historical bias and safeguard these dances
Cambridge Women and the Professional World: Navigating Gender Conservatism in the Late Victorian Era
No full textDuring the late nineteenth century, British women received better education, especially at the university level. In particular, the University of Cambridge opened two women’s colleges, Girton College in 1869 and Newnham College in 1871. The establishment of higher educational institutions greatly contrasted the traditions of the Victorian gender norms, which dictated that women should be feminine, nurturing, and supportive towards their husband and family. Due to this persistence of tradition, these conservative notions of gender influenced Cambridge women throughout their academic and professional lives. Although women may have been limited by gender conservatism in their careers, it is important to note that these limitations did not make their accomplishments less impressive. Furthermore, their strategic navigation of traditional gender roles aided them in successfully establishing their professional presence in their respective fields. Women such as Jane Ellen Harrison, Charlotte Angas Scott, Marion Greenwood Bidder, and Philippa Fawcett used various tactics to establish themselves as academics and help inspire other women in the process. Though exceptional in their upbringing and talents, other Cambridge women commonly practiced their methods of navigating gender conservatism and other social dilemmas. By skillfully conforming to certain gender norms, these women helped revolutionize women’s professional opportunities from within and ushered in the next generation of female academics.
Keywords: feminism, gender, nineteenth century, twentieth century, University of Cambridge, university education, Victorian era, women’s histor
Gutierrez’s Concepts of Individualism and Equality as Related to Similar Concepts of Karl Marx and John Dewey
No full textThe purpose of this research is to explore and analyze liberation theology as defined by GustavoGutierrez in relation to the concepts of equality and individualism in the social and educationaltheories of Karl Marx and John Dewey. These three iconic theorists wrote about educationalreform and reconstruction in response to the social conditions in their respective eras, andachieved notoriety based not only on their own writings but also upon the proliferation ofinterpretations and analyses of their writing by both their critics and followers. Marxistsociology is incorporated directly into Gutierrez’s work and as well influenced Dewey’s earlyanalyses. Gutierrez envisioned equality where members within a community assumeresponsibility for each other. Only in community, according to Gutierrez, are individuals strongenough to withstand the inequality, injustice, and exploitation by others