"Hell is in her eyes": Truth claims about feminine public performers in Northern India, 1902-1952

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Between 1902 (the year the first gramophone recording was made in India), and 1952 (the year the Indian governmentbanned women public performers from singing on the national radio unless they met certain conditions of 'respectability'),feminine public performers fell from social and political favour. By studying non-fictional sources that deal with cis andtrans women from traditional performing communities, I wish to understand how public discourse shaped and mirroredchanging notions of gender, performance, and identity during this significant and under-researched period in Indianhistory.