In Kolkata’s traditional potter quarter of Kumartuli, a modern and a
competitive market oriented approach to life is concealed behind
tradition. Among the potters inhabiting the dirt-floored workshops of
this caste-based neighbourhood, the history of a modern and economicly
neoliberal-minded India unfolds. To these contemporary potters, caste
is in their blood, caste is about being a creative and independent
artist, and caste is about business as they engage in a competitive
market to sell their artworks. This ethnographic study presents an
analysis of these potters’ lives and the related commodification and
instrumentalization of caste. An important insight is that Kumartuli
consists of a group of artisans turned artists who do not display
passive responses to colonial and capitalist encounters. On the
contrary, this monograph unearths an ingenious and business-minded
group that engages actively with the modern and economic developments
of society at large, and, in the process, redefines the concept of
caste identity. This study suggests a new academic direction for the
study of modern India, and of caste in particular, through an
empirically grounded portrayal of the synthesis of traditional
categories and contemporary realities.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781783085194
Publisert
2016
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Anthem Press (NBN)
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter