“Changing narrative in Theyyam performance- From resistance to tangles of enslavement”

Abstract

Theyyam is a ritual commissioned by savarnas and performed by Dalits in North Malabar, Kerala, India. The subaltern ritual involves the invocation of a deity into the body of the performing Dalit, who then ‘performs’ and blesses the household that commissioned the Theyyam. Theyyam has long been studied as a ritual and performance that has functioned as an act of resistance, particularly against the socio-economic inequalities in society, with Dalit performers calling out upper-caste discrimination and oppressive practices. However, the rich history and evolving changes over time in the performance (action and appearance), performers (gender, social status), and setup (music, verses, deities invoked, etc.) have not been comprehensively documented. A deeper understanding of the changing forms, content, and modalities of Theyyam could offer crucial insights into the evolution of this socio-religious ritual performance. This study will employ archival sources and oral social histories to construct a time-lapse narrative of the ritual. The research will focus on:
a) Changes in the movement and actions of Theyyam during the performance;
b) The conditions under which Theyyam is performed (location, makeup, verses used, deities invoked)
c) The mobility of performers beyond the ritualistic North Malabar space.