This book studies the poetry and culture of Kabir—a great and still popular fifteenth-century religious poet of North India—through the lens of oral-performative traditions. It draws from ethnographic research conducted over a ten-year period, mainly in Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, as well as on the history of written collections. First it focuses on texts—their transmission by singers, the dynamics of textual forms in oral performance, and the connections between texts in oral forms, written forms, and other media. Second, it attends to context, reception, and community. Chapters 1 through 4 draw a ... More

This book studies the poetry and culture of Kabir—a great and still popular fifteenth-century religious poet of North India—through the lens of oral-performative traditions. It draws from ethnographic research conducted over a ten-year period, mainly in Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, as well as on the history of written collections. First it focuses on texts—their transmission by singers, the dynamics of textual forms in oral performance, and the connections between texts in oral forms, written forms, and other media. Second, it attends to context, reception, and community. Chapters 1 through 4 draw a portrait of a leading Kabir folksinger of Malwa; demonstrate how texts work in oral-musical performance; analyze discourses of authenticity; and present a typical Kabir singer’s repertoire in Malwa in the early 2000s. Chapter 5 is transitional, considering theories of “orality.” Chapters 6 through 8 emphasize social perspectives, examining communities of interpretation including a religious sect, the Kabir Panth; a secular educational NGO, Eklavya; and urban fans of Kabir. Kabir’s poetry lends itself to rich discussions on topics that range from cultivation of subtle inner states to political argument and activism. A persistent theme is the relation between religious-spiritual and social-political dimensions. An iconoclastic mystic who criticized organized religion, sectarian prejudice, caste, violence, deception, and hypocrisy, Kabir also speaks of self-knowledge, deep inner experience, confrontation with death, and connection to the divine. Ambiguously situated among Hindu, Muslim, Sufi, and yogic traditions, he rejects religious identities and urges fearless awakening.