Of Hunting and the Hunted: Vayanattukulavan Theyyam and the Enunciation of Being ‘Backward.’
The Thiyyas are a prominent backward caste community in Kerala. The contributions of the heterogeneously constituted Thiyya community towards the modernization of the north Malabar region are noteworthy. However, the assertion of modern forms of visibility on the part of the community has prompted m...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2022
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| In: |
Nidān
Year: 2022, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 52-65 |
| Further subjects: | B
Environmentalism
B Modernity B Ritual B Caste B Thiyya |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The Thiyyas are a prominent backward caste community in Kerala. The contributions of the heterogeneously constituted Thiyya community towards the modernization of the north Malabar region are noteworthy. However, the assertion of modern forms of visibility on the part of the community has prompted modes of reprisal from the dominant caste in disparate forms. This paper focuses on the discourse over the ban on the ritual of hunting in the worship of Vayanattukulavan Theyyam, believed to be the tutelary deity of the Thiyya community. The hunting ritual is often associated with offering meat to the Kulavan Theyyam as a gesture of respect and gratitude for the protection that the deity is believed to bestow on the devotees and people in general. The paper analyses how the demand for a ban centres on an association drawn between the primitive nature of the ritual and the backward status of the Thiyya community. The backward caste status of the community is identified as inherent to the community than as an infirmity effected by an unequal, savarna social order. The tools of environmentalism and animal protection are mobilized to supplant modern, politicised forms of mobility aspired and achieved by the Thiyya backward caste community. |
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| ISSN: | 2414-8636 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nidān
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2022.2 |