Embodied Affect, Living Archives: Posthuman Aesthetics in Manipuri Ritual and Performance
| Author |
| Sujeta Beishamayum |
| Date of Publication: June, 2026 |
| Volume: XXVI, No.- XXIX |
| DOI:10.65734/tgi.ssei.avp.ijcsss.ti.26.29.10 |
| Abstract |
| This paper examines how traditional Manipuri performance practices function as dynamic sites where affect, memory, and relational knowledge extend beyond human-centred frameworks. Drawing on posthumanism and affect theory, it analyses Ras Lila, Nata Sankirtana, Pung Cholom, and Pena music as embodied practices that connect human, spiritual, ecological, and material worlds. These performances generate affective intensities through sound, movement, and devotion, while simultaneously operating as living archives that preserve and transmit indigenous knowledge and cultural memory. By situating these forms within posthuman aesthetics, the study argues that Manipuri traditions challenge anthropocentric notions of art and history, foregrounding more-than-human relationality between bodies, instruments, landscapes, and sacred forces. Engaging performance studies and cultural memory, the paper highlights how these practices reconfigure aesthetic canons and offer alternative ways of imagining community, belonging, and posthuman futures within the framework of Indian Knowledge Systems. |
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