Queering the Canon: A Study of the Jatra Tradition in Bengal
| Author |
| Swati Roy Chowdhury |
| Date of Publication: June, 2026 |
| Volume: XXIII |
| DOI:10.65734/tgi.ssei.avp.ijcsss.ti.23.5 |
| Abstract |
| This paper explores the structural and aesthetic mutations of Jatra, the traditional folk theatre form of Bengal, examining how its evolution from a sacred, rural ritual into a highly commercialized, late-twentieth-century and contemporary secular performance space opens up radical possibilities for a queer reading. By deploying Susan Sontag’s foundational theories of Camp, Judith Butler’s framework of gender performativity, and the intersectional feminist historiographies of Rimli Bhattacharya and Nabaneeta Dev Sen, this study investigates a central paradox: how the inherent Camp aesthetic of modern Jatra—defined by stylization, hyper-theatricality, auditory and emotional excess, and spectacular character archetypes—allows it to function as a naturally queer genre, even when its explicit plots reinforce conventional, heteronormative, or didactic moralities. It traces how the historical figure of the joker (clown) and the chhiti gayan (chorus), alongside the legendary tradition of the bhratya or streerole (male female-impersonators like Chapal Bhaduri), laid an affective foundation where gender and social hierarchies were inherently unstable.Cont… |
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