Published Online:June 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJES090625
DOI:10.71329/IUPJES/2025.20.2.96-113
Author Name:Veeru Rajbhar, Sanjay Kumar and Ajit K Mishra
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:96-113
Kabir, a fifteenth century saint-poet of North India, composed his verses orally. His verses were transmitted orally for about a century before being written down. Since then, they have been transmitted both in writing and orally. Scholarly studies have paid attention mostly to the written tradition of Kabir. Oral and performative traditions have received scant attention. The few studies that have been undertaken focus exclusively on male singers, with only occasional, passing references to female singers. In fact, the extant scholarship does not even acknowledge the existence of any performative tradition of Kabirsinging by women. Hence, the present paper focuses on women Kabir singers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and examines how they, through their songs and commentaries, deconstruct the masculine world of Kabir and his anti-women image, and give him a womanfriendly identity, bringing him close to women’s world.
Kabir (1398-1518)1, an early modern saint-poet from North India, composed his verses orally2. His verses were transmitted orally for about a century before being written down.