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Barkat Hussain

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(Elsa-Neumann-Scholarship)

Emergence, Formation, and Transmission of Siharfi Tradition among Muslim Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir: Poetry, Performativity, and Politics

Emergence, Formation, and Transmission of Siharfi Tradition among Muslim Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir: Poetry, Performativity, and Politics

My research is situated at the intersection of History and Anthropology, focusing on the Sīharfi poetic tradition, its historical emergence, formation, and transmission among the Muslim Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir, India. I consider the Sīharfi tradition a ‘community’s archive,’ shedding light on how the Muslim Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir perceive themselves and illustrating the significance of Sīharfi in the Muslim Gujjar community’s everyday life. I also focus on identity, memory, social stigma, tones of recitation of Sīharfi, transhumance, the aesthetic effect of Pir Panjal on Sīharfipoets, lamentation, and a sense of belonging.

 A sample of Gojri poetry’s couplet:

لکھ شاہ گدا اِت گزر گیا ، جِت آج کل تھارا ڈیرا ایں

کوئے وارث نہ اِناں وطناں غو، یہ جوگیاں آل٘ا پھیرا ایں

In this realm where you now remain,

Kings and beggars once sought to gain.

No one holds these lands; they're free,

Visited by all, like wandering jogi, you see.

(Translated from Gojri by me)

I employ concepts such as Entextualisation, Textuality, and Quotability (Barber: 2005) to gain deeper insights into the world of Sīharfi poets like Saiñ Qādar Baḵsh (1858-1938), Mian Abdullah Ab'd (1863-1926), Mian Nizamuddin Larvi (1897-1972), Saiñ Faqar Dīn (1903-1987), Khudā Baḵsh Zaar (?-1990), Isma'eel Zabih (1914-1996), and Hassan Din Hassan (1916-2008). Their poetry forms a landscape of orality, (inter)textuality, and performativity that converges within Muslim Gujjar society.

My research advocates for transcending the Archival fever (Derrida: 1996). It elucidates how the performativity (Kresse: 2011, Marsden: 2005) of the 'genre' (Barber: 2005) can aid in comprehending the imagination and formation of a community's identity. 

 

First Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kai Kresse