- Simran (Indiana University Bloomington)
I will explore how narratives of a community become the means to create their identity, communal heritage and traditional framework of knowledge. The Gadia Lohars are nomadic blacksmiths who originated from Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India, at least 400 years ago. The community has been living a nomadic life for centuries. My focus is on exploring how narratives become the absolute important means to learn about an ethnic community whose history is lost in an unwritten past. I will further investigate how the narratives of the community become a window into their world and worldview and lead us to various aspects of their lived life and belief systems.
Part of 04-03 Oral Traditions of the Indian Subcontinent: Orality as Means of Re-Centering the Margins [hybrid], Friday, October 14, 8:00 am–10:00 am