Pooja Sharma | University of Delhi (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Pooja Sharma

Phenomenal Literature, Peer-Reviewed Print Journal, 2023

This paper looks at the multiplicity of voices and versions in folktales by taking the popular fo... more This paper looks at the multiplicity of voices and versions in folktales by taking the popular folktale of Sohni-Mahiwal or Suhini-Mehar as a case study. It examines how the narrative in a folktale is adjusted to suit the context where it is being told or shared. It also notes the multiple narratives and voices that surround a tale over a period of time and how successive narrators adapt it to their audience. Through an inter-textual analysis the paper explores strains of continuity between folk cultures that help us understand the uniqueness of folk cultures even as they share narratives.

Shodhshauryam, International Scientific Refereed Research Journal , 2022

Folk narratives offer a peek into counter-systems and antistructures that exist in a society. In ... more Folk narratives offer a peek into counter-systems and antistructures that exist in a society. In this regard, folk narratives become carriers of folk sentiment, particularly with reference to expressions of resistance. This paper looks at select Sindhi and Punjabi folk narratives to understand different strains of resistance. Folk narratives around Dullla Bhatti, Hakeekat Rai, Maruee and Shah Inayat of Jhok are used to locate the theme of resistance. The paper also attempts to identify elements of continuity across these folk narratives while looking at them as interactive traditions with autotelic qualities and shared contexts.

National Journal of Hindi and Sanskrit Research, 2022

The tremendous growth of the digital world has led to reconceptualisation of 'place' as fluid. Th... more The tremendous growth of the digital world has led to reconceptualisation of 'place' as fluid. This becomes important for folkloristic where spatiality has been one of the key elements defining traditional folk identity. Members of a folk community dwell in close proximity, such as a village, leading to frequently shared narratives. These folk practices and narratives, in turn, depend on interaction and performance by members of folk groups for transmission and survival. Where such performance is hindered due to factors like dislocation, folk narratives move into oblivion and folk practices lapse. The digital world, however, now provides folk groups alternative sites for interaction and performance, rendering geographical location and distance immaterial and allowing dislocated folk groups to re-imagine lost homelands. Academics like Anjali Gera Roy have dwelt on these new 'free-flowing cartographies' of the digital world. This paper uses the example of Sindhi and Punjabi folk communities to understand how the digital world is helping displayed communities reclaim lost narratives. The Indian Partition in 1947 divided the western half of the subcontinent-that had been a cultural continuum for ages-drawing a hard political boundary were none had existed. While Punjab was divided into Ugda (East) and Lehnda (West), Sindh went entirely to the newly-created Pakistan. Many Sindhis, however, chose to come to the Indian side and were thus dislocated from their land forever. Similarly, many Punjabis from the Pakistan side chose to come to India and were relocated across the country, once again being cleaved from their land. This paper will attempt to look at how the members of the two communities are now using digital platforms to document, preserve, and disseminate their fading folk narratives.

International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS), 2024

Folk traditions of India display signs of continuity and interconnections despite their regional ... more Folk traditions of India display signs of continuity and interconnections despite their regional and linguistic uniqueness. This paper puts together selected variants of Sindhi and Punjabi folk drama to identify such signs of continuity between the two folk cultures that thrived next to each other for a long period of time. This approach takes from AK Ramanujan's framework of studying Indian folk traditions as interconnected systems that invert-convert-subvert their neighbours. It helps us look at Indian folk cultures not as isolated entities but as interacting, exchanging, live systems that share material, yet at the same time, use such material differently. The paper points to both shared content, styles and elements in Sindhi and Punjabi folk drama while also looking at the unique elements of each tradition. The paper discusses selected Sindhi and Punjabi folk drama forms separately and goes on to make observations about interconnections. On the Sindhi side, the folk drama forms discussed are Bhagat, Saang and Chaunki; and on the Punjabi side Leela, Saang and Nakal forms have been discussed.

Book Reviews by Pooja Sharma

The Book Review, 2023

Soft Animal falls in the zone of Lockdown Literature or as The New Yorker called it ‘The Literatu... more Soft Animal falls in the zone of Lockdown Literature
or as The New Yorker called it ‘The Literature of Cabin
Fever’. 1 The works of this canon address the whole range
of lockdown experience—from the complex challenges
it threw before institutions to the acute psychological
pressure it exerted on individuals and relationships. From
RWA farmans to senior citizens, Tali-Thali to house
helps, Soft Animal addresses multiple aspects of lockdown.

Phenomenal Literature, Peer-Reviewed Print Journal, 2023

This paper looks at the multiplicity of voices and versions in folktales by taking the popular fo... more This paper looks at the multiplicity of voices and versions in folktales by taking the popular folktale of Sohni-Mahiwal or Suhini-Mehar as a case study. It examines how the narrative in a folktale is adjusted to suit the context where it is being told or shared. It also notes the multiple narratives and voices that surround a tale over a period of time and how successive narrators adapt it to their audience. Through an inter-textual analysis the paper explores strains of continuity between folk cultures that help us understand the uniqueness of folk cultures even as they share narratives.

Shodhshauryam, International Scientific Refereed Research Journal , 2022

Folk narratives offer a peek into counter-systems and antistructures that exist in a society. In ... more Folk narratives offer a peek into counter-systems and antistructures that exist in a society. In this regard, folk narratives become carriers of folk sentiment, particularly with reference to expressions of resistance. This paper looks at select Sindhi and Punjabi folk narratives to understand different strains of resistance. Folk narratives around Dullla Bhatti, Hakeekat Rai, Maruee and Shah Inayat of Jhok are used to locate the theme of resistance. The paper also attempts to identify elements of continuity across these folk narratives while looking at them as interactive traditions with autotelic qualities and shared contexts.

National Journal of Hindi and Sanskrit Research, 2022

The tremendous growth of the digital world has led to reconceptualisation of 'place' as fluid. Th... more The tremendous growth of the digital world has led to reconceptualisation of 'place' as fluid. This becomes important for folkloristic where spatiality has been one of the key elements defining traditional folk identity. Members of a folk community dwell in close proximity, such as a village, leading to frequently shared narratives. These folk practices and narratives, in turn, depend on interaction and performance by members of folk groups for transmission and survival. Where such performance is hindered due to factors like dislocation, folk narratives move into oblivion and folk practices lapse. The digital world, however, now provides folk groups alternative sites for interaction and performance, rendering geographical location and distance immaterial and allowing dislocated folk groups to re-imagine lost homelands. Academics like Anjali Gera Roy have dwelt on these new 'free-flowing cartographies' of the digital world. This paper uses the example of Sindhi and Punjabi folk communities to understand how the digital world is helping displayed communities reclaim lost narratives. The Indian Partition in 1947 divided the western half of the subcontinent-that had been a cultural continuum for ages-drawing a hard political boundary were none had existed. While Punjab was divided into Ugda (East) and Lehnda (West), Sindh went entirely to the newly-created Pakistan. Many Sindhis, however, chose to come to the Indian side and were thus dislocated from their land forever. Similarly, many Punjabis from the Pakistan side chose to come to India and were relocated across the country, once again being cleaved from their land. This paper will attempt to look at how the members of the two communities are now using digital platforms to document, preserve, and disseminate their fading folk narratives.

International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS), 2024

Folk traditions of India display signs of continuity and interconnections despite their regional ... more Folk traditions of India display signs of continuity and interconnections despite their regional and linguistic uniqueness. This paper puts together selected variants of Sindhi and Punjabi folk drama to identify such signs of continuity between the two folk cultures that thrived next to each other for a long period of time. This approach takes from AK Ramanujan's framework of studying Indian folk traditions as interconnected systems that invert-convert-subvert their neighbours. It helps us look at Indian folk cultures not as isolated entities but as interacting, exchanging, live systems that share material, yet at the same time, use such material differently. The paper points to both shared content, styles and elements in Sindhi and Punjabi folk drama while also looking at the unique elements of each tradition. The paper discusses selected Sindhi and Punjabi folk drama forms separately and goes on to make observations about interconnections. On the Sindhi side, the folk drama forms discussed are Bhagat, Saang and Chaunki; and on the Punjabi side Leela, Saang and Nakal forms have been discussed.

The Book Review, 2023

Soft Animal falls in the zone of Lockdown Literature or as The New Yorker called it ‘The Literatu... more Soft Animal falls in the zone of Lockdown Literature
or as The New Yorker called it ‘The Literature of Cabin
Fever’. 1 The works of this canon address the whole range
of lockdown experience—from the complex challenges
it threw before institutions to the acute psychological
pressure it exerted on individuals and relationships. From
RWA farmans to senior citizens, Tali-Thali to house
helps, Soft Animal addresses multiple aspects of lockdown.