Encountering the Ramlila of Ramnagar: From Fieldnotes in 1978 and 2013

Richard Schechner

Encountering the Ramlila of Ramnagar: From Fieldnotes in 1978 and 2013

Richard Schechner New York University

Abstract

These fieldnotes describe both Schechner's 1978 encounter with the Ramlila of Ramnagar, the first time he experienced the entire ritual performance, and his experience in 2013, the most recent time he participated. Included in the notes are some detailed descriptions of the Assighat neighborhood of Varanasi. Schechner lived there during his work on the Ramlila. The thirty-five-year gap will help the reader assess both the continuities and the changes in the Ramlila and the context which it inhabits and from which it comes. The notes are very lightly edited. Schechner's intention in publishing them as raw fieldnotes is to give readers as closely as possible what Schechner actually felt and saw.

Author Biography

Richard Schechner, New York University

Richard Schechner is University Professor and professor of Performance Studies at New York University. He is editor of TDR: The Drama Review. His books include Environmental Theater, The End of Humanism, Between Theater and Anthropology, Performance Theory, Performance Studies: An Introduction, and Performed Imaginaries. His theatre productions have been seen in the US, Romania, Poland, France, India, China, Taiwan, the UK, and the Republic of South Africa. He writes scholarly works, poetry, and short fiction. His books have been translated into more than fifteen languages.

Published

2017-05-07

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2017): Performing Religion

Section

Materials

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.

Manuscripts submitted to Performance Matters should be original works that have not been published elsewhere. Note that authors are responsible for obtaining permission to include copyrighted material in any article or review published in Performance Matters.