Researching the Figure of the Courtesan

In keeping with Post Natyam’s mission to support our creative investigations with critical inquiry, we have decided to try researching the figure of the courtesan in the Indian subcontinent in a more formalized way. This research will run parallel to our creative assignments, and its intention is to give weight to and deepen our individual investment in the subject matter.

Each of us will engage in research through the lens of our own personal interest. Currently our individual interests are as follows:

Sandra – courtesans and Bollywood

Anjali – devadasis and the blurring of sacred and secular

Cynthia – Muslim influences and the Urdu ghazal tradition

Shyamala – alternative models of womanhood and connections to SAN

Each month, we will post monthly reports on our individual research to this blog. To encourage cross-dialogue, we plan to read each other's reports and make comments within a week.

Reports may include:

(1) research notes

(2) juicy insights, facts, revelations gleaned through your research

(3) ways in which you might imagine the research affecting our creative process or clarifying the artistic vision of our project

(4) a complete list of references that you consulted (with links when possible)

(5) unanswered questions and thoughts about what you want to investigate further

For this first go-around, we plan to post our reports by June 14 and give comments by June 20.