Green Ram Katha: Performative Narratives of Sustainability and Belonging
Publication information:
Abstract
This study examines indigenous ecological reinterpretations of the Ram Katha among the Gond, Bhil, Santal, and Karbi tribes of India. It explores how these retellings reconceptualize the narratives of Ram Katha as a practice of ecological belonging, and aective reconciliation toward the natural world. Through oral renditions, visual symbolism, semiotics and spatial indicators, landscapes, ora, and fauna emerge as participating ethical agents rather than passive elements. Using qualitative textual and performance analysis of renditions of Ram Katha in these tribes, the study demonstrates how indigenous eco-aesthetic traditions articulate alternative spiritual epistemologies grounded in sustainability, planetary justice, and eco-performative poetics.
Presenter Biography
Amrapali Vyas is a doctoral researcher studying contemporizing of Hindu Katha tradition as a performative and narrative practice. With an undergraduate background in philosophy and psychology, her research examines how devotional storytelling cultivates audience identity and sense of belonging. Her future research aims to apply Indian oral traditions to contemporary pedagogy