Movement and meaning: Jananas and the construction of self
Presenter Title/Affiliation
Ohio State University
Start Date
21-5-2021 4:45 PM
Event Name
Panel discussion
Panel Number
8
Panel Chair Name
Chris Vanderstouwe
Zoom URL to Join
https://ciis.zoom.us/j/93501719118
Zoom Meeting ID
935 0171 9118
Abstract
“Movement and meaning: Jananas and the construction of self”
This paper explores how gestures indicate meaning alongside the use of linguistic markers. Like language, movement is coded in broader cultural structures of what specific movements imply. Scholars of movement and gestures have extrapolated that gestures and body movement carry meaning (Farnell 1995) and culture imposes restrictions on the body and movement (Noland 2008) in ways similar to restrictions on language use. The paper is based on ethnography with the janana community in Lucknow, India. Jananas are a community of same sex desiring men in South Asia some of whom engage in sex work. Most work on the janana community is focused on the linguistic (Hall 2005, Nagar 2019), sexuality (Boyce 2007, Boyce & Khanna 2011), religious (Nagar and DasGupta 2015), and anthropological (Cohen 2005, Reddy 2005) aspects of the community. This paper presents an interdisciplinary look at the janana body and analyses movement as another way in which jananas form meaning in their marginalization and underline their identity as separate from other gender based categorizations.
Within the janana community hilna dulta and matakna chatakna are used as terms that indicate feminized movement of hips, hands, eyes, or neck. Situating analyses of meaning in the body, this paper combines the study of meaning in movement with janana perception about what it means to indulge in hilna dulta and matakna chatakna, i.e., moving their bodies in certain ways. Jananas negotiate how much movement is “allowed” within the parameters of being janana and being a man which are sometimes mutually threatening. While much of negotiation of janana self-identity happens in language use other significant ways of defining identity and the dance between normative and questionable performances of gender happens in movement. Janana movements can be read as displays of specific gendered behavior by people outside of janana lives and because of this recognition there is risk to jananas performing these movements. Just like language use and language variation is practiced within communities of practice, movements and the meanings they underline “shape to circumstances” (Sklar 2001). The paper argues that use of gestures by janana underline them as different from other gendered identities.
Presenter Contact
nagar.5@osu.edu
Movement and meaning: Jananas and the construction of self
“Movement and meaning: Jananas and the construction of self”
This paper explores how gestures indicate meaning alongside the use of linguistic markers. Like language, movement is coded in broader cultural structures of what specific movements imply. Scholars of movement and gestures have extrapolated that gestures and body movement carry meaning (Farnell 1995) and culture imposes restrictions on the body and movement (Noland 2008) in ways similar to restrictions on language use. The paper is based on ethnography with the janana community in Lucknow, India. Jananas are a community of same sex desiring men in South Asia some of whom engage in sex work. Most work on the janana community is focused on the linguistic (Hall 2005, Nagar 2019), sexuality (Boyce 2007, Boyce & Khanna 2011), religious (Nagar and DasGupta 2015), and anthropological (Cohen 2005, Reddy 2005) aspects of the community. This paper presents an interdisciplinary look at the janana body and analyses movement as another way in which jananas form meaning in their marginalization and underline their identity as separate from other gender based categorizations.
Within the janana community hilna dulta and matakna chatakna are used as terms that indicate feminized movement of hips, hands, eyes, or neck. Situating analyses of meaning in the body, this paper combines the study of meaning in movement with janana perception about what it means to indulge in hilna dulta and matakna chatakna, i.e., moving their bodies in certain ways. Jananas negotiate how much movement is “allowed” within the parameters of being janana and being a man which are sometimes mutually threatening. While much of negotiation of janana self-identity happens in language use other significant ways of defining identity and the dance between normative and questionable performances of gender happens in movement. Janana movements can be read as displays of specific gendered behavior by people outside of janana lives and because of this recognition there is risk to jananas performing these movements. Just like language use and language variation is practiced within communities of practice, movements and the meanings they underline “shape to circumstances” (Sklar 2001). The paper argues that use of gestures by janana underline them as different from other gendered identities.
https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/lavlang/2021/friday/30
