This book explores comic performance in Pakistan through the vibrant Indo-Muslim tradition of the Punjabi bhnd which now holds a marginal space in contemporary weddings. With irreverent repartee, genealogical prowess, a topsy-turvy play with hierarchies and shape shifting, the low-status bhnd jostles space in otherwise rigid class and caste hierarchies. Tracing these negotiations in both historical and contemporary sites, the author unfolds a dynamic performance mode that travels from the Sanskrit jester and Sufi wise fool, into Muslim royal courts and households, weddings, contemporary carnivalesque and erotic popular Punjabi theatre and satellite television news. Through original historical and ethnographic research, this book brings to life hitherto unexplored territories of Pakistani popular culture and Indo-Muslim performance histories.
Introduction.- Part One: Genealogies.- 1.In the Centres and Margins of the Historical Record.- 2.Brahmin Jesters and Sufi Wise Fools.- Part Two: Contemporary Performance.- 3.Wedding Bhnds: From the Donkey Cart to the Aeroplane.- 4.Bhnds in the Drawing Room: The Popular Punjabi Theatre.- 5.Satellite Bhnds: Playful Outsiders.- Conclusion: Future Moves?
Claire Pamments book Comic Performance in Pakistan: The Bhnd (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) is a fantastic new book centered on the Punjabi folk art of the Bhnd, or comic performance. & This lyrically written book on a long-running and hugely important tradition of Islamicate humor will interest much scholars of Islam, South Asia, Anthropology, and Performance Studies. (SherAli Tareen, New Books network, newbooksnetwork.com, March 15, 2019)
Claire Pamments incisive research on comic performance in Pakistan, with specl“©
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