Granular Activisms

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this article, I reflect on the collaborative multimodal ethnography that I conducted in Badhuli village with Aaji, a lower‐caste storyteller, singer, healer, and rice farmer. In addition to highlighting Aaji's life story and her Bhojpuri singing practice, the research project involved facilitating performative spaces for women to exchange, rehearse, film, and digitally share their vocal repertoires with other community members across gender, caste, religion, and generation. Through an analysis of multimodal ethnographic materials, this article argues that rural north Indian women's vocal traditions and performances are more than “everyday acts of resistance” (Scott 1985). Specifically, I combine Barthe's concept of “grain” of voice (1977) with recent scholarship on political activism and theories of voice and vocality (Eidsheim 2008; Schlichter 2011). I propose the new notion of “granular activism,” that is, grounded in the intermingling and exchange of women's vocal traditions. I conclude by demonstrating Aaji's radically activist role in re‐imagining Bhojpuri inter‐gender and inter‐caste dynamics through vocal traditions.