Lecture on “Practice and Text in the South Indian Martial Art Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘: confluence, contradiction, evolution”
22 APRIL 22
Lucy May Constantini (Doctoral Student, The Open University, UK) & G. Sathyanarayanan Nair (Gurukkaḷ of CVN Kalari Sangham at East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram) will give a lecture entitled “Practice and Text in the South Indian Martial Art Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘: confluence, contradiction, evolution” in the Library at 4 pm:
This talk will present the findings of a 2-day workshop at the EFEO in Pondicherry, including an introduction to Lucy May Constantini’s doctoral research, a presentation by G. Sathyanarayanan Nair, gurukkaḷ of CVN Kalari Sangham at East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram, and a short demonstration of principles discussed.
Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ developed as an intertwined martial and medical system in various styles across South India. While its final śāstric authority resides in the body and practice of a gurukkaḷ (lineage-holder), a kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ gurukkaḷ also safeguards, consults and transmits his lineage’s manuscripts. This relationship between practice and text in kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ is a focus of Lucy May Constantini’s doctoral thesis. Focussing on the CVN lineage of “northern style” or “Malabar” kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ this interdisciplinary research encompasses ethnography, drawing on her relationship since 2002 with CVN Kalari in Thiruvananthapuram, and the study of manuscripts in Malayalam and Sanskrit. She integrates somatic and embodied methodologies from her previous career as a dance artist into philological and ethnographic research. For the month of April, she has been working under the guidance of SAS Sarma at the EFEO, studying Malayalam texts on kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘.
Lucy May Constantini is a PhD candidate in the Religious Studies department of the Open University, UK. Her research is funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership.
lectures
This talk will present the findings of a 2-day workshop at the EFEO in Pondicherry, including an introduction to Lucy May Constantini’s doctoral research, a presentation by G. Sathyanarayanan Nair, gurukkaḷ of CVN Kalari Sangham at East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram, and a short demonstration of principles discussed.
Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ developed as an intertwined martial and medical system in various styles across South India. While its final śāstric authority resides in the body and practice of a gurukkaḷ (lineage-holder), a kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ gurukkaḷ also safeguards, consults and transmits his lineage’s manuscripts. This relationship between practice and text in kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ is a focus of Lucy May Constantini’s doctoral thesis. Focussing on the CVN lineage of “northern style” or “Malabar” kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ this interdisciplinary research encompasses ethnography, drawing on her relationship since 2002 with CVN Kalari in Thiruvananthapuram, and the study of manuscripts in Malayalam and Sanskrit. She integrates somatic and embodied methodologies from her previous career as a dance artist into philological and ethnographic research. For the month of April, she has been working under the guidance of SAS Sarma at the EFEO, studying Malayalam texts on kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘.
Lucy May Constantini is a PhD candidate in the Religious Studies department of the Open University, UK. Her research is funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership.
lectures