Stories and Histories: Gendered Performances, Caste and Sociability in some Punjabi Domestic Tales

Abstract

Abstract The article traces the performative, familial, women‐centric, intergenerational storytelling tradition through studying Punjabi domestic tales collected in a private, intimate archive, in an ambience of mourning and celebration. Deploying the ‘archival turn’ in history‐writing, the author argues to include personal archive as a valid source in disciplinary history. Using the idea of ‘genders as genres’, the article argues that in female‐centred folktales, told to women and children, women assert their point of view, speak of their needs and desires, and hold their own. Though they may not dismantle caste‐specific patriarchies, patriarchies in folktales are also unable to subdue women.