Portrayal of Married and Unmarried Women in Bhojpuri Folksongs

Folksongs and traditional music have for long been an area of study. Traditional music reveals especially the individual views, customs and prejudices of a people” (Engel 1866: 6, 206). Bhojpuri people, culture and language originate from parts of southern Nepal, various districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Western Bihar and some areas of Jharkhand in India. The Bhojpuri people have a lasting tradition of folksongs which have centuries of history affiliated with them and the inventory of these folk songs is still flourishing. Bhojpuri folksongs depict patrilocal, patriarchal and patrilineal Hindu joint families and women in the Bhojpuri society have for the longest time been and been expected to be subservient. Krishna Dev Upadhyaya classifies Bhojpuri folk-songs under five heads – Hindu rites, fasts and feasts, seasons of the year, a particular community and various occupations and actions. There are also songs which revolve around women on which one needs to throw a special focus. The outmigration of men from the Bhojpuri heartlands of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Western Bihar have also brought about a special creative peak to the rich oral traditions of the Bhojpuri speaking people. Sociologists and folklorists have noted folksongs to be reservoirs of women’s said and unsaid expressions (Narayan 1986, 1993; Gold 2003; Raheja and Gold 1996).The aim of this research is to trace the social journey of a woman from her parental home to her affinal home through folksongs. This research also extends its aim to see the social attitudes towards women in the Bhojpuri speaking rural areas of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Western Bihar