Grinding Songs from Goa
As Women Grind Grain and Predicaments
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-2096.2021.25541Keywords:
working songs, oviyos , folklore , Goa, women singersAbstract
The aim of this paper is to bring an analysis of oviyos, folkloric songs that Indian women from the Hindu community of Goa, former Portuguese colony in India used to sing while working at the grinding stone. These songs, a sample of Goan folklore, were collected by Heta Pandit in the book Grinding Stories. Songs from Goa (2018), based on her field work with singers Subhadra Arjun Gaus, Saraswati, Dutta Sawant and Sarojini Bhiva Gaonkar. The songs, sung in a dialect of Marathi-Konkani, were transcribed into English. These elaborate songs are of psychological and social significance as they provide a release from a sometimes harsh reality, at the same time they are an invaluable cultural document. They have been analyzed from the perspective of Goan folklore as discussed by Phaldesai (2011), the meaning of folkloric narratives (Dundes, 2007) and a reflection on the genre oviyos (Jassal, 2012).
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