Abstract
In analysing the significance of circumcision for the Ansaris of Barabanki, this paper draws out the discursive terrain of two terms: khatna, used to describe the ritual of circumcision; and musalmani, employed to discuss the range of meanings of circumcision in everyday life. In the process of describing the two terms, the paper shows the relationship between the everyday and the extraordinary. The two terms, khatna and musalmani, are not hierarchically ordered: they are linked through the articulation of a collective memory. Substantively, the ritual shows how the body of the person undergoing circumcision is classified and made corporeal, while with the discourse of musalmani, the body becomes an ornamental inscription in the pronouncements of men.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.