Revisiting Cultural Theory Through Baiga Dance-Songs

Abstract

Cultural theory is assumed to be a tool or set of ideas to explain, interpret or analyse cultures or cultural realities. The realisation of embracing and internalising theory as a kind of transcendental signifier, within and beyond our undertaking at the same time, fixes our attention on the validity and prevalence that theory has gained in academic circles. Its ubiquity is perhaps its strength, which sustains it and makes it indispensable across disciples. However, theory has its own internal functioning, often stopping it from achieving the desired results. There is a constant need to weigh theories before we use them as tools to analyse something. The central concern of this article is to interrogate the validity and legitimacy of cultural theory to deal with problems arising in contextualising cultural theories to frame Baiga dance-songs and consequent issues arising out of it. The article points out an inherent discrepancy in cultural theory through Biaga dance-songs.

Introduction

This article originated from an Asian student of culture’s self-questioning while studying various theories on culture as a part of academic training in the field. What is often prescribed in university syllabi is a list of cultural theorists and their methods for studying or engaging with culture. From analytic practices to abstract theorisation, a dominant Euro-American ethnocentrism prevails despite constant attempts to postulate ways to overcome such problems. This is neither to blame nor to undermine the extensive studies and methods proposed by scholars over centuries, but to raise a very simple and foundational question: how far does the existing cultural theory empower us to analyse and interpret indigenous cultures?

One of the major problems with contemporary third-world academia is its obsession with ready-to-use western theories conceived in an entirely foreign cultural milieu. Even the most progressive thinkers and researchers are lured by the tempting galaxies of jargon that seem appropriate to their studies. A tendency to seek the answers to the problems faced by them as individuals and as a society in theories conceived and postulated in entirely different contexts is pernicious. Questions like the relevance of the particular context or condition a theory is derived from, what and whose queries and questions it answers, and what is the prior theoretical background it refers to go unattended because of sweeping generalisations. One must not misread the present discussion as a sweeping negation of all such theories and methods. Existing knowledge on a particular topic is inarguably vital to understanding a subject, but an indiscreet and out-of-context application of any theory is an impediment to the possibility of new ideas, and such mindless applications of theories to sociocultural realities run the risk of misplaced understanding.

A theoretical outline of this article at this juncture would help the reader understand my conclusion at the end. On the basis of my readings, fieldwork and observations during the study, I propose that there exists a peculiar problem between theory and culture. The adequacy of any theory in general is under scrutiny after post-structuralism but there is a dialectical discrepancy between the two when we try to take a theoretical course in understanding culture. It occurs partially because theory is dependent on the agency to reinvent it every single time and partially because culture is a dynamic process that unfolds in various directions, especially in the context of Baiga dance-songs. I will deliberate on the same problem later, but I think it’s imperative to first briefly summarise the primary source material for this paper. The next section of this article is an attempt to describe the Baiga society and their dance-songs in the past and present.

Baigas and Their Dance-Songs

My understanding of Baiga culture is based on audio-visual recordings made during my fieldwork conducted from 2010 to 2012. I visited Baiga villages and various places where these performances were organised, videos and documents available at the Tribal Museum and Museum of Mankind, Bhopal. There is no comprehensive academic study of their contemporary culture, only a few compilations of their songs by individual researchers who fail to maintain objectivity in such works. As far as the availability of Baiga dance-songs’ translations is concerned, there are only Shamrao Hivale and Verrier Elwin’s works compiled and translated long ago. Since then, there have been architectonic changes, and my fieldwork and the present discussion consider them.

The Baigas are a small community and are classified by the government as a Primitive Tribal Group (PTG). According to government documents, primitiveness, geographical isolation, shyness and social, educational and economic backwardness are the traits that distinguish the Scheduled Tribes (ST) of our country from other indigenous communities. The creation of such a category of indigenous communities is for government convenience to dole out special packages and entitlements to these communities for an improvement in their conditions. Such conditions of underdevelopment are, however, not found uniformly among the different scheduled tribes, and so it warranted another sub-classification or the creation of a new category called the PTGs, who have not been ‘mainstreamed’ and are characterised by (a) a pre-agriculture level of technology, (b) a stagnant or declining population, (c) extremely low literacy and (d) a subsistence level of economy. Thus, the government’s classification of the Baigas as a PTG only suggests their existential hardships. Though in government circles, a new nomenclature, ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups’, is gaining parlance over the earlier categorization of Primitive Tribal Group (PTG), to avoid the colonial designation of primitive, which is connotative of un/less civilised. To the modern urban reader, the Baiga lifestyle would definitely appear simple and less advanced, but their conventional wisdom and outlook on life are quite mature, as we would get to know through their dance-songs.

The Baigas are found scattered all over the erstwhile central provinces, especially in certain regions of present-day Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The culture of these people differs with geospatial variations but remains similar to a great extent. With independence and subsequent changes in demographic variants, Baiga habitations shrank drastically, reducing them largely to Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Maikal hills in Madhya Pradesh can be pinned down as the main habitat of this community. This geographical region is densely forested and home to rich bio-diversity, be it wildlife or different types of forests inhabited by various communities. The sal (Shorea robusta) and teak (Tectona grandis) trees create lush green foliage, providing home to not just Baiga and other communities but to many species of animals and birds, living in perfect harmony. Today, these geographical areas have been sanctified into national parks and wildlife habitats like the Kanha National Park and the Bandhawagarh National Tiger Reserve for wildlife and ecological protection. These places today are renowned for wildlife, particularly tiger sightings, attracting a host of international tourists. However, very little remains known about the different tribes inhabiting the region, their trials and tribulations, their crafts, livelihoods, culture, etc. The plight of these communities is that either they are invisible to the so-called advanced world or they are visible only as exotic communities to charm about for a while and then conveniently forgotten.

The Baiga chaks (continuous stretches of land within the dense forests inhabited by the Baigas) are situated between the Vindhyas and the Satpuras, making it the most populated part of this region although their villages and hutments remain scattered all over the mountain range, outside the Baiga chaks. A demarcation on the basis of region or area has its own problems, but circumstances have reduced this community to undesirable ghettoes. The Baigas are traditional forest dwellers and prefer to live in jungles, but different administrative policies since colonial times till date, like that of forest conservation or the banning of bewar (a Baiga form of shifting cultivation), have pushed the Baiga hutments into the deepest parts of these forests. They are facing extinction because of high infant mortality, poor access to health facilities, low life expectancy, poverty, a lack of livelihood options, an inability to cope with the change agents as most of their skill sets are now redundant with hunting and bewar being banned. All these conditions combine to produce a very difficult existential problem for the Baigas. In fact, heavy deforestation over the years has resulted in rapid changes in their traditional domiciles. In Madhya Pradesh, the Baigas predominantly exist in the Shahdol, Anuppur, Umaria, Mandla, Dindori and Balaghat districts. Though this concentrated population is loosening up, they still prefer to live in their traditional Chaks. These are usually situated on the Maikal plateau, which covers almost 2200 square kilometres. Chaka, in their language, means a group or a community too. There are 52 villages in three developmental blocks in this area.

In the absence of an ethnic historiography, the origin of many communities in India is reduced to riddles and speculations. The origin and development of a society is anyway an ambiguous and arcane process that can only be unearthed with painstaking efforts if there are some loose ends available. It is not that various societies in India do not have a yearning to connect to their past, but proper documentation and preservation have not been a predilection. Looking at the history of Indian literature in its widest sense, we know that oral literature (Sruti and Smriti traditions) and chronicles have been an integral source of information about many things. Similar to many other communities and civilisations all over the world, the Indian knowledge system resorts to oral literature for valuable information on different aspects of ancient times. The uniqueness of oral tradition in India is an inarguably mesmerising phenomenon. In ancient India, Sanskrit scholars and gurus devised codified and complex oral methods to transmit knowledge from generation to generation; hence, the Śruti and Smriti traditions evolved in Sanskrit, whereby histories of communities and civilisations were retained as collective memories of a social group. Through these methods, ancient texts and commentaries remain available to the world to this day, with interesting variations and twists. This oral tradition stays alive in many rural, tribal and folk communities all across the country. Still, it would be injudicious to look at India’s polyphonic, multi-ethnic reality through the classical prism. The Baigas have their own modes of maintaining their civilisational continuity, and folklore and folktales are one of them. The question of authenticity of these folklores and folktales does not arise because of their wide and unchallenged acceptability in Baiga society.

Verrier Elwin’s The Baiga, published in 1939, is a thorough anthropological work that comprehensively documents the Baiga society. The Baiga portrays a vivid picture of the Baiga society, culture and social practices. A section of the book has also recorded some dance-songs, which are the first of their kind. Besides, Elwin has also compiled and translated some songs with the help of his aide, S Hivale, and published them under the title Folk Songs of the Maikal Hills (1944). This is an elementary but significant work from the preservationist’s point of view. Apart from the books mentioned here, there are some compilations and Hindi translations of the Baiga dance-songs, though, as mentioned above, a thorough academic study of these dance songs does not exist to the best of my knowledge.

The life of a Baiga is a musical journey. Dance-songs work as panaceas in Baiga society. In dense forests, their lives are not easy, and there is a continuous need to find solace in something. These dance-songs do not exist just for enjoyment but to mitigate the adversity of life experienced by the Baigas. This need turns everything into a song (Dhurve and Tiwari 2010, 23). The Baigas have a variety of songs, sung on almost all occasions in their social life. These dance-songs depict the most vivid picture of the Baiga Society. While performing these dance-songs, the main concern is not the outward beauty, yet they enjoy these songs simply because they brim with the experiential aspect of their lives. While performing, not just a problem is posed, but it is negotiated, and a conclusion is usually drawn (this is true about most folk performances, but some folk forms carry it as their essence). This performance is beautiful in its discursivity because a Baiga performance is aesthetically rich in every sense.

The Baiga dance-songs appear to be an efflux of their mature understanding of human nature. Every song is discursive in nature and deals with a situation or a problem. While performing, in many songs, the performers improvise and take forward the already-existing arguments. Here, the Baigas shape and reshape their world in these dance-songs. These dance-songs are not just a theoretical take flooding from a particular section of the Baiga society; rather, every individual is free to incorporate his or her experiential knowledge to enrich the existing dialogue.

For the Baigas, culture is harmonious in its manifestation. In today’s global world, differences might look monstrous, but in an enclosed society like that of the Baigas, culture works to bring people together. It is not just the ‘advanced’ economies but also the agricultural societies that have reconciled differences through their culture. In Baiga dance-songs, this aspect of culture can be perceived easily. These dance-songs are full of worldly wisdom, which does not flow from any well-defined source. Every Baiga contributes to the precedent version of reality, altering it to see in a new light. In some of these dance-songs, a beloved and her lover have interesting discussions to settle their differences. Unlike urban society, the questioner in these dance-songs is not a female seeking knowledge from her male counterpart; rather, the woman is situated at the centre of the knowledge dissemination system. It is the woman who seems to contemplate and deliver a judgement regarding the problems posed.

An indigenous society like the Baiga is a cornucopia of myths, legends, folklores and folktales. As mentioned in the above paragraph, the conscience of a community is reflected through these tales, and an immense amount of it is required to effectively communicate the conscience of a society like the Baigas. Studies of popular and classical art forms, from Adorno’s analysis of Wagner (In Search of Wagner) and jazz (Essays on Music) to research on popular sub-cultural texts like rap and hip-hop, have highlighted the unparallel significance of dance and music on various facets of human society. Music and dance have been sites of discursive possibilities in various societies from the very beginning, and the importance of Baiga dance-songs can also be located in the same manner.

The Baiga dance-songs are an expression of their existential reality, and a latent sense of their ethnic history can be traced in them—history not of grand events or elevated heroes but of epiphanic moments full of emotions. Their songs are annals of a community’s total sum of lived experience, touching upon every aspect of their desires, anxieties, insecurities, hardships and resolve to survive against all odds. A Baiga grows up listening to these songs from his or her very childhood to imbibe patterns of Baiga social behaviour. Thus, these songs are educational tools designed to inculcate the ethos of Baiga culture and way of life in an entertaining manner. The jungle is their school, and the songs are their text books. A thorough analysis of the Baiga dance-songs would reveal astonishing pedagogical methods absolutely suitable to such a society. Reducing such a dynamic phenomenon to only entertainment and celebration would be an error, as one of the songs suggests:

If you want to know the story of my life,

then listen to my karma (Elwin and Hivale 1944, XIV)

With the end of the rainy season, the Baiga festival takes off, and it continues till the next rainy season starts. This circle is very natural and integrated with the Baigas and their lives. Traditionally, as an agrarian and hunting society, the Baigas followed the Indian Saka calendar along with the agrarian harvest cycles. Accordingly, the Baiga festivals and dance performances are triggered or brought to a halt. The folk dances of this community are also enriched by a mutual give-and-take relationship between other communities. Sometimes it is very difficult to differentiate between the Baiga and the Gond, another community from the same region, because of their apparent similarities. Unlike the classical dances or classical music versions, the Baiga dances and songs are integral to each other and cannot be separated or seen as distinct renditions. For the Baigas, dance-songs are a reflection of the zeitgeist of their society.

On such occasions, the Baigas dress up elaborately to put on their best looks. As a matter of fact and tradition, unadorned people are not even allowed to participate and perform. Men wear a frock like saya on the lower body and shirt and black cotton jacket on the upper half of the body that goes amazingly with a round turban adorned with peacock feathers. For the neck, they use beads, cheap pearls and copper coins to make necklaces of various types while wearing earrings of their own indigenous design. They also decorate their legs very meticulously with iron or bronze jewellery. Above all, they never forget to tie the blue-coloured pichora on their backs to look absolutely stunning. With external influences, new objects are included, but they still prefer their traditional attire when it comes to these performances. Perhaps the reason behind such extensive preparation is that the Baiga youth choose their life partners at such dance festivals. The Baiga boys are usually deeply engrossed in the festive atmosphere, trying to woo their favourite girls.

Women wear moongi sari and concentrate on decorating their hair more than any other body part. They use peacock feathers and other ornaments to embellish their heads. A special kind of festoon called biranamala made of bagai grass is woven painstakingly, which goes on to make their hair look perfect. Women make beaded and pearl wreaths for themselves. Except for the above-mentioned embellishments, the Baiga women put on their traditional ornaments on their respective body parts to prepare for the dances and for the future men in their lives. The Baigas can easily impress an outsider with their dressing sense while making everything else look benign and simple.

These dance-songs can be broadly divided into three parts:

Religious dance-songs

Social dance-songs

Economy-based dance-songs related to hunting and agriculture.

Dussehra is the main festival after the rainy season and kicks off a constant line of dance festivals. It has nothing in common with the Hindu festival except the time, because it does not follow any of the associated myths and religious connotations. This coincidence can be the result of our constant interaction with the Hindus. This is the perfect time for merriment in this geographical region. The weather becomes very pleasant, and there is an abundance of food and other necessary resources. It is purely a dance festival that comes after a break of two to three months.

Cultural Theory and Baiga Dance-Songs

The title of this article mentions two words, theory and culture, prominently. A certain amount of generalised assumption operates in perceiving theory as a tool or a set of ideas to explain, interpret or analyse cultures or cultural realities; an abstraction aiming an universalisation. This realisation of embracing and internalising theory as a kind of transcendental signified within and beyond our undertaking at the same time fixes our attention on the validity and authenticity that theory has gained in our academic parlance. This ubiquity is perhaps the strength of theory, which sustains it across disciplines. It would be appropriate for us to first interrogate the validity and authenticity of theory per se before proceeding in our venture to deal with problems in contextualising cultural theories to Baigas dance-songs. This part of the article discusses some inherent contradictions in theory as a system and problems arising out of it in our present context. The scope of the article demands strict adherence to an overview of this aspect rather than a detailed discussion. A risk of unnecessary diversion from the scope of this article prevents a detailed discussion of theory.

Theory as a word and concept remains elusive and evasive at the same time. Forming an informed idea about its nature and constitutive components has remained a subject of speculation in many disciplines. One must touch it to see what legacy it has, so that its synchronic as well as diachronic dimensions can be revealed. Different disciplines have grappled with the idea of theory according to their requirements. However, a precise conceptualisation is imperative to proceed further. Margaret A. Mills judiciously weighs the problems in such an endeavour as:

‘Theory’ remains an elusive category with fuzzy boundaries that involve often hazy adjudications as to what is ‘theoretical enough’, either by level of abstraction (‘high theory’), scope of possible generalization (‘grand theory’), or as distinguished from ‘method.’ Theory is, reciprocally, method-driven; the analytic or interpretive models and questions we are able to pose and test are enabled or restricted by our technologies (and in turn our techniques) of observation. (Mills 2008, 19)

It is clear from Mills’ citation that every theory inherits some qualifiers like abstraction, methods, techniques and generalisation. Basically, theory is an answer-seeking mechanism based on observation and other critical faculties of mind. For me as a participant observer engaged in an empirical understanding of the Baigas dance-songs, the inculcation of a perspective from within the lived reality of this community remained absolutely crucial in conducting authentic fieldwork-based research. The domain of theory application is one of the areas where most researchers fail by tempering their data to make it suitable for theories rather than inferring theories from the data.

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines theory as ‘a formal set of ideas that is intended to explain why something happens or exists’. ¹ The stipulation of resorting to the semantics of the word theory is bound to test our own conceptualisation of the very idea of theory. One must be aware of the sense in which it is used. An oversimplified straightjacket definition of theory produced by the OED seems apolitical and unjustified if it is not problematised in view of the kind of privilege theory enjoys in our contemporary academic understanding of the world. The above definition reduces it to an analytic and interpretative tool, which excludes its multidimensionality and political positioning. One must peel off the layers of connotations that such a definition is garbed in. The ‘why something happens’ part of this dentition is directly in contention with the postmodern negation of grand theories or meta narratives. It presupposes a degree of generalisation that any theory usually strives for. Generally, theory formation is driven by the intention of its application to a similar set of data or reality; otherwise, its acceptability as a theory is dubious. The general applicability of any postulate is a prerequisite for that postulate to be a theory. John G. Wacker devotes an entire article to the discussion of theory and its formation. Following are some of the characteristics of a theory he points out from Bunge, Hunt and Reynolds, ‘Generally, academics point to a theory as being made up of four components: (a) definitions of terms or variables, (b) a domain where the theory applies, (c) a set of relationships of variables and (d) specific predictions-factual claims’ (Wacker 1998, 363).

What should one make of such a specified perception of theory? The first three components are a matter of methodology, whereas the fourth component implies a covert or overt generalisation of some sort. Similar to the definition of theory by the OED, the fourth component in the above definition strives for the applicability of any theory beyond its context. It also assumes the possibility of certain applicability of those theories, despite being fully aware that most of them may have been conceived and conveyed in a very different sociocultural context. Theory, as a self-contained system, looks to solve phenomena originally unknown at its conception. Thus, theory is usually remote and strange from the data or reality from which it has been derived. Before delivering a judgement on this attribute of theory, it is necessary to understand it fully. Wacker quotes from Sutherland who claims that theory is ‘…an ordered set of assertions about a generic behaviour or structure assumed to hold throughout a significantly broad range of specific instances’ (Wacker 1998, 364). This definition clearly supports the current argument, which sees theory as intentionally or unintentionally seeking generalisations of specific findings.

This tendency to apply theory indiscreetly is problematic as well as disastrous because, instead of serving any explanatory purpose, it misinterprets or misrepresents a situation. My first contempt with theory is an unavoidable stasis; theories exist in academia without proper scope for rethinking or avenues for reinvention, which sometimes mounts to orthodoxy. While incorporating Leroy Searle’s point of view, Lorien J. Goodman (2007, 115) states this idea in his article ‘Teaching Theory after Theory’:

Today, detached from these circumstances, theory has devolved into a series of ‘idiosyncratic projects’ without opening up ‘any particular pathway to constructive action,’ functioning instead as merely approaches (in the most derogatory sense of the term) dependent upon the recycling of the same ideas (1244). In other words, the demoralizing dogmatic and apparently empty practice of literary theory arises from a failure to engage the circumstances of our times and the reality of our lives; theory no longer asks what theory is for, is no longer a self-reflective practice.

The above assessment of theory and its relevance is appropriate in view of an increasing indiscreet universalisation of theories. The current academia, especially from the academic centres still dependent on the west for legitimacy, is falling miserably into this trap without understanding that theories based on data and reality so remote in time and place either have to be reinvented or rejected to produce desired results and authentic understandings. While applying or inferring a theory, one must be aware of the context in which it has emerged and evolved. James P. Boggs suitably articulates the problems associated with this situation. He maintains that theory does not emerge in a void but arises as a response or reaction to an already existing theory. The gaps and lacunae of an existing theory are filled by a new theory, which establishes theory as already dependent on available knowledge. In brief, theory is a product of a historical context and refers to the set of ideas prior to its inception.

At this juncture, we must juxtapose the concepts of culture and theory to analyse their compatibility. The above observations are not gathered from a single discipline to suit our argument but from a range of disciplines like natural sciences, business management, social sciences and mathematics to diversify our point of departure. However, it is possible that the determination of the nature of theory is a subject matter of the social sciences in the end. Irrespective of the disciplinary barriers in defining and conceptualising theory, there emerge certain commonalities in the conclusive attributes this concept carries. There are and can be a number of studies on all these features discussed above, but only one is of utmost importance to this article.

A significantly important characteristic that emerges out of the above debate is a theory’s ability to predict, a possible generalisation beyond its context; the applicability of theory to phenomena other than those from which it has been derived. This aspect of any theory is visibly not the most pivotal, but a theory becomes a theory only if it achieves this condition. The stature of theory will be reduced without its capability to sustain itself in different contexts. There can be many reasons behind it. In ‘Teaching Theory after Theory’ Lorien J. Goodman (2007, 111) discusses theory in relation to literature, and his evaluation is worth sharing:

The complaints against theory are many: it is excessive, redundant, canonical, rigid, poorly written, reductive of literature, and fragmented (Benton, ‘Life after’; Boyd, Parini; Stow). Much as I am loath to admit it, such critiques are often warranted. Poststructuralist readings do make the same general conclusions about text no matter the text being read, producing a strong sense of redundancy. Many readings appear excessive in their claims, overly reliant on a dense vocabulary of jargon, and more enthralled by the theory itself than by the literary text being read.

The human instinct for knowledge acquisition is to see through complex subjects in order to draw conclusive categories. Various knowledge systems have been driven by a tendency to produce rules and concepts that are applicable elsewhere or universally, if possible. Scholars, philosophers, thinkers, scientists and writers propose their subjective understanding as a general principle to be followed by a larger group of people. The explanation for this tendency is their identification with other human beings and their cultures, which is just a coincidence. The myth of the unanimity of the patterns of shared experience, organised behaviour, collective conscience, cultural patterns, et cetera, is a common error committed by all who engage themselves in such endeavours.

Let me chisel this debate by highlighting the problematic aspects of this approach. With stern adherence to this feature, theory becomes static when not reinvented continuously. The moment a concept or idea is subjected to generalisation, it loses its potential capacity to evolve. This proposition must not be read as an absolute negation or rejection of the theory’s relevance beyond its original context. I consciously state that many theories are applicable and successful in explaining reality that was originally unknown to them. But a generalisation and prediction made on the basis of an already existing theory reduce it to a static affair. Still, this anxiety of about being swayed by theory as a self-sufficient panacea is not baseless because the habit of interpreting reality by imposing existing theories is widespread. My objection is to the very crux of this tendency to see reality through already existing prisms. Theory has to be consistently reinvented; otherwise, it fails its purpose. Perhaps the haziness of the intended paradox can be cleared by using the concept of culture and Baigas dance-songs in contrast with theory. It will also put the debate in perspective.

Whether it is the etymological definitions or E. B. Taylor’s evolutionary anthropology (Primitive Culture) culture is unanimously accepted as a process that is transient and ever-evolving in nature. Culture is always in flux, and any conclusive theory regarding culture has to keep this in mind. This is self-evidently true: the anthologists and folklorists consider this aspect of culture very seriously, while other disciplines, namely literature and the Marxian paradigm (not a discipline), slightly undermine it. Nevertheless, it has to be accepted that cultural reality can be museumised and archived to preserve it for posterity, but it captures only the culture of that very moment. Such an effort is a static snapshot of a particular culture at a particular juncture that fails to present the dynamism of that cultural reality. Culture inevitably goes through change, and this phenomenon of change has to be counted every time one approaches it. A strict adherence to culture as a static subject worthy of contemplation upon would be a grave mistake on the part of any researcher. Thus, to restate the hypothesis, culture is transient, and a consideration of this fact is monumental to any fruitful study on culture. But still, this hypothesis must be tested in order to arrive at a meaningful conclusion.

Baiga dance-song forms like Dadaria and Bhadouni are highly spontaneous and impromptu. In every culture, there are elements that are prone to change and/or evolution, and likewise, in the Baiga culture, we also encounter elements that have evolved or metamorphosed over time. Verrier Elwin captures this facet while describing Dadaria. He finds this form to be the most spontaneous and charming because the boys and girls draw according to their knowledge and their fancy. Bhadouni is also an amazing display of the Baiga’s wit and ability to improvise effectively. Elwin documented these songs more than six decades ago, and they have acquired new dimensions since then. The different shapes, pyramid formations and foot movements used in the Baiga dance songs are also not stringently codified. Though Elwin and other compilers mention the foot movement as a constant feature of the Baigas dance-songs, they are still subject to improvisation and innovation. A comparative study of contemporary Baiga dance-songs with what we have in Elwin would prove that they have creatively reinvented the subject matter in changing circumstances. This is an inalienable characteristic of not just the Baiga dance-songs but of all folk forms. Even an American music genre like jazz, now regarded as classical, counts improvisation as its soul to date. It must be mentioned here that jazz developed into a classical form from holler songs sung by Afro-American slaves on plantations.

It can be inferred from the above examples that the Baiga culture or their dance-songs are in creative flux. Individual as well as community intervention in culture is persistent, and this interface offers cultural reality a dynamism unique to itself. The human subject is endowed with the agency to shape and reshape his or her cultural reality. Contrary to the theories based on urban-industrialised capitalist societies, which are infested with the idea of domination of one class over another, the Baigas cherish their subjectivity and agency in their performance. All the participants are equally free to introduce a new move to the already established and repetitive structure of dance. Interestingly, even the audience, especially the old people, encourages the performers to do something surprisingly refreshing and prod them to break the monotony or the set pattern of performance. This is perhaps rare in a hyperreal world that is bombarded with simulations controlled from above and leaves a postmodern subject stripped of agency and subjectivity. The Baiga dance-forms are inclusive (all performers are free to innovate and contribute uniquely), interactive (performer-audience interactions are dynamic, the audience stimulates changes and the performer innovates spontaneously), and full of agency, not guided by any other motive except the narration of one’s experiences and emotions.

Eventually, what we have here are two contrasting ideas: on the one hand, culture as a transient and evolving entity, and on the other, theory as a relatively static concept. Reconciliation between these two somewhat unsynchronised ideas might happen only in an apt praxis. I have consistently expressed concern about the explanatory or interpretative ability of theory to capture the essence of culture and its transitory nature. The static dimension of theory seems to rob the culture of its fluidity and effervescence. A constant reinvention of theory in explaining culture is desired, but the apprehension of its inadequacy is still strong. The point made here needs some elaboration. It can be simplified by applying the syllogistic method.

Let’s presume that X or Y theory sufficiently interprets Z; that is a cultural reality. But the moment X or Y rests its case, it becomes static while Z changes. While Z is subject to change by its very nature, X or Y can only reach that juncture through an eternal intervention that can be called agency. But the catch is that this practice is infinite because every time theory is reinvented or contextualised, it becomes static for that very cultural moment, while eventually that cultural reality evolves into something new. This is an endless process, and thus, culture will always remain evasive to theory. Culture is a process that is doomed to change because of the conscious or unconscious efforts of the beings that live and constitute it, but theory always needs a conscious external agency to reinvent it.

Thus, there emerges a dialectic between theory and culture. Culture works as a thesis for which theory proves to be an antithesis, and as the result of the negotiation between the two, it is a synthesis of a particular cultural reality that is time and space-specific, but it turns into a thesis once again. The illusive character of this process is already stated, but what makes this dialectic peculiar is the role played by agency in it. In other dialectic frameworks derived from Hegel’s model, agency is the key to creating an antithesis, which is true for theory as a set of ideas or tools to explain something. But this is partially true for culture as a process because its dynamism lies in its relative independence from agency. The subject or agency is crucial in the generation, alteration and maintenance of culture, but it is relatively independent as well.

This study shows a dialectic between theory and culture as concepts. Theory is partially static in the absence of external intervention by an agency. Theory is dependent on agency for its reinvention or evolution, whereas culture is relatively a priori dependent on non-human agency. Consequently, there is an irreconcilable incompatibility between these two concepts at the theoretical level. Theory empowers us to explain culture and its continuities, but when it comes to the transient characteristics of culture, theory needs to be reinvented again. This reinvention or contextualization can explain what it took up as its task, but by the time theory is reinvented or contextualised by an agency, culture evolves into something new and different from what it was earlier. This process is infinite infinite, and theory fails to catch up with culture. As a result, the explanation offered by theory is deferred in a way because it actually grapples with an imprint of the past in culture.