Revisiting Hindi Theatre: Inventing Tradition

Abstract

In this chapter I reflect on the invention of the theatrical tradition of Hindi as a continuous tradition beginning in classical Sanskrit theatre. Next, I study Hindi drama from its origination in the second half of the nineteenth century until the 1960s. I stress the important position of court Urdu drama, the Parsi theatre, and Western theatre for the beginning and growth of Hindi theatre. In order to understand the intellectual climate and prevailing religious and literary discourses, I also look into the literary and religious scene of the time, especially at Urdu–Hindi Progressivism, the experimentalist Parimal society, and the ideas of the Hindu reform movements, specifically of the Arya Samaj, which was very influential throughout Hindi-speaking North India. I argue that the processes of mythologizing and the discourses of otherism that we can identify in the dramatic works are informed by elements from multiple public discourses and ideologies, such as Hindu pride and Hindu nationalism, Hindi language nationalism, the ideology of the Hindu–Muslim divide, Urdu–Hindi Progressivism, the Western dramatic tradition, and the Hindu reform movements. I also emphasize the importance of the mythologizing of Hindu tradition for the creation of the canon of Hindi theatre.