Women’s Roles and Representation in Caitī Songs: A Textual and Performance and Cultural Dynamics

The paper examines the literary aesthetics and performance dynamics of CaitÄ«, a prominent genre of seasonal folk music native to the BhÅ jpurÄ«-speaking areas of Northern India, primarily Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. CaitÄ«, historically classified as Ṛtu GÄ«t (seasonal songs), is customarily sung during the Hindu month of Cait (March–April), aligning with the spring harvest (RabÄ« crop). This work offers a critical feminist analysis of the textuality and performance contexts of CaitÄ«, which is typically categorized by its RÄ g-s or distinctive structural refrain (HÅ RÄ mÄ ) in structural musicological studies. This article examines a selected collection of traditional CaitÄ« lyrics and contemporary performance venues to delineate how women's roles, wants, agency and structural discrimination are expressed and challenged. The study indicates that CaitÄ« functions as a dual-faceted cultural site: textually, it serves as a venue for psychological emancipation where women articulate subversive sexual desires and critique patriarchal neglect; structurally, its public performance is fiercely contested and significantly influenced by caste, class and patriarchal gatekeeping.