Bodies of Song
Kabir Oral Traditions and Performative Worlds in North India
Linda Hess
Reviews and Awards
"Hess decodes (for the uninitiated) the experience, confidence, and wisdom of ordinary men and women of India. She shows us how people have been living out their inner and outer lives and how they have been enriching further the traditional "bodies of song" through performance. By this decoding, Hess has made a lasting contribution to our understanding of some of the most poignant aspects of Indian religiosity." -- Purushottam Agrawal, ITM University, The Journal of Religion
"[A] rich and complex book...Bodies of Song is a deeply personal testimony. Hess certainly succeeds in giving the reader a feeling of actually accompanying her on her travels, her interaction and conversations with local people, and her perception of their values, goals, and emotions. She makes us realize the 'embodiedness,' the physical and social experience inseparable from the performance of Kabir's songs...[A]n exceptionally good read-for Indologists, scholars of oral traditions and cultural communication, historians of religion, and, not least, the many who are involved in one way or another with the infinite complexity of India. All will, I am sure, find that spending time in Linda Hess's company is not also challenging, but also rewarding."--History of Religions
"Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty."--CHOICE
"This wide-ranging and impassioned study will remain a benchmark of Kabir studies for decades to come." --Religious Studies Review