Trance and Possession: Ritual Madness and Choreographed Alteration
Performance studies & cultural discourse in South Asia 2025
AbstractThis chapter examines the relationship between trance, possession, and madness in both classical and ritual performance traditions of Keralam. Through detailed analysis of Kathakali, Kutiyattam, and ritual practices such as Teyyam and Guruti at Chottanikkara, it explores how altered states of consciousness are performed, understood, and codified within specific cultural frameworks. In...
DOI: 10.1007/978-981-96-2448-5_6 (opens in new tab)
Trance
Possession linguistics
Anthropology
Classical antiquity studies