The Transgendered Devotee: Ambiguity of Gender in Devotional Poetry

Abstract

The concept of ‘identity’ often becomes convoluted within the tradition of bhakti (devotion of god). This article engages in a comparative study of two of Lord Krishna’s devotees, each from a different gender group, in order to determine if gender divisions remain constant or change with the emerging emotions of bhakti. The article claims that the works of the early bhakti poets evince several instances of queer identity that history and modern Indian homophobia seek to erase. To understand such complexities, the article uses the queer theory, whose main project is to explore the contested categorisation of gender and sexuality. According to the queer theory, identities are not fixed, categorised or labelled, but composed instead of a variety of constituents which often cannot be characterised systematically. The objective of the article is to reveal both Mirabai and Surdas as sexual subjects who are culturally dependent and historically specific.

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