Sexuality and Violence: Folklore in Kambar’s Jokumarswami and Siri Sampige

Abstract

This paper explores the thematic intersections of sexuality and violence in Chandrasekhar Kambar’s folk plays Jokumarswami and Siri Sampige, situating them within the broader framework of folk theatre. Folk theatre, with its deep roots in ritual, myth, and community life, often embodies both social and psychological dimensions of human behavior. Kambar’s works foreground how sexuality and violence act as essential impulses shaping human civilization and cultural narratives. In Jokumarswami, the conflict between Basanna and Gowda highlights tensions between fertility, desire, and ritual sacrifice, reflecting Freudian and Girardian interpretations of eros, thanatos, and mimetic rivalry. Siri Sampige, on the other hand, engages with narcissism, self-splitting, and the destructive consequences of desire through its complex psychological framework. Both plays illustrate how folk theatre converges ritual and drama to interrogate primal instincts, archetypes, and communal anxieties. By reading these plays through psychoanalytic and anthropological lenses, the paper emphasizes the persistent role of sexuality and violence as defining motifs of folk literature and performance.