..". (T)ells a wonderful story, one much loved in northern India....fills an important lacuna in the work on oral epic." -- LindseyHarlan
Dhola is an oral epic performed primarily by lower-caste, usually illiterate, men in the Braj region of northern India. The story of Raja Nal, "a king who does not know he is a king," this vast epic portrays a worldof complex social relationships involving changing and mistaken identities, goddesses, powerful women, magicians, and humans of many different castes. In thiscomprehensive study and first extended English translation based on multiple oralversions, Susan Snow Wadley argues that the story explores the nature of humanitywhile also challenging commonplace assumptions about Hinduism, gender, and caste.She examines the relationship between oral and written texts and the influence ofindividual performance styles alongside a lyrical translation of the work.