| Abstract | Paper -a:
One of the most interesting issues of angika-abhinaya are hastas - usually called mudras. Hastas are hand gestures with a lot of meaning and wide usage. In the technical dimension of the dance, hastas act as an esthetic ornament without any specific message. In the dramatic part of the dance, every hasta has a determined meaning. In Nandikeshwara's treaty Abhinajadarpana there are 28 single hastas (asamjuta hasta) and 24 double hastas (samjuta hasta). Each hasta may have different meanings, depending on the context of the story. Hastas are mandatory in every classical Indian dance. However, the same hasta may be performed in a different technical manner. The treaty Natyashastra is a kind of manual/textbook for dancers of every one of the eight classical Indian dances. One of them - odissi - is also based on a different source - Maheshwara Mohapatra's Abhinaya Chandrika from 7th-10th c. This text describes a unique technique that is specific for this dance. The repertoire of odissi dance is mainly based on sanskrit love poems about Krishna and his beloved Radha from Jayadewa's Gitagovinda from 12th c. In my considerations I would like to focus on the essence of storytelling with hand gestures. It is crucial to emphasise the oral tradition and the method of knowledge transfer.
Paper -b:
Describing mythology, the legendary past, and the prophesied future, the rememberers and prophets of Old Norse eddic poetry are extraordinary informers and yet, as this paper will demonstrate, they are also dexterous performers. Building on recent advances in memory studies (Glauser, Hermann, Mitchell, 2018) and performance studies (Gunnell, 2013), this paper develops established dialogues between these two disciplines by focusing on the performative interplay between memory and prophecy in Vǫluspá, Grípisspá, and Baldrs draumar. It contends that the speakers within these poems not only 'remember' the future, but also that they communicate with performative intent, showing that information and the transmission of knowledge are never innocuous.
Paper -c:
The motif of a protagonist receiving vital information from birds appears several times in Old Norse literature, and some have used this to suggest there was a belief in the language of birds in medieval Iceland. By analysing the vocabulary used in these episodes and reading them alongside theological and encyclopaedic texts from Iceland and elsewhere, I will argue instead that the way these episodes are recorded in medieval manuscripts shows considerable tension. While birds may speak in Old Norse literature, most texts are reluctant to attribute language to them and risk making them take on human qualities.
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