Original Article ISSN (Online): 2582-7472 ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts January-June 2024 5(1), 124–136 How to cite this article (APA): Kumar, M., Nayak, A., and Swain, P. K. (2024). Cultures of Orality and Performativity in the Performing Art Tradition of Purulia Chhau. ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 5(1), 124–136. doi: 10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.750 124 CULTURES OF ORALITY AND PERFORMATIVITY IN THE PERFORMING ART TRADITION OF PURULIA CHHAU Maheshwar Kumar 1 , Dr. Amarjeet Nayak 2 , Dr. Pranaya Kumar Swain 3 1 PhD Research Scholar, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar, an OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Odisha, India 2 Reader-F, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar, an OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Odisha, India 3 Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar, an OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Odisha, India ABSTRACT Purulia Chhau, a folk, tribal, martial, masked dance-drama form of Eastern India, is performed over generations orally. Having no written performance text available, all the actions of Purulia Chhau, such as gestures, postures, dance movements and so on are materialized through the various performative utterances by the vocalist, who provide the storyline of the Chhau repertoires; musicians, who bring musical tempo into dance movements; and the dancers, who are dressed in big headgear masks and dynamic costumes enact the actual Chhau performances. Referring to the social and cultural perspectives and employing a qualitative approach as the primary methodological tool, the present paper, at the first level, seeks to explore how the cultures of orality exists in Purulia Chhau tradition and critically evaluates three Chhau repertoires with their contextual significance. It also examines how this folk-dance form manifests cultural values, shared beliefs and customs, and represents a unique cultural identity among the concerned people. At the second level, the paper analyses how the idea of performativity works on its reflexive level in Purulia Chhau and creates meaning to the audience. It also emphasizes on the performative procedure invoked and executed by all the performers correctly and completely. Received 01 November 2023 Accepted 31 January 2024 Published 06 February 2024 Corresponding Author Maheshwar Kumar, maheshwar.kumar@niser.ac.in DOI 10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.750 Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. With the license CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author. Keywords: Performance, Orality, Performativity, Purulia Chhau 1. INTRODUCTION Oral tradition, an intangible form of human communication and a representation of shared beliefs, is expressed in community ideals and embodied in material forms, such as dance and music. For ages, the indigenous modes of communication, created and transformed in and through the cultures of orality and