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This paper uses Affect Theory to analyse the significance of the oral tradition of Haryanvi vidaai folk songs, contending that these performances function as powerful affective economies rather than just passive ceremonial scripts. In contrast to traditional symbolic readings, this study explores the ritual as an active site of somatic and relational transmission, where grief functions as a concrete biological force. By utilising Silvan Tomkins’ theory of pre-conscious intensity and Teresa Brennan’s concept of contagious affect, the research examines how the physical trauma of a daughter’s departure spreads throughout the kinship network. Furthermore, it illustrates how common domestic objects become saturated with the sticky emotional residue of girlhood and how the patriarchal regulation of collective grief sustains female subjugation by incorporating Sara Ahmed’s concept of affective economics with Lauren Berlant’s cruel optimism. Through narrative analysis of collected fieldwork songs, this study ultimately reveals the vidaai as a complex structure of feelings where the female body simultaneously endures patriarchal rupture and subtly displays resistance.
Ms. Anu. “Tears That Sing: The Transmission of Affect in Haryanvi Vidaai Folk Songs.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 4, August 2026, pp. 1058-1078. DOI, https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n4.65.
Open Access · CC BY 4.0 · Crossref DOI ·
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