Abstract The ritual of the teyyams, in north Kerala, has been referred to as “art form,” “folk art,” “ritual art,” and such, not only by tourist guides and leaflets, but also by academic works and, more and more, in the everyday speech of local communities.1 In this article we intend to question the adequacy of such categorizations, in light of plausible definitions of art and folklore, and investigate the motivations for such classifications, considering the correlations of social and political power in post-colonial circumstances. We defend a need for an integrated, informed and careful address to the cult of the teyyams (like any other post-colonial reality) and argue that the post-colonial discourse, despite its advantages over colonial rhetoric, can still be improved upon. It can be improved upon by acknowledging, besides the obvious consequences of the colonialist cultural and political heritage, the traces of the local, more ancient or discrete influences, interlaced with the later colonial heritage, and can provide clues for understanding of the present in its complexity. The example of the teyyams is not a random choice but rather a specific example in which the history of the relations of power, which continues from pre-colonial times, is visible on the one hand in local political discussions, and on the other hand has been fully inscribed, as tension and transgression, into the ritual in a metaphorical way.

中文翻译：

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全球化北马拉巴尔的后殖民实例：teyyam 是一种“艺术形式”吗？

摘要 喀拉拉邦北部的 teyyams 仪式被称为“艺术形式”、“民间艺术”、“仪式艺术”等，不仅被旅游指南和传单，而且被学术作品和更多以及更多，在当地社区的日常讲话中。 1 在本文中，我们打算根据艺术和民俗的合理定义质疑这种分类的充分性，并考虑到社会和政治的相关性，调查这种分类的动机后殖民时期的权力。我们捍卫对 teyyams 崇拜（就像任何其他后殖民现实一样）的综合、知情和谨慎处理的必要性，并认为后殖民话语尽管比殖民言论有优势，但仍然可以改进。它可以通过承认来改进，除了殖民主义文化和政治遗产的明显后果外，当地的、更古老或离散的影响的痕迹与后来的殖民遗产交织在一起，可以为理解当下的复杂性提供线索。teyyams 的例子不是一个随机的选择，而是一个具体的例子，在这个例子中，从前殖民时代延续的权力关系的历史一方面在地方政治讨论中可见，另一方面在以一种隐喻的方式，将紧张和越轨完全铭刻在仪式中。