Lucy May Constantini

Contact: 

E-Mail: lucy.may.constantini@univie.ac.at

Lucy May Constantini joins MANTRAMS as a postdoctoral researcher, bringing a rich interdisciplinary background in ethnography, performance studies, and philology, with a regional specialization in Kerala, South India. She recently completed her PhD at The Open University, where her research focused on kaḷarippayaṟṟ ̆ , a South Indian martial art, exploring its embodied practices, ritual contexts, and material culture. Lucy’s work combines somatic methodologies, ethnography, and philological analysis, offering a fresh perspective on the transmission of traditional knowledge through embodied and sensory experiences.

As part of MANTRAMS, Lucy will investigate the materiality of mantra practices in Kerala, focusing on the interplay between aural, somatic, and visual senses in the transmission of mantras. Her research explores how mantras, as embodied processes, maintain or transgress social and cosmic hierarchies, and how they are expressed through various material objects and practices, from sacred amulets to ritual performances. Drawing on her extensive fieldwork experience, Lucy will focus on two key case studies: the use of mantras in kaḷarippayaṟṟ ̆ and its rituals, and the role of astrologers in prescribing mantric remedies in contemporary Kerala.

Lucy’s previous research on kaḷarippayaṟṟ ̆ and her established connections with local communities and scholars in Kerala, including the CVN Kalari Sangham and and other kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘traditions, make her uniquely qualified to contribute to the materiality strand of the project. Her work will offer insights into how mantras are entextualized in the body, transmitted through objects, and how they serve as instruments in both popular Hindu practices and ritual healing.