This volume investigates how the poetry of the fifteenth-century saint-poet Kabir persists and evolves through contemporary oral-performative traditions in Northern India. Linda Hess, a scholar of religious studies, utilizes a decade of ethnographic fieldwork in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh to analyze the intersection of oral transmission, written textual history, and community reception. The book argues that Kabir's work is not a static literary artifact but a living, breathing practice that adapts to the social and political contexts of its performers and listeners.

Scholars and students of South Asian religious history frequently cite this work as a definitive study on the performative nature of Kabir's poetry. Experts highlight the text's balance between rigorous academic theory and rich, on-the-ground ethnographic observation.