Archives - Page 4

  • Patterns of Mythical Reconstruction in Oodgeroo Nunukul's Dreamtime - By V. Bharathi Harishankar
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    Bharathi Harishankar looks at Oodgeroo Nunukul’s use of reversal and parody in her collection of aboriginal folk tales. Much as Christianity used local cultural forms to proselytise among indigenous groups, Nunukul uses Biblical narrative patterns to reconstruct aboriginal myths. The content of her narratives is native, the expression Christian, complete with Old and New books. Concepts of God, of Good and Evil have been used to explain aboriginal legends, but with significant departures in how the aboriginals relate to love, sin or divine sanction. There is no absolute divinity in Nunukul’s narratives, only a human understanding of life.

  • When the Stone Crumbles - By Desmond L. Kharmawphlang
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    An emotional article where Kharmawphlang remembers U. Dorbar Nongkoum-----a storyteller and healer of the Nongkoum clan in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya. The author himself has spent more than 12 years on these very hills. He describes the tribal belief in the ka met or body, the ka mynsiem or soul, and the ka rngiew or spirit. Tribals believe that Khpa phulis have divine powers and can transform into tigers and roam the jungle. It is tragic that authorities are considering converting a cave that houses the pdah kyndeng deity to a tourist spot. It will spell certain death to an age-old legend and myth.

  • The Five Elements in the Danda Rituals of Orissa - By Ileana Citaristi
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    Citaristi traces the Danda rituals of Orissa and its origins. It looks at how the Danda uses the elements of water, fire, air and dust to represent the earthly and agrarian concerns of the performers. Spring and autumn are seasons of change, and marked by elaborate and difficult rituals to the Śiva-Śakti cult icons. The Dandas use these rituals as a means not only of reinforcing their age-old practices but also to ensure continued prosperity of their agricultural pursuits. It is interesting to note the strong Tantric roots to the celebrations, which are marked by penance, fasting and heavy physical action.

  • Afro-Brazilian Avatāras: Gandhi's Sons Samba in South America - By Pravina Shukla
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    This article is a study of how a new diasporic culture is created not by the native inheritors of that culture but by others. The Filhos de Gandhy or Sons of Gandhi have been part of the annual Brazilian carnival for the last 52 years. The curious thing is that the Gandhi they celebrate for his fight for racial justice is far removed from the real man-----the 5,000-strong, all-male groups of Filhos de Gandhy are bejewelled, sexual, non-vegetarian and violent. It is amazing how notions of India and Gandhi, surviving in African memories, have been revived by an African diaspora in far away South America.

  • Alternative Paradigms in Folklore Studies: The Indian Chapter - By Nita Mathur
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    In this article, Mathur describes the three approaches to folklore study-----the humanist, the historical, and the psychological-----and goes on to prove that folklore is an inseparable part of culture. By showing how Santhal folklore is derived from and woven to their agrarian and land concerns, the author argues that folk arts are inextricably linked to lifestyles. Folklore study has now entered post-modernist dialectics, and has become a contemporary discipline. Mathur advocates that the ‘folk’ themselves should be able to directly access and contribute to folklore studies. In this way, the earlier ethnography can be replaced by a community database.

  • Popular Culture and the North Indian Oral Epic Dhola - By Susan S Wadley
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    Wadley’s article is about the Dhola, the roughly 300-year-old North Indian oral epic. Following the Dhola’s history and its story line, she traces how this tradition of oral narrative is being transformed to meet the demands of an increasingly modernised lower class male audience. In its modern version, the Dhola has been released in the form of audiocassettes, and is used in films, radio and television. She looks at how the story line, by incorporating modern urban and pop culture references-----like film songs, catch phrases, and sexual and political innuendoes-----continues to communicate and stay relevant to a modern audience.

  • For King's Sake : Narratives as Designer Texts - Soumen Sen
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2001)

    Soumen Sen traces the narrative history of the matrilineal Jaintia tribes of Meghalaya through the Ky Hynniew Trep or the Seven Huts with Seven Ancestral Mothers myth. These tribes derive their religion-----the Ka Niam religion-----from these myths. Sen demonstrates how the myth reinforces both the religious and secular principles of matrilineal descent. The myth ensures that the tribal Chief remains supreme. In this way, the tribe stays united and loyal to the Chief. The article establishes the argument that the mythical narratives are often designed for the specific purpose of establishing the existing power systems as pre-ordained truths.

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