UNIT 1 REPRESENTATION OF FOLK IN WORLD LITERATURE Structure 1.0 Objectives 1.1 What are modern narratives? 1.2 Folk and modern narratives: tradition vs. modern narratives 1.3 Examples of folk and pre-modern written narratives in literatures of the world 1.4 Examples of folk and modern written narratives in literatures of the world 1.5 Let us sum up 1.6 Reference and further readings 1.7 Glossary 1.8 Check Your Progress: possible answers 1.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this Unit, you will be able to: describe modern narratives; discuss the relation between folk forms and modern narratives; and list out the problems in classification of folk and modern in literature. 1.1 WHAT ARE MODERN NARRATIVES? Let us begin our discussion with what narratives are. Narratives are oral or written constructs of sequences which may be fictional or non-fictional. In other words, narratives are strategies or ways of narration to communicate. In the case of literature, they may be considered strategies or ways of narration to communicate literature. Modern narratives in literature are generally associated with written literature, i.e. literature that exists in the form of text rather than as memory, myth, tradition, oral epics and various other similar forms. The two most commonly acknowledged modern narrative methods are novels and short stories. However, it is not merely that the narratives are generally written and not oral that makes them modern.anumber of factors together make a narrative modern in nature. They are discussed below. Novels and short stories, like other forms of literary narratives such as poetry, or epic, or song/lyrics constitute two kinds of narratives among others. However, they have come to constitute the most popular kinds of narratives in the modern period. One of the most distinctive features of novels and short stories as narrative methods, i.e. as ways of narrating the content, is their universality during the modern period. There have been other narrative methods such as epics which could be found universally in the pre-modern periods as well. However, epics or poetry or narratives of songs/lyrics or ballads, despite their universality, were 153
The Folk and Modern Narratives distinctive in their narrative structures, i.e. as ways of narrating their content, according to the society or region that they belonged to. For example, the epics of Homer of classical Greece were different from Ramayana or Mahabharata in ancient South Asia in terms of methods of narrating the story of the epics. Thus, it is only in the modern period that a certain narrative method, i.e. novel and short story, have found universal appeal across societies and regions of the world. In other words, in the field of literature, novels and short stories can be considered an ideal example of modern narratives of the world. However, it is important to note that the characteristic of universality alone does not necessarily make novels and short stories modern narratives. It only testifies to the universality of certain kinds of modern narratives. Novels and short stories are modern because of their other features. For example, the production of novels and short stories as mass consumed books was connected to the modern technology of printing press. It is not that they came to exist as printed text that is of significance herein; rather that they came to exist as commodities that could be bought and sold in the market that is of greater significance. It is this process of comodification of text that is historically associated with novels and short stories that marks them out as the harbingers of modern narratives. The other forms of narratives such as poetry, lyrics, ballads, tales or epics existed in the pre-modern period as well. Novels and short stories have existed only since the modern industrial period. Further, in most societies across the world, the earliest producers (authors/ production houses) and especially the consumers have been generally associated with the middle class. The aristocracy or the peasantry or the working class has historically been not the earliest producers or consumers of novels and short stories. However, over time, and in most societies, the other classes/groups of people other than the middle class also emerged as the producers and consumers of novels and short stories. In the process of spread of novels and short stories in terms of production and consumption in classes other than the middle class, their content also underwent transformations. Whereas in the earlier periods, especially in Europe, the content or subject matter of novels and short stories primarily focused on individualism and the societal dimensions of individualism, as other classes emerged as producers and consumers of such fiction, the spread of content expanded to include the matters other than individualism and the societal framework of its operation. For example, in Maxim Gorky s Mother, the content is working class and their social and political organization. This was in contrast to 19 th century Russian traditions of novels and short stories where the primary focus was on the individual and his/her dilemmas, whether psychological or social, in a period of transformation of societal order. The change in the treatment of society from individual at the centre/as the subject to the social that is evident in Mother indicates the spread of novels and short stories among classes/groups other than the middle class. 154 Narrative methods in other kinds of literary genres such as poetry, lyrics, or ballads also underwent changes during the modern period. For example, in South Asia, traditions of classical music underwent major changes during the period with the change in the nature of audience, place of performance (from court/ private to public stages), technology of recording and the role of state sponsorship of art and artists. Forms of literature also could transform into that of music. For example, the transformation of ghazal from being a read/orated literary narrative,
i.e. verse/poetry, into that of music, i.e. lyrics, is an example of change that narratives experienced in the modern period. In this regard, cinema (and Hindi film music) played a major role in effecting and making possible the transformation. Contemporary poetry too differs markedly from pre-modern poetry in most societies. The difference is not only in terms of content, i.e. the subject of treatment, but also in terms of structure of poetry, i.e. in the use of linguistic registers. Therefore, it is evident that various kinds of literary narratives underwent changes in the modern period. The changes were as a result of the changes in the nature of production and consumption of literature as well as technologies that became available to communicate literature. In that capacity, they all transform (ed.) into modern narratives. However, among the different kinds of modern narratives, novels and short stories historically stand out as narratives that primarily emerged during the period, especially in Europe, rather than being narratives that changed and thereby became modern through that transformation. 1.2 FOLK AND MODERN NARRATIVES: TRADITION Vs. MODERN NARRATIVES In the preceding section, we have outlined some of the basic issues associated with the understanding of modern narratives. In this section, the discussion will focus on the problems of modernity vis-à-vis the issue of literary narratives. One of the major debates on the question of narratives and modernity has been how to define modern narrative. In other words, to what extent a narrative that is practiced or exists in contemporary period could be considered modern. For example, though in Europe, novels and short stories were associated in its early phase of production and consumption with the emergence of the middle class, in the case of South Asia, the middle class or its concerns were not necessarily the basis of the process. Further, differences also existed in the nature of the narrative of novels and short stories that were written in South Asia. Similarly, in the case of other literary narratives such as in poetry or lyrics that transformed into modern narratives, elements that were characteristic of earlier narrative methods continued to be used. It is in this content that the debate of tradition vs. modernity in modern narratives assumes importance. By the latter period of the 19 th century and early 20 th century, narrative methods came used in novels and short stories in South Asia that tried to bring together the earlier narrative methods and the new ones of novels and short stories (which were imported from Europe, or more appropriately English literature, during the period). For example, in the writings of Fakirmohan Senapati (Oriya) or Lakhminath Bezbarua (Assamese), there were attempts to incorporate the folk methods of narrative (i.e. tale) in the narrative of the novel. The linguistic registers that were used to achieve this result were (a) the use of colloquial (or everyday) language, and (b) making a clear distinction between the narrator and the narration (i.e. the narrator is only narrating a tale, though in the form of a novel). Thus, though the texts were novels in terms of their narrative, the nature of the narrative was different from that in use/practice in Europe or in English literature during the period. As a result of the impact of colonialism, English literature emerged as a marker of international or world literature in South Asia by the early 20 th century. However, one major difference that authors faced in South Asia was 155
The Folk and Modern Narratives that unlike the English experience, in South Asia, there were not only multiple languages in use but also that a single language could have multiple variants. Therefore, novels and short stories came to have narratives which used techniques of tale, song, dialogue, proverbs (i.e. oral short narratives) or elements like locale to incorporate the diversity, and thereby the heterogeneity of people, into the narrative of novels and short story. Folk, as a narrative technique, therefore came to assume significance in the very emergence of modern narrative in South Asia, in contrast to, for example, English literature. Besides fiction, even in the case of modern poetry in this regard, one can identify clear distinction between that in English literature and what emerged in South Asia. For example, if one considers the genre of Romantic poetry, unlike in English literature, more than focus on nature (as a response to industrial society), in South Asia, the focus was primarily on poetry as a medium to express the authentic and/or national life of the people or folk. Therefore, more than as a response to industrialized society, in SouthAsia, it became attempts at constructing identity of people, whether national or otherwise. To achieve this authenticity, several narrative techniques in terms of language and grammar, imagination, or role of poet in the mode of narration that were peculiar to folk narratives became part of modern Romantic poetry in South Asia. The use of folk narratives can also be found in American (English) literature. Whether in terms of speech or in terms of songs, proverbs and other short oral narratives, the attempt was to incorporate social groups other than White population, such as coloured people or native Americans into the narrative of fiction. The result that was aimed at was to make literature as realist as possible vis-à-vis the American social heterogeneity. The writings of John Steinbeck are a clear example of this attempt inamerican fiction. The important point to note here is that the meaning of the folk narrative methods (which are primarily oral in nature) that were used in these fictions transforms when they come exist in the modern narratives of novels and short stories. They come to exist as techniques of narrative within the larger structure of modern narrative aimed at depicting society as realistically as possible in the text. It is evident from the above discussion that in societies which are heterogeneous in composition, modern narrative has made extensive use of folk narrative to communicate, constitute and express itself to readership. In such cases, folk narratives exist primarily as narrative techniques (such as tale, proverbs, lyrics and other oral narratives) within the larger structure of the modern narrative. Further, it is also evident that the dichotomy between tradition and modern in this regard too explains less the meaning or objective of narratives in use. Whereas in certain cases, the distinction between the two is more marked, in other cases, due to social and historical factors behind production and consumption of literature, the distinction get blurred. It is also important to note that the idea of modern narrative too does not exist as a homogeneous category of narrative. On the contrary, it includes in itself different types of narrative to facilitate its own constitution and communication to/with the society. 156 In this section we discussed the ways in which folk or pre-modern narratives exist as integral part of modern narratives. The examples of both fiction and poetry were highlighted to indicate the relation between modern and folk narrative in contemporary literatures across the world. In conclusion, it was
outlined that whether clear distinction between modern and folk narratives can be identified or such distinction is relatively absent depends on the historical and social factors that result in the production and consumption of literature in specific societies. Therefore, despite the universality of modern narratives, they bear the markers of specificities depending upon their contexts. Check Your Progress 1 Note: 1) Your answers should be about 300 words each; 2) You may check your answers with the possible answers given at the end of the Unit. 1) What do you understand by modern narrative? In what ways can folk narrative exist in modern narratives? 2) Give two examples of modern narratives using folk narratives in literature. 1.3 EXAMPLES OF FOLK AND PRE-MODERN WRITTEN NARRATIVES IN LITERATURES OF THE WORLD One of the fundamental problems faced in defining folk narrative is what constitutes a folk narrative. The general understanding of folk narrative is oral narrative, whether long (for example, like tales) or short (for example, like proverbs). In other words, a clear distinction is maintained between literary narratives and oral narratives in the concept of folk narrative. However, in cases like that of South Asia wherein literary and oral narratives shared close relation (for example, the tradition of Vedas or that of epic), the strict distinction between literary and oral narratives was found to have less application. More than the nature of the narrative, the difference between literary and folk i.e. oral came to be seen in terms of the context and function of the narrative. Further, folk, besides as narrative, could also be seen in terms of concept of people. In other words, a particular group or unit of people and thereby their 157
The Folk and Modern Narratives cultural productions can be considered folk. As already outlined in the preceding section, it is such a concept of folk that distinguished Romantic poetry of English literature from Romantic poetry in South Asian of the nationalist period. It also in this sense of constructing an identity of a people that the Nazi concept of art and the role of folk elements in the art can be understood. In pre-modern literary narratives, the concept of folk could be found in either capacity highlighted above. For example, in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, folk as concept of people is amply evident. The society that is the subject of discussion in the Old Testament is tribal in nature. The gods, their jealousy against each other, the messengers of gods and their efforts/actions to spread to message of their respective gods, the customs of social relations and economic activities among the people and the various discourses in favour or against types of religion and religious orders and as comments on ways of life that are found in the Old Testament testify to the existence of the notion of folk as types of social groups and their modes of life. In the Old Testament, especially in the discourses on ways of life, the distinction between literate and oral narratives is difficult to locate. Similarly, in the epic traditions of various societies as well, the distinctions between oral and literary traditions are difficult to specify. For example, many of the epic traditions in pre-modern South Asia were in the form of katha which were tales that were also performed before the audience. In other words, they existed as performing traditions. In that capacity, these epic traditions were both oral and literary at the same time. They were oral because their mode of practice or communication was verbal and they were literary because their mode of existence was textual, i.e. written. Even in terms of folk as concept of people who share or ought to share certain essential ways of life, it is possible to find examples in pre-modern South Asia, such as the Panchatantra or the Jataka tales. The literature that various philosophical traditions in South Asia have inspired or influenced are also examples when folk exists as essential ways of being and constituting a people and not merely a narrative technique. The Ramayana tradition in South East Asia is another example of close relationship between folk and literary narratives in the pre-modern period. These Ramayana traditions were constitutive of both written texts as well as methods of their performance which were oral. In other words, the written and the oral together constituted the tradition. In such cases, the dramatization of the text is preserved in terms of oral memory and that memory is transmitted over generations through specific methods of memory. This practice of memory and transmission could be found in many pre-modern societies across the world. Importantly, these societies were literate societies, its history spanning over couple of millennia as well. However, despite the existence and knowledge of literary narratives, in the constitution of both memory and tradition, the oral or folk narratives continued to play a major role until the modern period. 158 Therefore, we can see that folk in pre-modern narratives could be found both as a concept of people and their ways of life as well as narrative techniques which were oral in nature to constitute along with written narratives the traditions and cultures of society. It is also important to note here that the strict binary distinction between oral and written narrative in culture formation is more of recent origin, closely related to the processes of social and cultural transformations
that European capitalism/colonialism gave rise to in the modern period across theworld. However, despite thecoming into being of strict distinction between oral and written narratives in culture formation in the modern period, the folk or the oral did not disappear from modern written narrative either. Like in premodern written narratives, they continued to exist. Nevertheless, their meanings and function changed. In cases such as the Old Testament of the Bible, or in the epic traditions of South Asia or in the Ramayana traditions in South East Asia, one can find the close relation that oral and written narratives shared with each other. In fact, both forms of narrative were integral to the constitution of the respective traditions and cultures. One of the main reasons for this, as we have seen, was because the strict distinction between oral and written narratives were far less maintained, unlike in the modern period. We have also seen that folk in pre-modern literatures not only existed as narrative methods (i.e. oral narrative) but also as concept of people and their ways of life. The various discourses on modes of life clearly carried the notion of people or types of people to which certain thoughts or practices of culture were essentially associated. 1.4 EXAMPLES OFFOLKAND MODERN WRITTEN NARRATIVESINLITERATURESOFTHEWORLD One major difference in the use of folk as narrative in modern written narratives from that in the pre-modern narratives is that in the former, use of folk narrative is generally premised on the strict understanding of distinction between oral and written narratives. However, one commonality with the pre-modern narratives in this regard is that it continues to be used to indicate or conceptualize people as distinct or essential groups of cultural beings. In the modern period, folk has come to be used in written narratives in three broad ways, viz. (a) as folk tales, (b) as folk narrative techniques, and (c) as concept of people. Significantly, all the three processes are closely related to each other. Folk tales continues to exist as one of the most popular categories of modern narratives. Since the pioneering 19 th century works of Hans Christian Anderson (Denmark) and Grimm Brothers (Germany) in writing folk tales, it emerged as a popular tradition in most cultures across the world in the 19 th and the 20 th centuries. In South Asia as well, the influence of this tradition of literature can be seen in the extensive production of grandmother s tales in the various languages. The important point that needs to be noted in this regard is that this tradition of folk tale primarily constitutes a rendering of folk tale in the written narrative structure of the modern period. Despite being folk tales, they do not exist as oral narratives. This transformation in the nature of narrative leaves its imprint in the nature, concept and function of these folk tales. The change from oral to written narrative transforms the mode of narration and language. The specific linguistic registers (linguistic registers are specific uses of language based on nature, concept and function of language) of narration, language or the role of narrator that are particular to a culture or cultural practice generally get standardized in a universal written narrative. Therefore, the production of folk tales since the 19 th century was also related to the growth of study of folklore since the period. For example, the Grimm bothers known widely for their collection and publishing of German folktales in the first half of the 19 th century were also associated with the study of 159
The Folk and Modern Narratives folklore, especially philology. Further, the increase in the production of folktales was also associated with the growth of nationhood across the world during the period. Through folk tales, the attempt was to create/invent a socio-cultural legitimacy of the nation/people during the period. This was evident not only in Europe but also widely in South Asia. In other words, folktales emerged as a means or method of knowing or discovering the nation during the period. Another notable point is that the production of such folk tales was high in societies or cultures that sought to establish their credentials as a nation than in those societies or cultures which had already established themselves as powerful countries or nation states. In the 19 th and 20 th centuries Eastern Europe emerged as one of the major sites of production of folk tales in written narratives as well as of research in folklore. As mentioned earlier, the production of folk tales as written narratives was also high in South Asia. However, in South Asia, the phenomenon of linguistic variety, whether in terms of number of languages or in terms of variants within the same language, was predominant. Therefore, in some cases (for example in Assamese literature in the writings of Lakhminath Bezbarua), colloquial variant of the language was used in the written narrative to narrate folk tales. But the very fact that they were in written narrative and as part of modern print culture (of mass produced books rather than as orally transmitted tales) made such literature largely modern renderings of folklore prevalent in society. As already discussed earlier, folk also existed in modern written narratives as narrative techniques. For example, inclusion of traditional or ceremonial songs, proverbs, vows, tales and renderings or experience as recalling through memory in written narratives of novels and short stories were more of strategies communicate or express the social that literature sought to engage with or explore. In other words, as narrative strategies, though they were apparently were folk in function, the meaning of the function can only be located in their integral relation to the modern written narrative in concept and nature. Such a use of folk as narrative strategies can be extensively found in modern literature of SouthAsia. In SouthAsia, folk methods have historically been anti-realist in nature, i.e. their meaning does not lie in their literal reading. Realism as a method of art and literature was seen as the way of depicting society as realistically as possible. Anti-realism, in contrast, did not seek a realist depiction of society. It tries to depict or highlight reality through distorted imagery of the real. In South Asia, anti-realism was the most predominant method of art and literature in the pre-modern period. However, the inclusion or incorporation of such traditional anti-realist narrative strategies in modern literature, which has been generally realist in nature, was aimed at highlighting the subject matter of the text in sharper relief. Thus the meaning of the folk narrative was not in its appearance. On the contrary, it lay in its concept as part of modern narrative. 160 Inclusion of folk as concept of people or as narrative technique was not confined to only literature. It could be found in other fields of art as well. For example, in the field of music, Bob Dylan in Western Rock or Bhupen Hazarika in Indian popular music have also been examples of folk as concept of people or as narrative technique being used in modern music. In the field of theatre in South Asia, Habib Tanvir s use of folk technique in stage craft and execution through his Naya Theatre as means to make theatre more authentically close to common people is an example of use of folk methods in modern theatre.
Check Your Progress 2 Note: 1) Your answers should be about 300 words each; 2) You may check your answers with the possible answers given at the end of the Unit. 3) Give two example of folk narrative in pre-modern literatures of the world. 1.5 LET US SUM UP The discussion on novels and short stories highlighted the uniqueness of such narratives in the modern period. The larger historical and technological transformations behind the universal appeal and acceptability of narratives like novels and short stories in the modern period have also been discussed. The section outlines examples of other narratives in literature such as poetry and lyrics that underwent changes during the period as a result of historical and technological factors. In conclusion, the section tried to emphasize that it is important to note the distinction between narratives becoming modern as a result of transformation (content or structural) in the modern period and narratives that emerge during the modern period as distinct bearers of its modern historical features. It has been highlighted that folk as concept of people and its use as narrative technique were closely related to the rise of nationhood in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. Thereby, folk became a means not only of communication or expression of art but also a means of construction of a specific type of political identity. It is this characteristic of folk in modern narratives that fundamentally distinguishes it from its nature in pre-modern narratives. In this section, we have also highlighted that such a use of folk narrative has not been confined only to the field of literature. It could be found in other media of art as well, for example, in music or in theatre. However, in terms of the concept and function, one could find that across media, there exists a commonality in the use of folk as a concept of people or as narrative technique during the modern period. 1.6 REFERENCE FOR FURTHER READINGS Althusser, Louis. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Monthly Review Press: New York and London. 1971. Machiavelli and Us. Verso: London. 1999 (reprinted). Eagleton, Terry. Criticism and Ideology. Prometheus Books: London. 1976. 161
The Folk and Modern Narratives 1.7 GLOSSARY Narrative: spoken or written account of something. Harbinger: person or thing whose presence announces the approach of another. Ghazal: a narrative of verse/poetry to that of lyrics/songs in the modern period, especially in the 20 th century, in South Asia. It also a popular genre of North Indian music. Old Testament: books of Bible telling the history and beliefs of the Jews. 1.8 CHECKYOURPROGRESS: POSSIBLEANSWERS 1) Some of the characteristics of modern literary narratives are that they are generally written and they exist as mass published books. The feature of mass published books is significant because of two reasons. Firstly, it is an indication that literature exists as commodities (i.e. books that can be bought and sold). Secondly, because it exists as mass produced commodities, the narrative gets more standardized or universalized so as to achieve maximum reach of readers. In other words, specificities or peculiarities which are associated with the oral or pre-modern narratives disappear or are standardized into general or universal narrative structures. One of the best examples of modern literary narratives is novels and short stories. As narratives, novels and short stories emerged in the modern period (in Europe) and gradually with the spread of print culture, became a narrative norm across the world. There are also examples when pre-modern narratives transform into modern narratives. One such example is the transformation of ghazal as a narrative of verse/poetry to that of lyrics/songs in the modern period, especially in the 20 th century, in South Asia. Folk narratives are primarily oral in nature and they do not exist as commodities that can be bought or sold in the market. This is its basic difference from modern literary narratives. However, folk narratives continue to exist within modern narratives. Two of the most common ways in which folk narratives exist in modern narratives are (a) as a concept of people, and (b) as narrative techniques. In terms of concept of people, folk generally refers to or indicates a particular socio-cultural and/or political unit of people. Modern literary narratives also use folk narratives as narrative techniques. Oral narrative forms are used in the written narrative as songs, dialogues, metaphors/similes, etc to make depiction for the readers of society more real. In the process, that the text refers to or indicates a specific sociocultural or political group/unit of people also get highlighted or legitimized. 162 2) In literatures of the world, two examples of the use of folk in modern literary narrative can be found in the Romantic poetry that emerged in South Asia and in American literature. If one considers the genre of Romantic poetry, unlike in English literature, more than focus on nature (as a response to industrial society), in South Asia, the focus was primarily on poetry as a medium to express the authentic and/or national life of the people or folk. Therefore, more than as a response to industrialized society, in South Asia, it became attempts at constructing identity of people, whether national or otherwise. To achieve this authenticity, several narrative techniques in terms
of language and grammar, imagination, or role of poet in the mode of narration that were peculiar to folk narratives became part of modern Romantic poetry in South Asia. The use of folk narratives can also be found in American (English) literature. Whether in terms of speech or in terms of songs, proverbs and other short oral narratives, the attempt was to incorporate social groups other than White population, such as coloured people or native Americans into the narrative of fiction. The result that was aimed at was to make literature as realist as possible vis-à-vis the American social heterogeneity. The writings of John Steinbeck are a clear example of this attempt in American fiction. The important point to note here is that the meaning of the folk narrative methods (which are primarily oral in nature) that were used in these fictions transforms when they come exist in the modern narratives of novels and short stories. They come to exist as techniques of narrative within the larger structure of modern narrative aimed at depicting society as realistically as possible in the text. 3) In the Bible, especially the Old Testament, folk as concept of people is amply evident. The society that is the subject of discussion in the Old Testament is tribal in nature. The gods, their jealousy against each other, the messengers of gods and their efforts/actions to spread to message of their respective gods, the customs of social relations and economic activities among the people and the various discourses in favour or against types of religion and religious orders and as comments on ways of life that are found in the Old Testament testify to the existence of the notion of folk as types of social groups and their modes of life. In the Old Testament, especially in the discourses on ways of life, the distinction between literate and oral narratives is difficult to locate. Similarly, in the epic traditions of various societies as well, the distinctions between oral and literary traditions are difficult to specify. For example, many of the epic traditions in pre-modern South Asia were in the form of katha which were tales that were also performed before the audience. In other words, they existed as performing traditions. In that capacity, these epic traditions were both oral and literary at the same time. They were oral because their mode of practice or communication was verbal and they were literary because their mode of existence was textual, i.e. written. Even in terms of folk as concept of people who share or ought to share certain essential ways of life, it is possible to find examples in pre-modern South Asia, such as the Panchatantra or the Jataka tales. The literature that various philosophical traditions in South Asia have inspired or influenced are also examples when folk exists as essential ways of being and constituting a people and not merely a narrative technique. 163