ugc net Folk Literature syllabus

Subject: FOLK LITERATURE

Code No: (71)

Unit–1 Folklore: Definition, Concept and Classification

  • Who are the Folk? - Concepts of Folklife and Folkloristics - Ethnicity - Family types - Natal, Conjugal, Nuclear, Extended (Generational and Polyandrous) - Types of relationships in Family – direct, shared, sexual and descent - Functions of Family - Kinship Terminology: Types of Kinship, Role of Kinship - Social Categories and Social Organization in the creation, transmission and sustenance of Folklore / Folklife.

  • Conceptual shift from ‘Popular Antiquities’ to ‘Folklore’ - Genres and Functions of Folklore: Ethnic Genres and Analytical Categories - Classification of Folklore: Verbal, Nonverbal and Intermediary Genres - Genre Theory: Alan Dundes, Richard Dorson, Ben Amos, Richard Bauman, Roger Abrahams – Functions of Folklore: William Bascom, Louri Honko – Characteristics of Folklore.

Unit–2 Historiography of Folkloristics

  • Folk, from ‘Savage’ to ‘Imagined Group’ - Folklore as Data and Folklore as Study – Oracy Vs. Literacy – Classical Vs. Folk - Emergence of Folklore as an Academic Discipline - Folklore Studies in Abroad - Folklore Studies in India – Subaltern Studies – Tribal Studies – Diaspora Studies – Green Studies.

Unit–3 Folk Literature

  • Definition and Epistemology of Folk Literature – Fields of Folk Literature: Myths, Epics, Legends, Folk Tales, Folk Songs, Proverbs, Riddles, Tongue Twisters, Speech Acts – Verbal Art in Performances (Theatre, Dance Drama, Medicinal Chants, Verbose in Play Genres, etc.) – Literary Devices - Ethnic Slurs, Rumor, Personal Narratives – Oral History.

Unit–4 Theories of Folklore – I : Diachronic Approaches

  • Evolutionary Theories - Concept of Evolution – Unilinear and Multilinear Approaches - E.B. Tylor, George Mudrock, Lewis Morgan, James Frazer - MythRitual Theory - Solar Mythology or Comparative Philology.

  • Devolutionary Theories - Concept of Devolution - Types of Devolutionary Theories - Marxists and Elitists.

  • Diffusion Theories (Monogenesis) - Concept of Diffusion - Indianist Theory or Benfy’s Migration Theory – Egyptians School and Finnish School or HistoricalGeographic Method.

  • Diffusion Theories (Polygenesis) - Psychic Unity - Convergence Vs. Parallelism Theories – Romantic Nationalism and its Manifestations.

Unit–5 Theories of Folklore – II : Synchronic Approaches

  • Structural Approaches – Basic concepts – Syntagmatic Structuralism – Concepts of Ferdinand de Saussure and Theory of Vladimir Propp –– Application of Proppian Model to Folklore – Paradigmatic Structuralism – Concepts of Roman Jacobson and Theory of Claude Levi-Strauss – Application of Straussian Model to Folklore.

  • Functional Approaches – Basic Concepts – Social Functionalists: Bronislaw Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, Emile Durkheim – Symbolic Functionalists: Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner.

  • Psychological Approaches - Psychoanalysis – Basic Concepts - Sigmund Freud – Freud’s Theoretical applications to Folklore – Analytical Psychology – Basic Concepts – Carl J. Jung – Jung’s Theoretical Applications to Folklore – Jacques Lacan’s Theory.

  • Contextual Approaches – Basic Concepts – Verbal Art as Performance – Linguistic and Communicative Models of Roman Jacobson – Oral Formulaic Theory or ParryLord Theory – Lauri Honko’s concept of ‘Multiforms’.

  • Poststructural and Postmodern Approaches - Meaning and Tenets of Poststructuralism, New Hermeneutics, Text, Textuality, Textual Analysis - Paul Ricoeur and Theories of Interpretation - Historical Milieu of the Theories - Concept and Theory of Deconstruction - Derrida, Lacan, Foucault - Gender Theories and Approaches - Gender and Genre - Feminism and Gender Perspectives – Queer Theory.

  • Semiotic Approaches - Semiotic Approach to Folk Culture Studies - Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles S. Pierce on Sign System and Culture - Perspectives on Discourse Analysis.

Unit–6 Folklife and Cultural Performances

  • Culture as Performance – Erving Goffman, Clifford Geertz, Milton Singer - Rites of Passage and Territorial Rites – Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner - Performance Centered Approach - Roger D. Abrahams, Richard Bauman, Richard Schechner - Dell Hymes’s Ethnography of Speaking Approach - Analysis of Folk Narratives.

Unit–7 Public Folklore and Mass Media

  • Basic Concepts - Folklore, Folklorism, Folklorismus, Folklorization, Applied Folklore, Public Folklore and Second Life of Folklore - Folklore in Public Sphere – Folklore and Communication – Folklore and New Media.

Unit–8 Folklore and Globalisation

  • Theories of Global Culture - Discourse on Modernity, Post-Modernity and Globalisation - Ideologues of Globalisation – Emergence of Populism.

  • Influence of Globalisation in Socio-cultural Life - Issues and Concepts of Identity - Glocal vs. Global, Homogeneity Vs. Heterogeneity and Hybridization - Changing Dimensions and domains of Folklore Genres and Folk Performances - Cultural Tourism – Neo-Folk Formations and Protest Movements – Challenges to Native Cultures – Bio-politics.

Unit–9 Indian Folk Cultural Practices

Genres of Folk Theatre – Narrative Enactments – Puppet Theatre – Dance Dramas - Musical Traditions and Life Style Patterns – Naming System and Onomastics – Occupational Folklore - Family Folklore - Folk Religious Practices – Pilgrimage and Ritual Practices – Fairs and Festivals – Folk Medicinal Practices – Folk Art and Craft – Folk Architecture – Folk Foodways and Culinary Practices – Folk Games – Dress and Clothing – Manners and Customs – Customary Law and Jurisprudence – Worldview - Regional Variations and Versions.

Unit–10 Fieldwork, Documentation and Archival Practices

  • Categorization of Fieldwork Operations: Pre-fieldwork, Fieldwork and Postfieldwork – Notions of ‘field’ and ‘data’- Thick and Thin Data - Methods and Techniques – Survey Method, Observation Method – Ethnographic Method - Postmodern Ethnographic Method – Dialogical and Discourse Methods - Focus Group Method - Documentation and Archival Practices – Preservation and Conservation of Tangible and Intangible Cultures – Fieldwork Ethics and Copyright Issues – Patent Rights.