Beck .:. Folktales of India

Beck, Brenda et al [ed.],
Folktales of India. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 1987. xxxi, 357 Seiten mit Abbildungen und Register. Leinen mit Schutzumschlag. 222 x 148 mm. 603 g

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* Leinen mit Schutzumschlag.
Bestell-Nr.159967

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Beck | Indien | Maerchen Sagen Legenden

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Folktales of India
Edited by Brenda E. F. Beck, Peter J. Claus, Praphulladatta Goswami, and Jawaharlal Handoo
Foreword by A. K. Ramanujan

Indian folktale traditions are among the richest in the world and have, for millennia, influenced the oral and written literatures ofothercivilizations. Bringing together nearly one hundred tales translated from fourteen languages, Folktales d India opens this vast and varied narrative world to readers of English. Initiated by the late Richard Dorson, who envisioned the project from the very inception of the Folktales of the World series, the volume comprises the efforts Of eighteen regional folklorists collecting and translating tales over a period of two decades. While earlier collections have been confined to particular districts and rely heavily on literary sources, this volume reflects the tradition as it appears today in the greater part of India—oral tales collected from tribal areas and peasant groups, urban areas and remote villages in north and south India, and the distinctive boundary regions of Kashmir; Assam, and Manipur. Among these folktales, readers will find stories exclusive to India, as well as Indian variants of structures and characters as familiar as those found in AesopS fables and Chaucers tales. Archetypal or anomalous, the tales provide rare insight into the Indian world and its various connections with other cultures.
The tales are arranged according to similarities of theme and motif—familial concerns, personality characteristics, and origins—and cross-referenced throughout. The editors, two native Indian folklorists and two North American anthropologists widely recognized for their studies of Indian culture, have placed each tale in context with a brief introductory note. These commentaries, which address questions Of structure, function, and historical or cultural significance, cover a range of theoretical perspectives. Taken together, they Offer the reader a practical guide to different interpretations of and approaches to lndian folktales.

BRENDA E. F. BECK is professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto. PETER J. CLAUS is professor of anthropology at California State University, Hayward. PRAPHULLADATTA GOSWAMI is professor emeritus in the Department of Folklore at the University of Gauhati, Assam. JAWAHARLAL HAND00 is director of the Folklore Unit at the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore.

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