Initially, the narrative establishes a certain degree of incredulity as the story is twice removed from the first-hand experience of the event, which is either absent or not present as much in the other two version. A third person narrator is talking about the story as is heard from the perspective of a “level-headed conscientious businessman” who heard the story from a “fellow who went to Cal” with him. His incredulity resonates with the visceral reaction of us as readers (or hearers) of the narrative. 

- Definition: 

Festivals are celebratory events marked by joyous gatherings, vibrant clothing, diverse food options, and specific rituals.

- Nature: 

Periodic and often coincides with transitions such as seasonal changes or harvest times. They embody a complex web of folk genres, showcasing the total of traditional behaviors and the collective meaning generated by the event.

Types of Festivals

- Religious vs. Secular: Examples include Makarsakranti (religious) and Onam (secular).

- Associated Performances: Festivals often feature specific performances, e.g., Christmas Carols during Christmas, and enactments on Janmashtami.

Core Elements of Festivals

- Traditional Observances: Practices like fasting and the enactment of various rituals.

- Values and Ideologies: Festivals often reflect the basic value systems and ideologies of communities, emphasizing themes such as equality among human beings, especially evident during harvest festivals.

- Temporal Dimension: Festivals create a "time out of time" experience, differing significantly from daily life routines.

Festival Dynamics

- Festive Behavior: Critical to festivals, indicating collective behavior and symbolic inversion of standard life patterns.

- Processes: Inversion and intensification, including abstention from regular activities (work, play, studies).

- Rites of Consumption: Traditional meals and drinks are a significant part of festivals, e.g., thekua during Chhat Pooja.

Social Aspects

- Centralization vs. Decentralization: Festivals can influence the social structure, impacting community dynamics.

- Community Feelings: Participation evokes feelings of identity, belongingness, and community.

- Small Scale Celebrations: Rites of passage/ stages of initiation when you are transitioning to adulthood such as puberty ceremonies, baby showers, or sacred thread ceremonies, signify transitions and societal roles; assigning a new role to the individual in a society. e.g Baptism, betrothal- how this is an act to confirm your membership in the community.

Observations

- Festivals as Complex Wholes: They start with pre-festival rituals and undergo transformations, reflecting deep cultural nuances.

- Festivals offer insights into the collective emotions and tendencies of people, emphasizing contentment, happiness, and sometimes patriotism.

Unique Perspectives

- The conflation of rituals and symbolism can lead to unique transformations, such as metaphorically representing a woman's transformation into a tree, symbolizing deep-rooted cultural beliefs and the intertwining of human life with nature.

This logbook entry aims to encapsulate the essence of festivals, their significance in various cultures, and the profound impact they have on community life and individual identities.

Objective:

 To understand the differentiation between folk and popular music, their origins, characteristics, and their roles within society. Additionally, to explore the nuances of legend and folktale/fairytale narratives.

- Folk Music:

  - Defined as traditional or orally transmitted music.

  - Performed from memory.

  - Originates in rural, agricultural societies, often reflecting the rhythm of work and seasonal activities.

  - Performers may not know the song's origin, leading to multiple variations of the same song (e.g., Jana Gana Mana).

  - Lacks fixity, allowing for experimentation within the popular culture industry.

Popular Folk Music:

  - Ephemeral and commercial, intended for mass consumption.

  - Practiced within a restricted area, not widespread.

  - Adapted for urban environments.

Field Study Questions:

  1. How was this music learned?

  2. What skills are required for its performance?

  3. What function does it serve in the community?

Insights:

- Impact on Memory and Consciousness:

  - Plato's assertion that writing diminishes memory. How our consciousness is getting restructured as new phenomena comes up.

  - Industrial and factory songs relate to work rhythms and can serve political or social agendas.

Legend vs. Folktale/Fairytale:

  - Legends have historical traces and often include supernatural elements; they are geographically specific and vary greatly to meet local needs.

  - Fairytales are less geographically bound, typically featuring a heroic journey and are timeless in their narrative approach.

  - Legends seek to explain extraordinary phenomena and convey traditional knowledge, advising on behavior in critical situations.

Observations:

- The importance of storytelling after nightfall, particularly legends warning against specific actions (e.g., disrespecting the church).

- The role of evidence and conversational style in legend narration.

- The intertwining of religious practices with legends and folktales, sometimes driven by institutional motives (e.g., financial gain from promoting saint figures).

Today's exploration deepened the understanding of the cultural significance and social functions of folk and popular music, along with the distinct characteristics of legends and fairytales. The questions posed for field study will guide further investigation into how these musical and narrative forms serve their communities, reflect societal changes, and perpetuate traditional knowledge.

Objective: 

To understand and document the historical trajectory and methodological challenges in the study of South-Asian folklore, with a specific focus on India.

Background:

- The academic discipline of folklore studies began emerging around 200-250 years ago, roughly during the early 1800s or late 18th century.

- This period coincides with the British establishment of their empire in India, marking a significant era of cultural and administrative exchange.

Key Developments:

1. Orientalism and Folklore:

   - The arrival of the British in India and their imperial agenda led to a compartmentalization of knowledge, including folklore.

   - Missionaries, travelers, and colonial administrators began documenting local oral lore as a means to understand the indigenous populace.

2. Contributors to Folklore Documentation:

   - Notable among the early documenters were European civil servants, their wives (e.g., Floria Anstein), and missionaries who saw value in collecting local tales.

   - The documentation efforts were not just a scholarly pursuit but were often driven by a need to comprehend the 'native mind' under an imperialistic lens.

3. Role of Indian Interlocutors:

   - Educated Indians, often schooled in British ways, played a crucial role as research assistants, translators, and interlocutors, bridging the gap between local cultures and colonial interests.

4. Regional Variations:

   - The study highlighted the diversity within Indian folklore, noting that practices and tales vary significantly from one region to another, e.g., Punjab vs. Tamil Nadu.

Challenges in Folklore Studies:

- Imperialistic and Socio-political Agendas: The initial collection of folklore was heavily influenced by colonial motives, often casting Indian culture in a biased light.

- Language and Standardization Issues: Post-independence, a significant challenge has been the collection and study of folklore in regional languages, which face issues of standardization and marketability.

- Genre Classification: The force-fitting of tales into predefined genres carries the risk of oversimplification and loss of nuanced cultural context.

- Authenticity and Ownership: Questions about the authenticity of collected tales and the rights to these stories remain contentious.

Academic Periods in Folkloristics:

- Up to 1955: Early documentation and collection period, influenced by colonial objectives.

- 1955 to 1990s: A European-centric approach to folklore studies.

- 21st Century: A shift towards studying Indian folklore from an indigenous perspective, addressing previous biases and methodological flaws.

Observation:

The study of South-Asian, particularly Indian, folklore has evolved significantly from its colonial roots. While the collection and classification of folklore face ongoing challenges, there is a clear movement towards more inclusive and authentic representations of Indian cultural narratives.

Next Steps:

- Explore more indigenous perspectives and methodologies in folklore studies.

- Address the challenges of language, standardization, and authenticity in future research.

References:

- "A Folktale Called India" by Sadna, highlighting the socio-political agendas in folklore collection.

-Space: Tales of Colonial British Collectors of India”

Collectors’ narratives are constituted of 3 abstractions: India, the folklore collector and the folktales.

-Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan- James Todd

The idea that India is the homeland of folktales is an “absurd conclusion.” India is not the fountainhead. A lot of tales in Aesop’s fables are there in Panchatantra.

The purpose of these folktales is not to exist by themselves.

Proper identification of folkloristic material is necessary.

European themes in European tales told by American Indians can be mistaken for aboriginal elements.

Folklorists have been criticized- only preoccupied with identification.

Text without context orientation- resulted in the sterile study of folklore.

The use of folklore in James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Nursery rhymes, tongue twisters, children’s games, folktales etc.

Till 19th century- Indian writing in English was an extension of colonial writing. After 1980, there was a significant turn-Renaissance in Indian writing in English. The writers are using indigenous elements, experiments with style, technique. Eg. Midnight’s Children, God of Small Things. Kathakali, nursery rhymes. She is undermining the Western English tradition. Challenging conventions by bringing in indigenous elements.

“Riddle me, riddle me, randy ro/My father gave me seeds to sow”

Answer:

Love.

Riddle number 1063 in Archer Taylor’s great compendium, English Riddles from Oral Tradition.

The riddle asked by Stephen Dedalus:

The cock crew

The sky was blue:

The bells in heaven

Were striking eleven.

‘Tis time for this poor soul

To go to heaven.

Answer: The fox burying his mother under a holly bush.

Interpretation

Minor character, Haines- an English.

Reference to Bloom as Mr. Fox.

The word ‘Fox’ is present throughout the novel. Do not take the term Fox at face value.

In folktale-the bride-to-be

William M Schutte- Stephen thinks of himself as a fox.

Stephen as ‘Christfox’- ‘runaway in blighted tree fox’

‘Runaway’-escape

‘blighted’-disease

‘Christ’-indicates suffering.

‘Fox’-evil or villainous character.

He is both a victim and a villain.

A literary critic can go wrong in identification and interpretation without proper knowledge of folklore.

In Joyce’s novel, bride-to-be is replaced with the figure of mother. He plans to kill his mother. No direct reference that he has killed his mother.

Stephen throughout the novel is grappling with issues of identity, guilt and is always into complex relationships. He always carries a guilt consciousness. Based on this, why is ‘bride-to-be’ is replaced with mother?

Comparison as a method of studying is not uniquely a folkloristic thing.

Dundes criticizes how this historio-geographic method came to be known as the Finnish method.

Tracing the origin of a particular type of mythology.

Grimm brothers- They were interested in how different variations of a tale existed.

Despite all these, the one individual who was able to make this method dedicatedly Finnish was Kaale Krohn. (20th)

One primary aim is to trace the Ur-form of a tale. The idea was that every tale had a hypothetical ur-form-the prototype. The idea of the blueprint. The aim is to trace back that archetype or trace the oicotypes- tales that are unique to a particular culture. Try to find the archetypes by studying the oicotypes.

“Tracing patterns of movements, discovering patterns of dissemination of a tale, mapping of specific motives to investigate cultural factors that influence the use of different motifs among different groups who share the same tale type.”

- Alan Dundes

For more details, read page 131.

The more widespread the myth it is, the older the myth is. The wider the geographical distribution is, the older the myth is. “Although this remains an unproven assumption.”

-Thompson

How will you decide who the potential participant will be?

Practitioners, how well aware the people are of their demographic, language

How will the participants be initially contacted?

Through priests

How will the potential participants be approached?

A conversational approach.

Explain why you will not be obtaining informed consent?

What measures will be put in place to ensure confidentiality of personal data?

Sample

Particular to general approach-

Start with Yakshi- a particular tale-

Where it appears? Divergent approach- Hindu traditions, Jain tradition, Buddhist tradition, Folk traditions.

Connecting it to all cultural frameworks- how dense the network is.

The relationship of legend to other folk performances.

Functional approach

Sunshower is called Fox wedding- Why is it fox? What is the purpose of fox?

What is the significance of this mythical event with the natural event of a sun shower or rainbow?

Historical approach

Is the belief unique to India or is it found elsewhere?

If it is found elsewhere, is it found in areas that are geographically contiguous with India or in widely separated regions?

Is it found only among linguistically related peoples, or among linguistically diverse people?

Functional exploration- synchronic and diachronic approach.

Association of the word ‘glamour’ with witch- diachronic.

It’s contemporary connotations- synchronic.

How it is spatially distributed?