Postcolonialism, Folklore, Nation, Gender and Indian Writing in English

This book provides a detailed analysis of the use of myth and folklore in Indian fiction written in English from 1930 to 1961 and investigates their significance as a tool for stylistic experimentation and innovation. Paradoxically, ancient myths and folktales are recovered and deployed in the novels in order to generate new modes of writing. While focusing on this central but hitherto ignored area of folklore, the book thus recovers the literary as well as the oral traditions of early Indian fiction written in English. There are two dimensions to the author’s inquiry. First, through a series of close readings, the author investigates how the use of myths, folk tales, songs and proverbs helps to evoke, dramatise or even ironise–in terms of both theme and structure–complex situations within the text. Second, the author pays special attention to the employment of an 'oral narrative style' in some of these novels. The book also explores the relationship between women and folklore in order to understand the representation of women in South Asian folk tradition, and examines their participation in the various genres of folklore: songs, tales, and rituals.