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(★)(It is needless to scratch our heads to trace back the starting point of this project and report here accurately. Maybe the seed --true to its basic nature-- had already dissolved and disappeared when we took notice of the tiny sprout, having no idea that one day it will grow into such a mighty tree. We had witnessed it growing on its own strength and potential, at the same time providing us with a wonderful opportunity to learn more intimately about the nature, scope and problems of folklore studies in India and Japan. Doubtlessly, the magnitude of the topic was an overbearing and unnerving factor at the beginning and remained so even after its completion but the study of the topic as a source of emotional history of the folks and as an account of knowledge acquired through infinite experiences, proved not only enthralling but gratifying too. Initially, we were led by the idea as to how to introduce to the world at large the hitherto unknown bulk of Japanese and Indian folk literature through the widely accepted medium of the English language. Translations from the unfamiliar languages into the more familiar languages are the best short-cuts to overcome the insurmountable linguistic barriers and the folklore materials in the Japanese language and the Indian vernaculars were in dire need of such attention and urgent implementation. Since the end of Second World War, there has been a spate of studies in folklore in India and Japan but majority of these valuable studies have remained unavailable in the English language. The task may seem stupendous for any country or society or institution to undertake but in our humble view there are a number of modern and advanced countries with all the necessary resources at their command to put this idea into practice. The urgent need at this hour is the realization and conviction as to its worthiness and the likely contribution of such an undertaking towards retracking the evolution of a world-view in different and distantly inhabitated societies. Maybe this volume is a very small step in this direction. This anthology, consisting of eighteen articles covering some major genres of Indian and Japanese folklore, is an attempt to provide at one place some basic and introductory information pertaining to these two Asian societies having very rich traditions in folklore. Principally their focus is to depict and capture the present state and scene of folklore studies but exceeding this primary objective there is no dearth of elements in these papers which present and deal with much broader and complicated aspects of folklore. It was an acquired joy to contact a good number of prospective contributors and to go through the process of collecting their papers. These formalities took more than the expected time before we could arrive at the next stage of getting the seven Japanese articles translated into English by some competent and reliable translators. The task though tough and time consuming, nonetheless proved to be an enriching experience in planning and executing an intercultural and international project. The goals we had set for this monograph were very humble and low-keyed, and we shall feel fully rewarded in case it generates some interest among the folklorists of India and Japan to undertake studies of comparative and interpretive nature using the abundant folklore material lately unearthed by numerous researchers and which has duly found a place in this volume. [from ´PREFACE´ by Ramesh Mathur, Masahiro Manabe, and Editors] ▼CONTENTS／ ●HISTORY／1.History of Japanese Literature (Masahiro Manabe)／2.History of North Indian Folk Literature (Suman Mehrotra & Satyendra)／3.History of South Indian Folk Literature (S. Sakthivel)／ ●FOLKSONGS／4.Japanese Folksongs : An Assessment of Kunio Yanagita´s Study (Kenji Nagaike)／5.South Indian Folksongs (B. Rama Raju)／6.North Indian Folk Music : Its Wealth, Wisdom and Social Significance (Sankar Sengupta)／7.Shima-Uta of Amami : A Study of Folk Music (Ruriko Uchida)／ ●FOLKTALES／8.A Study of Japanese Folktales (Akira Fukuda)／9.Folktales of Southern India (S.G. Sankaran)／10.Folktales of Northern India (N.P. Srivastava)／11.Parallel Relationships of Folktales Between India and Nanto Islands in Japan (Ken-ichi Yamashita)／ ●FOLKBELIEFS／12.Folk Beliefs in Northern India (Indra Deva)／13.Folk Beliefs in Southern India (D. Javare Gowda)／14.Popular Beliefs and Folk Religions in Japan (Shigeo Takaya)／ ●PROVERBS／15.Proverbs in Northern India (Satya Prakash Arya)／16.Proverbs in Southern India (S.D. Lourdu)／17.Proverbs in Japan (Tatehiko Oshima)／ ●RIDDLES／18.The Riddle-Form in India (Durga Bhagwat)／) |
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