NCERT Book Class 11 English (Woven Words) Essay 4 Tribal Verse

Tribal Verse 161

4
Tribal Verse
G.N. Devy

F Look for these expressions in the text and guess the meaning from
the context

marginalisation of communities accelerated pace
canonized written texts rich repository of folk songs
tribal vision of life cohesive and organically unified
itinerant street singers

INTRODUCTION

The roots of India’s literary traditions can be traced to the
rich oral literatures of the tribes/adivasis. Usually in the
form of songs or chanting, these verses are expressions of
the close contact between the world of nature and the world
of tribal existence. They have been orally transmitted from
generation to generation and have survived for several ages.
However, a large number of these are already lost due to
the very fact of their orality. The forces of urbanisation,
print culture and commerce have resulted in not just the
marginalisation of these communities but also of their
languages and literary cultures. Though some attempts
have been made for the collection and conservation of tribal
languages and their literatures, without more concerted
efforts at an acelerated pace, we are in danger of losing an
invaluable part of our history and rich literary heritage.
This section is a small attempt to familiarise students
with some aspects of the enormous wealth of oral tribal
literature. It begins with an extract from an essay by G.N.
Devy in which he discusses the need to create a space for
the study of tribal literature within the framework of
canonized written texts. What he argues for is the need for a