KSET Syllabus Folk Literature

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KARNATAKA STATE ELIGIBILITY TEST (K-SET)
FOR ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Subject: FOLK LITERATURE Subject Code: 21

Syllabus
Unit–1 Folklore: Definition, Concept and Classification

Who are the Folk? - Concepts of Folklife and Folkloristics - Ethnicity - Family types - Natal,
Conjugal, Nuclear, Extended (Generational and Polyandrous) - Types of relationships in
Family – direct, shared, sexual and descent - Functions of Family - Kinship Terminology:
Types of Kinship, Role of Kinship - Social Categories and Social Organization in the
creation, transmission and sustenance of Folklore / Folklife.

Conceptual shift from ‘Popular Antiquities’ to ‘Folklore’ - Genres and Functions of Folklore:
Ethnic Genres and Analytical Categories - Classification of Folklore: Verbal, Nonverbal and
Intermediary Genres - Genre Theory: Alan Dundes, Richard Dorson, Ben Amos, Richard
Bauman, Roger Abrahams – Functions of Folklore: William Bascom, Louri Honko –
Characteristics of Folklore.

Unit–2 Historiography of Folkloristics

Folk, from ‘Savage’ to ‘Imagined Group’ - Folklore as Data and Folklore as Study – Oracy
Vs. Literacy – Classical Vs. Folk - Emergence of Folklore as an Academic Discipline -
Folklore Studies in Abroad - Folklore Studies in India – Subaltern Studies – Tribal Studies –
Diaspora Studies – Green Studies.

Unit–3 Folk Literature

Definition and Epistemology of Folk Literature – Fields of Folk Literature: Myths, Epics,
Legends, Folk Tales, Folk Songs, Proverbs, Riddles, Tongue Twisters, Speech Acts – Verbal
Art in Performances (Theatre, Dance Drama, Medicinal Chants, Verbose in Play Genres, etc.)
– Literary Devices - Ethnic Slurs, Rumor, Personal Narratives – Oral History.

Unit–4 Theories of Folklore – I : Diachronic Approaches

Evolutionary Theories - Concept of Evolution – Unilinear and Multilinear Approaches - E.B.
Tylor, George Mudrock, Lewis Morgan, James Frazer - MythRitual Theory - Solar
Mythology or Comparative Philology.

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Devolutionary Theories - Concept of Devolution - Types of Devolutionary Theories -
Marxists and Elitists.
Diffusion Theories (Monogenesis) - Concept of Diffusion - Indianist Theory or Benfy’s
Migration Theory – Egyptians School and Finnish School or HistoricalGeographic Method.

Diffusion Theories (Polygenesis) - Psychic Unity - Convergence Vs. Parallelism Theories –
Romantic Nationalism and its Manifestations.

Unit–5 Theories of Folklore – II : Synchronic Approaches

Structural Approaches – Basic concepts – Syntagmatic Structuralism – Concepts of
Ferdinand de Saussure and Theory of Vladimir Propp –– Application of Proppian Model to
Folklore – Paradigmatic Structuralism – Concepts of Roman Jacobson and Theory of Claude
Levi-Strauss – Application of Straussian Model to Folklore.

Functional Approaches – Basic Concepts – Social Functionalists: Bronislaw Malinowski,
Radcliffe-Brown, Emile Durkheim – Symbolic Functionalists: Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner.

Psychological Approaches - Psychoanalysis – Basic Concepts - Sigmund Freud – Freud’s
Theoretical applications to Folklore – Analytical Psychology – Basic Concepts – Carl J. Jung
– Jung’s Theoretical Applications to Folklore – Jacques Lacan’s Theory.

Contextual Approaches – Basic Concepts – Verbal Art as Performance – Linguistic and
Communicative Models of Roman Jacobson – Oral Formulaic Theory or ParryLord Theory –
Lauri Honko’s concept of ‘Multiforms’.

Poststructural and Postmodern Approaches - Meaning and Tenets of Poststructuralism,
New Hermeneutics, Text, Textuality, Textual Analysis - Paul Ricoeur and Theories of
Interpretation - Historical Milieu of the Theories - Concept and Theory of Deconstruction -
Derrida, Lacan, Foucault - Gender Theories and Approaches - Gender and Genre - Feminism
and Gender Perspectives – Queer Theory.

Semiotic Approaches - Semiotic Approach to Folk Culture Studies - Ferdinand de Saussure
and Charles S. Pierce on Sign System and Culture - Perspectives on Discourse Analysis.

Unit–6 Folklife and Cultural Performances

Culture as Performance – Erving Goffman, Clifford Geertz, Milton Singer - Rites of Passage
and Territorial Rites – Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner - Performance Centered Approach -
Roger D. Abrahams, Richard Bauman, Richard Schechner - Dell Hymes’s Ethnography of
Speaking Approach - Analysis of Folk Narratives.

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Unit–7 Public Folklore and Mass Media

Basic Concepts - Folklore, Folklorism, Folklorismus, Folklorization, Applied Folklore,
Public Folklore and Second Life of Folklore - Folklore in Public Sphere – Folklore and
Communication – Folklore and New Media.

Unit–8 Folklore and Globalisation

Theories of Global Culture - Discourse on Modernity, Post-Modernity and Globalisation -
Ideologues of Globalisation – Emergence of Populism.

Influence of Globalisation in Socio-cultural Life - Issues and Concepts of Identity - Glocal
vs. Global, Homogeneity Vs. Heterogeneity and Hybridization - Changing Dimensions and
domains of Folklore Genres and Folk Performances - Cultural Tourism – Neo-Folk
Formations and Protest Movements – Challenges to Native Cultures – Bio-politics.

Unit–9 Indian Folk Cultural Practices

Genres of Folk Theatre – Narrative Enactments – Puppet Theatre – Dance Dramas - Musical
Traditions and Life Style Patterns – Naming System and Onomastics – Occupational Folklore
- Family Folklore - Folk Religious Practices – Pilgrimage and Ritual Practices – Fairs and
Festivals – Folk Medicinal Practices – Folk Art and Craft – Folk Architecture – Folk
Foodways and Culinary Practices – Folk Games – Dress and Clothing – Manners and
Customs – Customary Law and Jurisprudence – Worldview - Regional Variations and
Versions.

Unit–10 Fieldwork, Documentation and Archival Practices

Categorization of Fieldwork Operations: Pre-fieldwork, Fieldwork and Postfieldwork –
Notions of ‘field’ and ‘data’- Thick and Thin Data - Methods and Techniques – Survey
Method, Observation Method – Ethnographic Method - Postmodern Ethnographic Method –
Dialogical and Discourse Methods - Focus Group Method - Documentation and Archival
Practices – Preservation and Conservation of Tangible and Intangible Cultures – Fieldwork
Ethics and Copyright Issues – Patent Rights.

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