Narrative Twists: Myths, Epics, Legends and Other Stories

Why do stories fascinate, and how do they shape personal and cultural identity? Questions of kinship, power, gender, locality, and the relationship between past and present are formulated and expressed differently across narrative genres, carrying social, political, religious, historical, and personal themes. This course examines a variety of narrative forms in India, oral and written, traditional and modern, including regional folk tales, sung and performed oral epics, songs sung by women about women, ancient myths, medieval historical legends, contemporary biographies, feature films, and modern prose and verse.

Theories of orality and literacy, spoken word and visual image, ritual, theatre, and performance deepen this exploration, building toward an understanding of how culture, society, and history are constructed, enacted, and represented through narrative in India and beyond.

The course is organised into three thematic parts that examine India's rich storytelling traditions through oral, written, performative, and visual narratives. Students engage with myths, folk tales, epics, legends, biographies, films, and poetry while exploring the cultural, historical, religious, and social contexts in which these narratives emerge. Alongside literary study, the course introduces theories of orality, literacy, ritual, theatre, and performance to understand how narratives shape identity and collective memory.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Engage with South Asia, particularly India, through its diverse narrative traditions across regional variations, performance arts, ritual, and visual representation.
• Analyse narratives within their religious, literary, socio-historical, and cultural contexts.
• Develop an understanding and appreciation of India's cultural diversity, linguistic plurality, and literary traditions.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the role of narratives and storytelling in everyday life.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Engage with India's diverse narrative traditions across oral, written, performative, and visual forms.
• Analyse narratives in relation to specific cultural, historical, literary, and religious contexts.
• Demonstrate an appreciation of India's cultural diversity and literary traditions.
• Explain the significance of storytelling in shaping individual and collective identities.

The course draws upon a wide range of books and scholarly readings, including:

• Another Harmony: New Essays on the Folklore of India – Stuart H. Blackburn and A. K. Ramanujan (Eds.).
• Oral Epics in India – Stuart H. Blackburn, P. J. Claus, Joyce B. Flueckiger and Susan S. Wadley (Eds.).
• Folktales from India – A. K. Ramanujan.
• A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India – A. K. Ramanujan.
• Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics – Alf Hiltebeitel.
• Nectar Gaze and Poison Breath – Aditya Malik.
• In an Antique Land – Amitav Ghosh.

Additional readings include selected works by Ruth Finnegan, Walter Ong, Jan Vansina, Wendy O'Flaherty, David Shulman, Martin Gaenszle, David Arnold, Stuart Blackburn, Keshav Malik, and other scholars on oral traditions, mythology, folklore, history, ritual, and performance studies.