Folk culture & bonbibi

Folk

The folk includes all those persons living within a given area, who are conscious of a common cultural heritage, and have some constant traits like occupation language and religion. The behavioural knowledge is based on oral tradition and not on written scriptures. The group have a sense of identity and belongingness, regardless of its numerical strength. The way of life of the group of people is more traditional, more natural, less systematic and less specialised in comparison to the so called civilised people.
Example: Mayurponkhi gaan, Korta-voja, Jhumur, Dokra shilpo, Chhou, Teracotta, Gajan, Manasa kotha o bhasa, Alkaap, Gambhira, Putul nach, Bhawaiya, Bhatiyali, kaantha shilpo, Bolan, Tusu vadu, Charak, Karam, Jatra, Ranapa, Kobigaan, Bihu, Lavani, Nautanki, Bonbibi and many more. 

Folk culture

The term 'tradition' goes hand in hand with culture. It is derived from the Latin word 'traditio' which means handing down, delivery etc. It includes both the process and product. The word tradition connotes the act of handing down and what is handed down from one generation to another. Tradition is the cumulative heritage of society which passes gradually through all the levels of social organisation like the value system, social structure, and the structure of personality. In the forms of habits, customs, attitudes, ways of life, it is transmitted from generation to generation through words of mouth (oral tradition). Tradition and its transmission implies value judgement about the desire ability or superiority of some transmitted element. In primitive societies there is no real distinction between art and life or between a fine art and an applied art.

Folk culture also refers to the unifying expressive components of everyday life as enacted by localized, tradition-bound groups. Earlier conceptualizations of folk culture focused primarily on traditions practiced by small foot, homogeneous, rural groups living in relative isolation from other groups. Today, however, folk culture is more inclusively recognized as a dynamic representation of both modern and rural constituents. Historically, handed down through oral tradition and now increasingly through dynamic computer-mediated communication, it relates to the cultivation of community and group identity. Folk culture is quite often imbued with a sense of place. If elements of a folk culture are copied by, or moved to, a foreign locale, they will still carry strong connotations of their original place of creation.

 "Indian folk culture is characterized by its simplicity. Aboriginal culture is in many ways the basis of the folk culture. To the villager the old culture is instinctive, a part of his being and a pattern of his life. In Indian culture the basis is religious and so also the village life is primarily religious. There is much more superstition about village religion but the villagers are familiar with the great truths of India and in their own ways they express them in worship, in rituals, in songs, dance and drama."

A glimpse of the variation of Indian folk culture and tradition

Folk lore

Folk lore means folk learning which comprehends all meaning that is transmitted by word of mouth and all crafts and techniques that are learned by limitation or example as well as the products of these crafts. It includes folk art, folk crafts, folk costumes, and folk customs.

Folk tales

Folk tales are prose narratives which are simple, entertaining and amendable to improvisation. These are mostly of fictitious nature and have predominance of fanciful ideas. It does not only include theoretical text but also expression, gesture, acting movement etc.

Among the most common types of narrative folk lore are folk tales. A folk tale is a story that forms part of an oral tradition, and does not have a single, identifiable author. The stories are passed down from one generation to the next, and over time become expanded and reshaped with each retelling. Folk tales often reflect the values and customs of the culture from which they come. They have been used to teach character traits.

Folk tales are not connected to a specific time, place, or historical persons. The characters are usually ordinary people. Similar folk tales are found in different cultures around the world. A folk narrative can have both a moral and psychological aspect, as well as entertainment value, depending upon the nature of the teller, the style of the telling, the ages of the audience members, and the overall context of the performance. A skilled storyteller will adapt the narrative to his particular audience.

• Animal Tales: The Bremen Town Musicians is a folk tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Another version is Irish tale, Jack and His Comrades, Panchatantra in Indian context.
• Fables: A fable is a sub genre of folk tales that uses anthropomorphic animals to illustrate a moral. Example: Aesops fables.
• Fairy Tales: Fairy tales involving magical, fantastic or wonderful episodes, characters, events, or symbols. They are often populated by fairies, elves, trolls, dwarfs, giants, and other imaginary creatures. Fairy tales take place in timeless settings, as indicated by the beginning "Once upon a time". The main character is a person who triumphs over difficulties partly through the use of magic. Originally spoken stories, fairy tales became a distinct literary genre in late-seventeenth-century France. Cinderella is a well-known fairy tale.
• Tall tales: A Tall tale is a story about a real or fictitious person whose exploits are wildly exaggerated. These are often folklore related to specific occupations, such as the cowboy Pecos Bill, lumberjack Paul Bunyan and the famous "steel-driving man" John Henry (folklore).
• Myths: Myths feature deities and often concern creation stories.
• Legends: Legends are set in the past and tell of heroes and kings and deeds of valor. They are may be based on real people or actual events. They may also contain lists of succession in ruling houses. In this they function as a sort of verbal historical record. They may also incorporate local tales of ghosts, and buried treasure. Stories about Robin Hood, Ramayana, Mahabharata are legends.

Few examples of folk tales and lores

This blog is especially dedicated towards the culture, tradition and lores of Bonbibi of the islands of Sunderbans and its related facts that are linked with the daily lives of the people of those areas. 

Reference: 

• google images
• wikipedia