CONCEPTUALIZING THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL NATURE OF FOLK PRACTICE AS ANTHROPOLOGY OF PERFORMANCE

Folklore is a dynamic process, and it appropriates the changes in society while
simultaneously retaining the elements of tradition and the past to ascertain its continuity
of tradition and contemporary relevance. Considering folk practices, the earlier studies
had encountered the stereotypical notions constructed around the folklore materials and
folklore processes. And some of these notions implied the characteristics of folk practices
as traditional, rurality, outdatedness, superstitious, archaic, static, not contemporary,
and, to the extent, as irrational. Thus, the later studies on folk practices had to prove the
role of folklore in explicating the complex relationship humans have with the natu1re,
cosmos and supernatural on the one hand and in contemplating the reflections of their
creativity, unconsciousness, and their cognitive encounters in their socio-cultural life on
the other hand. However, there are two striking features, namely, anonymity and
community representation, that make folklore a more individual creation with
community ownership, and it facilitates the study of folklore folk practices as a first step
towards understanding the dimensions of community life. Therefore, while representing
the ethos of a community, folklore and folk practices show inclusiveness and
accommodativeness by providing either intersection between different communities or
by identifying points of convergence or divergence. By taking a few examples from the
Santal community of Odisha, this article emphasizes the point that folk practices are rich
and meaningful sources that play a significant role in understanding the community life
by relating them with “cognition and values” Dundes (1975) and also by making us
realize how they “bring unconscious content into consciousness” (1975: xi)