ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing ArtsISSN (Online): 2582-7472
AESTHETICS OF JACKAL’S JUDGEMENTS IN THE FOLKTALES OF TRIBAL COMMUNITIES OF JHARKHAND M. Ramakrishnan 1 1 Assistant
Professor of Folklore, Department of Anthropology & Tribal Studies, Central
University of Jharkhand, Cheri-Manatu, Ranchi –
835222, India 2 Research
Scholar, Department of Anthropology & Tribal Studies, Central University of
Jharkhand, Cheri-Manatu, Ranchi – 835222, India
“If someone reads me his poem or takes me to a play that in the end fails to please my taste, then he can adduce Batteux or Lessing, or even older and more famous critics of taste, and adduce all the rules they established as proofs that his poem is beautiful…. I will stop my ears, listen to no reasons and arguments, and would rather believe that those rules of the critics are false … than allow that my judgement should be determined by means of a priori grounds of proof, since it is supposed to be a judgement of taste and not of the understanding of reason.” Kant (2000/1790), 165) “Understanding other moral codes and the ways of life in which they are embedded is not to see them as alien and incomprehensible but in some respects familiar and in other respects constituting a challenge to our own codes and ways of life. Since we ourselves are complex and ambivalent moral beings, we are able to see that at least some other codes and ways of life may just as reasonably be adopted by decent and informed human beings as our own.” Wong (2006), 20 1. INTRODUCTION Jharkhand
is known for its rich natural resources and it is also known for its linguistic
and cultural diversities. The demographic structure of the state stands for its
mixed population with a harmonious life with festivals, celebrations, rituals and other cultural fests that are unique to each
social and cultural group. The languages spoken in the state can be grouped
under Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Austroasiatic language families. The vibrant
and vivid culture of the state is the composition of cultures that can be seen
under the dichotomous categories of tribal and non-tribal communities which
seem to be treated as convenient since it is not the clear-cut demarcation
because there are evidences that show the presence of
cultural intersections as well as exchanges. Despite the diversities, the state
has always been known for projecting its collective entity, or semiosphere,
that represents the kaleidoscopic identity which is transcendental and
inclusive in all respects. Created on 15th November 2000, sharing
its borders with the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and
West Bengal, with its typical climatic conditions and beautiful landscape, the
state is officially declared a tribal state not due to the political uprising
but because of the demographic composition, interestingly, consisting of a good
number of tribal communities whose development is seen as inevitable thus it is
been part of collective and political agenda of the state Shalini Pallavi and
M. Ramakrishnan. Another reason to focus on the oral literature of the tribal
communities of the state is that in spite of having a vast collection of
folklore materials by the tribal communities, one could find less
number of studies that have the objective of either deciphering the meaning or
interpreting their cultural materials. Being considered marginalized, the
tribal communities living in the state have a rich resource of cultural
materials that are studied under the popular categories of folklore such as
oral tradition or oral literature, material culture, performing arts, social
customs and beliefs, and undoubtedly, these materials are important for
understanding their culture, philosophy, moral and ethical framework,
worldview, etc. In fact, as per the 2011 census, there are four major tribal
communities and twenty-eight minor tribes (Shalini Pallavi and M.
Ramakrishnan). It may not be an exaggeration that the tribal identity is more
or less synonymously represented through the aesthetics associated with the
socio-cultural and spiritual life of the people. However, more than their
social life, their cultural life plays a vital role in giving shape to their
outlook. As mentioned, the aesthetic life of the people of Jharkhand can be
contemplated through the collective contributions of both tribal and non-tribal
communities and the medium used by both groups include oral traditions,
material culture, performing arts and social folk customs and beliefs. Within
art and craft traditions, Jharkhand has always displayed a great sense of
aesthetics in terms of its design, finishing, colour, themes, motifs and the
materials used, and they are always local in representing the flavour of the
soil. The items produced with the help of wood and bamboo materials are
considered the identity of the state apart from their aesthetic reflections.
Among the art traditions, both the tribal and non-tribal communities equally
possess different painting and carving traditions that are now promoted
globally for their representational value and functioning as cultural identity.
The original skills displayed by the confluence of all the communities can be
witnessed in craft and painting traditions. Equally, sculptures of Jharkhand
are more ancient than recent and they are of different
types. These sculptures, being part of the antiquities of the state some of
them even from 9th century onwards, have never failed to reflect the
different religious traditions of the state such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sarna,
Hinduism, etc. Moreover, the raw materials used for making sculptures such as
semi-precious stones, terracotta, metal, etc., are considered examples of the
preservation of the cultural identity of the state. Similarly, the architecture
practices of the state by both the tribal and non-tribal communities also form
the cultural identity of the state and the designs, materials and technologies
used for architecture reflect the aesthetics as well as local knowledge systems
of the traditional communities. Even house interiors are considered as unique
and reflect certain aesthetic values. Colorful
festivals, melas, food festivals,
fairs, displays of local cuisine, and gatherings that are some of the events
are important sources where one can find the reflections of aesthetics of
people living in the state. Within the
tradition of performing arts, Jharkhand is always known for the display of
beauty, aesthetics and cultural identity of different communities living in the
state. Many of the dances are known for the display of traditional tools and
weapons such as swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, etc. that reflect the
aesthetic beauty of their tradition. The beads, bangles, bells, ankles, colorful, etc., worn by the performers of traditional
dances, as part of their costumes, are considered attractive and aesthetically
enticing. Dances associated with the worships and rituals of tribal communities
are known for the display of their marvelous
aesthetic combination of costumes, dance movements and music and they are
vibrant as well as meaningful in the sense that they are best known for spatial
transformation. Another vibrant dance of the state of Jharkhand is Seraikella Chhau performed in the
Seraikalla region, and it is best known not only for
its aesthetic display but also for its display of martial dance movements, sophistication and appealing features. Finally, literary
aesthetics can be explored from a vast amount of oral literature available with
the tribal and non-tribal communities. While tribal literature reflects their
aesthetics as well as their eternal relationship with the environment and its
various elements, the literature of other communities is also having wonderful
literature, both oral and modern, that can be studied for having a holistic
view of the aesthetics of people of Jharkhand. Since a
good amount of folklore and cultural materials have already been collected from
these major tribal communities, there is an enormous amount of responsibility
for the collection of these materials from the other minor tribes of the state,
and it could be one of the reasons that this study has primarily referred to
the oral literature available in print that belongs to the major tribal
communities. The oral literature, or the folktales used in this study, with
sources duly acknowledged and cited, has fine storylines with two important
aspects that are being taken up for discussion: first is the themes of dispute
settlement and the second is the presence of animal characters. Both elements
have something that facilitates and entices serious dialogues on the notion of
aesthetics which promises to provide the lead in this direction. That is, in
the contemplation of aesthetics of folktales of tribal communities, two
elements have been singled out for delineating their logic and justification
and with those two elements whole narrative paradigm is described keeping in
mind the view that the aesthetic approach is inclusive and involving in a way
even to critically handling the concepts under discussion. One must remember
the Kantian perspective of aesthetic attitude as a way of distancing from
practical concerns and also the “Psychical distance”
of Bullough (1912). However, Kant’s perspective had expressed a
satisfactory formulation and according to him, the recipients of aesthetic
experience are not distanced rather they are disinterested which means that the
object of aesthetics is not “either the vehicle of curiosity or as a means to
an end” Munro & Roger Scruton (2023,
Oct 19). The contemporary notion of aesthetics can be seen
as involving a few things such as judgements, experiences, concepts,
properties, or words Zangwill
(2023). However, aesthetic judgement is treated as
central in this article and the discussion is made around this central notion
which enables to have description of folktales in terms of aesthetic
morals – in a puritanical way to uphold the purpose of the folktale as a form
that has been created by humanity for their betterment. Importantly, the
aesthetic moral is established and insisted through the medium of oral
literature by disparaging the establishments that are there merely for the sake
of art. The role of aesthetics, as being used in this study, is to connect and
link everyday life experiences with art and literature which offer ample scope
for understanding not merely the conceptual structures or concepts or messages
but also the structural elements and their relations that are projected
differently. It can be mentioned that to some extent, it is the aesthetics that
gives art and literature a more consummatory aspect. This consummatory aspect
can be well understood if we consider “every person is capable of an artist,
living an artful life of social interaction that benefits and thereby
beautifies the world” Dewey (1987), 3, then it confirms
that all are in some respects consumers of art and aesthetics. Here, whether
the production or consumption, a moral purpose associated with the art and
literature cannot be ignored and at the same time, it cannot also escape from
the aesthetics inherent to our experience. Indeed, whether in art or
literature, aesthetic recognition is essential for consumption which can move
beyond qualities and properties. However, according to Clercq (2002), 168 recognition of
aesthetics is realized as follow in the following ways: sensory properties
shape, line, texture, value, colour, space, and scale); formal qualities (sense
of unity, balance, movement, and dominance); technical properties (appearances
of shapes, values, colours) and expressive properties (feeling of fear,
loneliness, joy, and ideals) Clercq (2002), 168. The purposes
for which the arts are created have been listed out by June K. McFee and they
are follows: “aesthetic, amusing, artistic, cathartic, commemorative,
commercial, cultural, decorative, economic, educational, entertaining,
experimental, expressive, historical, hypnotic, instructional, magical, moral,
persuasive, political, practical, propagandistic, psychological, religious,
satirical, sensitizing, social, spiritual, stimulating, and therapeutic” (June
K. McFee 2007, cf. Rager (2008)). However, cultural
context and situation can be seen as playing a vital role in determining the
aesthetic form, and it is equally true for the consumption of aesthetic forms
too. Here aesthetics becomes a descriptive tool by moving away from the fold of
philosophy. Thomas Munro mentions that “now widely recognized that aesthetics
is no longer a branch of speculative philosophy … but part of the descriptive
inquiry which seeks to find out and state the facts about works of art as a
kind of observable phenomena, in relation to other phenomena of human
experience, behaviour and culture” (Munro (1956), cf. Passmore (1968), 47-48). The
aesthetics in this study is used as a broad framework to accommodate some of
the features of oral literature. 2. Aesthetics and Judgemental Aesthetics Considering
the nature of the complexity of the notion of aesthetics, defining it in a
clear term is a difficult task, and particularly, “self-definition has been the
major task of modern aesthetics” Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). However, no one is free from the acquaintance of
aesthetics in their daily life, and it is a subliminal and integral part of
perception, and to an extent, it can be said that it shapes our experiences by
providing binary options within the realm of qualitative experience. The
aesthetic framework that facilitates and enhances the way people look at things
is not without any substance; rather it is governed by underlying principles.
These principles have become part of the characteristics of aesthetics for people
to engage themselves in their dialogue with literature, folklore, and cultural
forms with the varieties of impressions and expressions, that is, the
aesthetics cannot be merely limited to the judgement of beautiful and ugly. In
other words, these principles are important not only for defining the nature of
aesthetics but also for understanding the nature of taste people have beyond
their good and bad, or beautiful and ugly, like binary judgements. Arguing that
the judgement of taste has ‘universal validity’ Kant describes that “…if
[anyone] pronounces that something is beautiful, then he expects the very same
satisfaction of others: he judges not merely for himself, but for everyone, and
speaks of beauty as if it were a property of things. Hence, he says that
the thing is beautiful, and
does not count on the agreement of others with his judgement of satisfaction
because he has frequently found them to the agreeable with his own, but
rather demands it from them.
He rebukes them if they judge otherwise, and denies that they have taste, for
he nevertheless requires that they ought to have it; and to this extent, one
cannot say, “Everyone has his special taste”. This would be as much as to say
that there is no taste at all, i.e. no aesthetic judgement that could make a
rightful claim to the assent of everyone” Kant
(1790/2000), 5: 212–213 [2000: 98]; see also 2000:
164–166–139). Importantly, as for Kant, judgement needs agreement from others,
that is, our judgement is ought to be shared or accepted by others, and we
blame them when they disagree with our decision. Unlike these cases which
indicate a narrow and unclear way of dividing the world with limited subjective
experience, aesthetic experience is much more complex and involves a set of
beliefs as underlying principles to motivate their judgements as well as the
display of or representation of an attitude on different states of affairs.
Further, in conveying or driving home the message, in oral literature, for
example, a signifying effort is being exerted through the mechanism of imposing
certain linguistic special features that coordinate with other elements
harmoniously. It could be considered as the main reason why aesthetics never
stops with the binary expressions of human experience, which is understood from
the multiple functions of representation of other concepts that are beyond the
beautiful and ugly. As mentioned, to study the literature (oral literature
included), two elements have been singled out the first is the thematic and the
second is associated with characters. In this study, judgement is treated as an
important tool in two aspects. Though the judgement is a thematic element in
this study, it helps to introduce a category that classifies, or even
critically also, an art or literary work, to specify an art or literary form,
to handle the art or literary form in general, and to assign a peculiar
philosophical category or critical comments to the art or literary works. Among
these, the third point refers to the aesthetics that perceives art as “having a
beginning, a middle, and an end” and it also treats the beauty of art as it
lies in its organic structure Passmore
(1968), 48-49. An aesthetic approach to art or literature
cannot escape from employing criticism and critical theory, and of course,
literary theory will be an added advantage for defending the judgements on art
or literature. Interestingly, both critical theorists and aestheticians have
something to share with the philosopher on the notion that the truth value of
art lies when it is true to life. Here the artistic truth strives to relate the
form with the content – Aristotle’s (Poetics) ‘improbabilities’ and ‘impossibilities’
in tragedies may be remembered here. Exploring the beauty of an art as well as
certain properties of it has been the subject-matter of aesthetics in its
historical sense Passmore
(1968), 54. Does the study of art offer the same
framework to appreciate or judge the excellence of all arts? Confidently, no
can be said as the answer. There is a gradation with the genres of art, or
different kinds of arts are given different interests and appreciation. Though
nature or landscape and plastic arts are quite similar in judgement, we prefer
one over the other, that is, landscape is less appreciated than art. In
this, John Passmore refers to Oscar Wilde who mentions in The Decay of Lying that “My own experience is that the more we
study Art, the less we care for Nature. What Art really reveals to us is
nature’s lack of design, her curious crudities, her extraordinary monotony, her
absolutely unfinished condition” Passmore
(1968), 62. The modern notion of aesthetics provides the option to accommodate
aesthetics concepts as well as literary concepts of representation and
expression for describing the human experiences that are manifested in the
concepts and the use of the characters in ways that are more denotatively
aesthetic. To some extent, it also makes it possible to include other features
of a text such as style or form or sentiments apart from emotions, attitudes,
and mind responses. However, to go by Immanuel Kant, in understanding or having
an experience of aesthetics, there is a disinterested attitude shown by people
towards the objects on which they have to take a stand
which is separate from our scientific interests and practical purpose. And, another important feature that explains the purpose of
having aesthetic orientations is that the object is considered as belonging to
a special class or having something to get the attention Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). And these
characteristics discussed here play a vital role in identifying the aesthetic
objects by which a research task can be initiated, and the associated meaning
could be well narrated. The aesthetic objects are not free from ambiguous
status as they depend on the interpretation by which there is an intrinsic
aspect of expressing the ‘intentional’ experience with the aesthetic objects or
the experience associated with the ‘material’ object. And these objects may not
expect to have similar countenance. Considering these options, as far as this
study is concerned, it treats both elements primarily as intentional objects of
experience that must be explored. If Kantian disinterested pleasure facilitates
locating the aesthetic value, then Schopenhauer’s will-less contemplation
(disinterested attention) is considered as the locus of aesthetic value. Our
ordinary and practical life is not free from the bondage of our desire, and for
Schopenhauer, it gives pain as well as cognitive distortion which leads to the
restriction of our attention that is required for fulfilling or thwarting our
desires Schopenhauer (1819), 196. Therefore by
seeing aesthetic contemplation as “both epistemically and hedonically valuable”
that allows “a desire-free life”, Schopenhauer says that “when, however, an
external cause or inward disposition suddenly raises us out of the endless stream
of willing, and snatches knowledge from the thralldom
of the will, the attention is now no longer directed to the motives of willing,
but comprehends things free from their relation to the will …Then all at once
the peace, always sought but always escaping us … comes to us of its own
accord, and all is well with us” (1819: 196, cf. SEP 2017).). Conversely, there
are aesthetic attitude theories proposed by Bullough (1995) and Stolnitz (1960), influential during
the 20th century that had different perspectives. While for Stolnitz, “aesthetic attitude is a matter of attending to
it disinterestedly and sympathetically,” which means to “accept it on its own
terms” without any preconceptions Stolnitz (1960), 32–36, cf. SEP
2017), it is the “psychical distance”, for Bullough, then the disinterest that
is needed for aesthetic appreciation (Bullough (1995), cf. SEP 2017).
Aesthetic appreciation is achieved, for Bullough, to put it in his terms, “by
putting the phenomenon, so to speak, out of gear with our actual practical
self; by allowing it to stand outside the context of our personal needs and
ends—in short, by looking at it ‘objectively’ …by permitting only such
reactions on our part as emphasize the ‘objective features of the experience,
and by interpreting even our ‘subjective’ affections not as modes of our being
but rather as characteristics of the phenomenon” (Bullough (1995): 298–299, cf. SEP
2017). This dispassionate detachment considered as a requirement for the
appreciation of aesthetics has been easily criticized, and for instance,
Goldman mentions that “[w]hen we cry at a tragedy, jump in fear at a horror
movie, or lose ourselves in the plot of a complex novel, we cannot be said to
be detached, although we may be appreciating the aesthetic qualities of these
works to the fullest…. We can appreciate the aesthetic properties of the fog or
storm while fearing the dangers they present (Goldman (2001), 264, cf. SEP 2017).
Criticism of Bullough’s ‘psychical distance’ is to overlook the subtlety of his
view to claim that “aesthetic appreciation requires a distance between our own
self and its affections” (Bullough (1995), 298, cf. SEP 2017). To further the discussion on aesthetic objects, by not seeing them as
specific arts but as free objects whose aesthetics is not conditioned or
influenced by any polluting intermediary concept, the attention is on the
aesthetic recipient. In fact, the process of appreciating aesthetics of
art/object, beyond the intentional experience, tells something about the
contemplation of forms that to be rational beings there must be an esthetic experience, i.e., being a rational one must have
and explore the aesthetic experience that is founded on the moral judgement
which is an integral part of moral beings. However, it does not mean that the
aesthetic experience is solely associated with human beings, and it points out
the fact that aesthetic experiences are distributed beyond the
human race. There is no doubt that nature is always a representation and
inherently associated with the objects found in nature, and rational beings
show their disinterest which is considered as the passionate form of interest.
Hence, human beings cannot be separated from their aesthetic impulse which is
due to the mental life that differentiates human beings from animals. And here,
by its true nature, all human beings are, by default, are
capable of making an aesthetic judgement about objects on the one hand
and function as the recipient of what is an unintentional aesthetic experience
on the other hand. Aesthetic experience is debated and discussed by a variety
of scholars with the help of a number of contrasting
theories. Internalism and externalism, for instance,
are two theories, considered parallel to phenomenal and epistemic conceptions. Internalism advanced by Beardsley (1958), 527 proposed three
features such as focus, intensity, and unity that are common to all aesthetic
experiences, in which, according to Beardsley, focus refers to the attention
firmly fixed upon its object; and unity means both the coherence (elements properly
connected) and completeness (elements of “counterbalance” or “resolve” – “whole
stands apart from elements without it”) (Beardsley (1958), 527, cf. SEP 2017:
12-13). However, externalism along with empiricism located the ‘features that
determine the aesthetic character of the object’ – while the externalism
located these features within the object, the empiricism located the features
within the experience. It can be given in the words of Godman who says that
“Aesthetic experience … aims first at understanding and appreciation, at taking
in the aesthetic properties of the object. The object itself is valuable for
providing an experience that could only be an experience of that object…. Part
of the value of aesthetic experience lies in experiencing the object in the
right way, in a way true to its non-aesthetic properties, so that the aim of
understanding and appreciation is fulfilled" (Goldman (2006), 339–341; see also Iseminger (2004): 36, cf. SEP
2017:14). The aforementioned discussion can offer a different dimension
for understanding the texts belonging to oral tradition, and the same can also
apply to other texts produced in different media. Treating both characters and
concepts found in texts as objects of aesthetics is advantageous as one needs
to negotiate with the object of sensory experience to the imagined one – which
gains its importance as there is a requirement of contemplation of these
objects not for their intrinsic properties but for the significance and value
that are inbuilt in the objects. Conversely, in dealing with the aesthetic
experience and aesthetic judgement, the post-Kantian approaches have emphasized
it “in terms of synthesis of the sensory and intellectual, that is, they
highlighted the point that aesthetic experience requires a special synthesis of
intellectual and sensory components which give both peculiarities and its
value” Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). Interestingly, as noticed by Kant, an idea can
emerge into paradox, called by him antimony, which can lead to the production
of different ideas that may conflict with conflicts, and it means that the
aesthetic judgement cannot be the same as aesthetic (‘expression of what is
enjoyed) and judgement (universal assent). It is explained in other words that
the pleasure we draw from an object is nothing to do sometimes from the
pleasure we draw from the object (though the object does not own anything) and other
times, we express pleasure by judgement – therefore, in both the cases,
pleasure is immediate even without having any foundation of reasoning and
analysis. Further, it is also clear from Kant that aesthetic judgement is “free
from concepts, and beauty itself is not a concept” Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). This point is understood as having inconsistency
because of the reason that ‘aesthetic judgement itself is a form of a
judgement, that is, we are merely without any involvement or without reason.
One of the conceptions of aesthetic experience, another discussion can also be
mentioned here and it is now on the relationship
between form and content. If form goes by its individuality, then the content
may contradict it, and in the case of allotrope carbon and its form as diamond
and graphite. Imagination is another component that is vitally associated with
the experience shaped by and conditioned by aesthetics, that is, aesthetic
experience. Linking the role of imagination enables one to unite though with
the human experience, that is, in the discourse of aesthetic experience, the
role of imagination has not been omitted by modern philosophers. For Kant,
imagination is useful on two accounts of ‘ordinary thought and perception’ on
the one hand and ‘in aesthetic experience’ on the other hand Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). The intuition (seeing an object, for example) and
the concept (as it is contributed because of understanding, for example) are
the results of an act of imagination and here it is a single experience.
However, in aesthetic experience, imagination is free from the concept because
it is a free play which enables one to add concepts to the experience. Here, it
is noted that the content of experience is presented in ordinary perception and also in aesthetic experience – in both cases,
imagination is vital to them. Imagination has a significant role to play in
aesthetic experience as it enables the fusion of both the content and
experience. Creative imagination is quite peculiar to human beings, and it
allows visualizing something in its absence. That is, imagination creates
content from no reality that is not seen immediately which is quite opposite to
memory and perception where experience is from the real Sartre
(1940). Even John
Dewey understood that “imaginative experience” is something that “happens when
varied materials of sense quality, emotion, and meaning come together in a
union that marks a new birth in the world” Granger
(2003), 53. Thus, an aesthetic experience is the link
that is established between the sensory and the intellectual as well as between
aesthetic experience and everyday life experience. This point provides ample
scope for going beyond the art to see the aesthetics in nature and natural
objects in their context or decontextualized settings. That is, when art and
nature are primarily associated with emotions and aesthetics that give
different perspectives to arouse different emotions other than sympathy that
can either correct or corrupt ourselves. A moral
connotation can manifest in the discussion on the role and nature of aesthetic
expressions. However, arguing against Kant’s disinterested and universal
quality of aesthetic experience, George Santayana makes it clear that central
to the aesthetic is pleasure because pleasure becomes the quality of a thing.
All our experiences could contribute to the sense of beauty Santayana (2019/1896). For him, aesthetic experience is the result of a
process of fusion between the response aroused (expression) and the object
which arouses it (form) – the fundamental experience of expression Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). While differentiating content from intuition, Croce
(1995/1902) could clarify
that the former is an instrument of classification whereas intuition is
associated with the individuality of an object. Therefore, it is the
peculiarity of intuition that decides the peculiarity of aesthetic interest
that is to mean that “the object of aesthetic interest is interesting for its
own sake and not as a means to an end” Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). In fact, in agreement with Croce who opposed
expression to description, Collingwood pointed out that particularity is only
associated with expression, not the generality of states of mind (Collingwood
(1938), cf. Munro & Roger Scruton (2023)). According to John Passmore, two different kinds
of distinction that the Croce-Collingood theory could
propose: the classificatory distinction between works of art, works of
amusement, works of magic on the one hand and the ontological distinction
between works of art and physical objects on the other hand Passmore
(1968), 68-69. The aesthetic experience drawn from oral
and literary texts is a free play of imagination and also
has moral significance; it enables the perspective to see the world as
purposive (without purpose). The deepest relation human beings have with nature
has been core to the perception and here the disinterested quality of aesthetic
experience is considered as a true vehicle of moral and political education
which is also a reason for self-identity that enables them to flourish Schiller
(1975). The modern conception of art, for Hegel, involves
a request for self-realization, a form that gives sensuous embodiment to the
spirit. It is required for the spirit to articulate inner tensions and
resolutions, and here the arts are arranged in both historical and intellectual
sequence (Hegel). As general discussion on the philosophy of aesthetic
experience is not possible here due to the limitations, we proceed to discuss
with reference to specific traditions. Eastern aesthetics offers different traditions
that are unique in every respect. There are two traditions that are quite
popular in India – the first one is the philosophy of embodiment or the
disagreement with the sensory realm as mere illusion, and the second refers to
the theory of rasa attributed to Bharata of about 500 CE and developed by
Abhinava Gupta about 1000 CE. The first tradition, Maya, or
illusion, is quite associated with worship and earthly delight, whereas
the second has been applied to art and literature. According to Bharata, the
principal human emotions can be recast in contemplative form as various rasas.
The Chinese traditions emphasized the following: the role of aesthetic
enjoyment in moral and political education; suspicious of the power of art to
awaken frenzied and distracted feelings (Confucius 551-479 BCE); for stability
and order of social life, arts have to be noble by incorporating into rituals
and traditions; and being puritanical, earlier Taoism condemned all arts
assuming their negative role, but later lenient Taoists showed intuitive
approach to arts and nature Munro & Roger Scruton (2023). So far, the morality is concerned art, poetry and
other literature cannot escape from their commitment to making humans better,
and creative forms are required to be morally useful in whatever they
represent. Extending Plato, one could say that arts must be morally useful and
pleasing, and discussion around the morality associated with poetry is
throughout antiquity. In connection with poetry and its moral content, which
can be related here in reference to literature, Plato’s distinction of ‘moral
instruction and moral content’, that is, his demand for ‘moral utility as a
demand for moral instruction’, Aristotle adopted the view that “moral content
is demanded as a source of pleasure, not as a means of moral instruction and
Stoics’ demand for a moral point of view on the part of both creator and
recipient, that emphasized the role of the artist as a creator and of the
recipient as an interpreter” Asmis (2015), 486, 501, we could confidently say that oral
literature particularly folktale, in its simple form, fulfils all the
requirements. The
ontological existence of aesthetic objects inherently presents a kind of
distinction among the objects which gives direction to attributes of certain
degree of aesthetic value to the objects. Few points on aesthetics suggested by
Passmore
(1968) are found to be useful in this study: “it is
concerned with beautiful and also with works of art; introduces discrimination;
concerned with the characteristic excellences and defects of these objects;
with any excellences and defects; concerned with the characteristic excellences
of works of art having special or redefined or sense of works of art; and
inherently associated with literary theory, musical theory, architectural
theory and philosophy of art” Passmore
(1968), 64-65. While these points are noteworthy in
understanding the broader spectrum of aesthetics, as far as folklore is
concerned, one must move further in describing the ‘aesthetics’ that is
inherent to various genres of folklore with specific respondents. That is, to
describe a folklore item from the perspective of aesthetics or to portray it
aesthetically, one must possess the quality of artistic sensibility and clear
thinking which are prerequisites for any aesthetic experience as well as for
developing an aesthetic theory Bell
(1914). The aesthetic experience could also be seen as
founded on personalized aesthetic emotion which is individualistic despite
being influenced by social and cultural elements. Further, the lack of
intellectual ability to consider art in general is to waste the ‘artistic
sensibility’, ‘deep aesthetic experience’, and ‘delicate sensibilities.’ And
for the appreciation of an artwork, for Clive Bell, one needs to have “a sense
of form and colour and a knowledge of three-dimensional space” Bell
(1914). Similarly, he draws our attention to ‘significant
form’ which refers to the one quality common to all works of (visual) art, that
is, according to him, “lines and colours combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions.
These relations and combinations of lines and colours, these aesthetically
moving forms, I call “Significant Form”” Bell
(1914). ‘Rightness of form’ is another insightful point
that comes from Clive Bell. Whether good or bad in themselves, art forms have
representations, and if representative forms have certain values, then they are
not representations, but forms. For him, representative elements in art form
are irrelevant and art has the potential to transport us to the world of
aesthetic exaltation to be cut off from our interest and to be above the stream
of life. As he speculates this emotion comes from “springs, inhuman or super-human,
from the heart of an abstract science.” Some of the forms move our emotions and
the emotional significance of these forms is due to certain combinations that
make us perceive them as righteous. The significance created by the forms is
not related to the ‘significance of life’, rather, for him, “emotions of life
find no place, because it is a world with emotions of its own” Bell
(1914). It is
difficult to have a clear theorization or develop a perspective on aesthetics
because individual experiences are different and unique. Since ancient times
the concept has been used with different understandings, and according to Goldman
(2001), the latest understanding of aesthetics referring
to sensory pleasure and delight is used from the eighteenth century. However,
it is generally agreed that aesthetics is a pleasure that is attained due to
sensory perception as it differentiates phenomena of aesthetic experiences from
other experiences associated with either meaning construction or emotion-based
responses Hekkert (2006). As mentioned, aesthetics is not either confined
or restricted to arts and artistic expression and it means that it is as broad
as possible in accommodating various genres of folklore and other cultural
creative forms as well as non-artistic phenomena. Similarly, aesthetic pleasure
produced by aesthetic experience cannot be seen as emotion, rather it includes
emotion also, that is, aesthetic emotions cannot be confused with normal
emotion because the latter cannot simply be aesthetic Hekkert & Leder (2007). Ending this general discussion on aesthetics
which provides a clear perspective here, let us focus on the relevance of
aesthetics for literature and/or literary aesthetics to find ways to study the
selected folktales by treating them as (oral) literature by dealing with
textual features as well as aesthetic features. Literature or literary
structure is always concerned with its style, content and/or structure and
within the text, phonological, syntactic, semantic, and rhetorical features are
inescapable. However, all these features within a text collectively participate
to identify themselves with human emotion, or to reality or the world. However,
debating whether any literary text identifies itself within the text or
anything outside the text, or from a semantic and structuralist point of view,
enjoys autonomy without referring to either the world or human emotion Olsen (1981). However, the question is when do we treat a
literary text as an art? Does the literature have any literature features that
guarantee the aesthetic dimension of the literature? If the meaning and purpose
of any text is possible by construing the textual features such as words and
sentences, then how do we locate the presence of aesthetic features? Moreover,
when a text establishes its relationship with other texts within its genres and
outside the genre boundaries, then how do we access the aesthetics found in the
text which is a mutual and reciprocal relationship with other texts within and
outside the genre? Aesthetic judgement plays a vital to identifying certain
features with which a literature can be treated as aesthetic literature, and
interestingly, it is not just one or two elements that constitute literary
aesthetics, rather, ‘a constellation of textual features’ which collectively
operate for give aesthetic value to the text. That is, the aesthetic judgement
is the objective of these features which form not merely a collection but
rather a constellation for this reason Olsen (1981), 523-524. Moreover, aesthetic judgement is the
only thing with which the readers must determine the aesthetic features within
the text. Therefore, depending on their aesthetic judgements, the readers have
to enjoy their sole responsibility for identifying and exploring the aesthetic
features that do their function in the text, and even it can be justified by
the existing supervenience theory Olsen (1981) where the properties of one set supervene upon
another set, that is, the difference of set one is due to the effect of another
set (SEP 2005), in which the set that is being influenced is having base
properties and the influencing one is having supervenient properties –that is,
a modal relationship (without the difference of one set, there is no difference
in another set, in other words, if the properties of one set are preserved,
then other set’s properties are also preserved). However, despite having a unique
pattern or gestalt, having no general descriptive criteria for aesthetic
property is considered problematic by P.F. Strawson (1966). The absence of
general descriptive criteria for aesthetic features could also be understood as a way to question, or treat it as problematic, even the
nature of aesthetic judgement itself, or then it is difficult to see the
validity in aesthetic evaluation as well as the aesthetic judgement. Some
judgements do not have been founded on the principle of ‘rationality’, but they
might have been established based on the logicality of deductive/inductive
arguments. However, it is not to say that the ‘aesthetic judgements are
arbitrary and impossible to support.’ There are distinctive features or there
can be a peculiar logic, to understand as per the supervenience theory, as
pointed out by Stein Haugom Olsen, that can define the ‘aesthetic judgement as
a type’ Olsen (1981), 526. Here, on the aesthetic judgement, Kant says
that “… when [someone] puts a thing on a pedestal and calls it beautiful, he
demands the same delight from others. He judges not merely for himself, but for
all men, and then speaks of beauty as if it were a property of things. Thus, he
says that the thing is beautiful, and it is not as if he counts on others
agreeing with him in his judgment of liking owing to his having found them in
such agreement on a number of occasions, but he
demands this agreement of them. He blames them if they judge differently, and
denies them taste, which he still requires of them as something they ought to
have; and to this extent, it is not open to men to say: Everyone has his own
taste” Kant
(1790), 52. There is an
insistence on aesthetic sensibility when it comes to aesthetic judgement, and
when an object is received as it is having an aesthetic value, there is an
understanding that it has something that gives that object that said value.
Here, there is an insistence on the something or the perspective that qualifies
that object as having aesthetic value. This aesthetic sensibility, if not
understood or recognized, then there is no further discussion or dialogue on
the matter as that “something” which is more subjective than the objective.
That means, similar to having an aesthetic experience
or apparatus for understanding the aesthetic value within an object, one must
possess such a language to describe what is experienced. So far aesthetic
sensibility is concerned there are two distinctive features that we may agree
with: the reality that aesthetic sensibility can be cultivated and trained, and
it is relevant and true in this study that disciplinary training is one way to
locate the presence of aesthetic elements within an object or oral literature;
and the second is the directive character by which the addressee is convinced
of and made to perceive what is critic’s appreciation. Unless there is a
‘sameness’ between the addressee and the critic, the level of experience cannot
be the same Arnold Isenberg 1949:137-138, cf. Olsen (1981), 527. An appeal for aesthetic sensibility is
logically prior to any directive argument and thus the validity of a directive
argument rests on the success of making the agreement in aesthetic perception –
an important point in this study, and here the independence of both of them (aesthetic sensibility and directive argument)
is considered significant. However, while handling a literary work that is
filled with literary features, definitions, and interpretations, one can find
that aesthetic sensibility takes the backseat, that is, it is dominated by
textual features including concepts. Seeing
literature as a social practice, to some extent, because it is produced for
their reading and understanding, and it draws elements from its social and
cultural contexts, complicates the discussion on literary aesthetics. Compared
to written literature which is written and read by a small group of people
beyond social boundaries, oral literature is a bit wider but confined by social
boundaries, that is, it is owned by a particular folk group. Literary
aesthetics must expand its scope by becoming a social practice in which
individuals as members participate. Since aesthetic judgement is treated as
non-empirical and associated with one’s ability to give an interpretation of
the aesthetic features found in a literary text, there is no fixed parameter to
make a judgement on one’s ability, that is, one can offer better than others,
or in other instance, one interpretation can become unacceptable or inferior to
the interpretation of others. However, there are conventions that have been
provided by institutional framework or disciplinary training and those
conventions have been either shared or learned to develop the ability to
understand others' aesthetic judgements or to develop aesthetic sensibility.
Between the nature of literature and literary judgement, there is a fundamental
agreement that is facilitated through an institutional approach and hence the
task of literary aesthetics is to display the nature of this agreement.
However, one must agree with the point that there is so far no agreement on a
scale to understand and evaluate a particular work – even an individual’s
creativity can also be linked with their unique way of appreciation or
interpretation or evaluation. The institutional approach towards literary work
is explained in two levels, as pointed out by Stein Haugom Olsen: “The reader's
response to a literary work seems to be correctly described as an imaginative
reconstruction of its literary aesthetic features" (that is, to identify
an aesthetic feature and aesthetic judgement is required); and “literary
aesthetic judgements are formulated in a vocabulary with its own criteria of
application and a hierarchical structure” Olsen (1981), 538. In this study, judgement is used as a
thematic concept along the characters that participate in the construction of
this concept, and it is to be noted that thematic concept embodies ‘universal
interest in the culture’ and thematic level is considered as the highest level
of interpretative vocabulary having its counterpart as the open set of
descriptive concepts. Here, textual features such as content, structure and
style are part of the descriptive task and some of them are strictly
descriptive. The redescription is another level that falls in between the
thematic and descriptive levels. The thematic judgement is
connected with the description, and it is known as redescriptions – used
for formulating the reason for accepting a thematic judgement. Finally, it is
the aesthetic terms (at three levels) –‘coherence and
unity of the work’; inner articulation to recognize the work; and quality of
the thematic term Olsen (1981), 539-540. All these aesthetic qualities are
discussed under literary appreciation. Our everyday life cannot be free from
the aesthetic judgement of it, and it makes our life meaningful in every
aspect. While it helps us understand things around us, it makes us aesthetic
argument that imposes on us certain aesthetic perspectives to impose them on
others but for different reasons and also for
different purposes. As far as aesthetics is concerned, we always end up in
endless discussions or debates – either for convincing or imposing our
perspective. So, no one is free from aestheticism and
no one is also away from participating in the discussion. When aesthetic
argument is part of everyday life, can it be possible to term common people’s
perspective on aesthetics as folk aesthetics? Instead of calling it folk
aesthetics, it can be termed as common sensical aesthetics or aesthetic
sensibilities since the term folk is used in the field of Folkloristics with
specific meaning, that is, according to Alan Dundes,
“any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor. It does
not matter what the linking factor is-it could be a common occupation,
language, or religion-but what is important is that a group…have some
traditions that it calls its own” Dundes (1965), 2. For ‘lore’, he provides a long
list (not an exhaustive list) that includes “folktales, legends, myths,
ballads, festivals, folk dance and song, but also offers examples of folklore
that may not be as obvious, such as children’s counting-out rhymes, food
recipes, house, barn and fence types, latrinalia
(informal writings in public restrooms), as well as the sounds traditionally
used to call specific animals” Dundes (1965), 3. There are two points that need to
be mentioned here: first related to the folk aesthetics or folk’s aesthetics
that can be found reflected through the folklore items and the second is the
common aesthetics that is explored through the readers’ perspective. An
overlapping perspective of folk aesthetics could not be ruled out while looking
at the folklore materials – that is, how the community (“folk”) that has
presented its folk aesthetics through the narratives on the one hand and what
aesthetic aspects of the narratives have attracted the readers’ attention with
aesthetic appeal on the other hand. Therefore, there is a two-fold task in
front of us – first to explore how the “judgement” (or dispute settlement) as a
thematic concept is conceptualized within the narrative paradigms/framework,
and the second task is to identify how the whole narratives appear as
aesthetically presented for the readers (i.e., an aesthetic argument over the
aesthetic judgement). However, both the tasks are handled in this part of the
article in a single axis, and it is convenient to discuss all the related issues.
The point that needs to be remembered here is related to the common sense or
folk model or folk aesthetic on the nature of judgement reflected or expressed
in the folktales – a normativity principle can be applied here to see how the
folk group has a strong view on the judgement or has a tool to settle any
disputes. It is one way of dealing with folk metaphysics that deals with the
ontological condition or existence of knowledge of judgement which enables the
people to meet with reality. 3. Theme of Judgement/Settlement of Dispute in Tribal Folktales The
folktale genre requires no introduction as it falls under the category of oral
literature which plays a larger role in helping humankind in their childhood by
developing their cognitive skills and abilities to understand ideas, concepts,
and various cultural categories. Though treated as a source of entertainment
and amusement, folktales are the sources of information not only for those who
depend on orality as their principal medium of transmission but also for the
people of “developed” societies. They occupy an important place of as the means
of communication of knowledge transference. It is to quote Sarita Sahay who
says, “the folktales of different regions represent the thoughts, ideas, mental
states, traditions, manners and customs and even wit and wisdom of the people
of that region” (Sarita Sahay 2004, quoted in Sahay
(2013), 1). The language used in the tribal folktales is
highly useful in studying the nature of aesthetics constructed through the
figures of speech such as metaphor, metonymy, smile, analogy, personification,
hyperbole, oxymoron, epigram, irony, pun, metonymy, synecdoche, transferred
epithet, etc (https://byjus.com/english/figures-of-speech/). Identifying these
elements in tribal folktales can help us understand how far the tribal
communities conceptualize things aesthetically and differently with the help of
language and also to know how their culture
facilitates their aesthetic appeal. Therefore, here are the examples that prove
to be the potential in helping understanding some of
the unique and aesthetic aspects of tribal life. 1) Example
1 -The Jackal and the Leopard Once there was a leopard creating chaos and destruction in the forest, eating,
and killing animals. The people planned to kill it, but their efforts went in
vain. They started clearing the forests in search of the leopard. Scared of the
drum sound, the leopard managed to escape from the forest. He met a group of
traders and told them to help him hide inside their goods by threatening them
that otherwise, he would eat their bullocks. After escaping from the danger
zone, the leopard now wanted to kill and eat the traders and their bullocks.
The frightened traders wanted someone to judge this matter. When they asked a
tree, it judged in favour of the leopard telling them that humans always cut
the trees. Then, they asked the water pool which also judged in favour of the
leopard by saying that humans always pollute the water. Finally, they asked a
passerby jackal, and the leopard also persuaded the jackal to tell in its
favour. When the jackal asked the leopard to enact how it was saved by the
traders, it went inside the goods bag. The jackal asked the traders to close
the bag and kill the leopard Bodding (1925), 8-19, Bompas (1909), 312-314. 2) Example
2 -Jackal Judgement Once there
was a king (=a landlord) who before his death advised his son to find refuge
and protection with a good man. When the son was on his way to find a good man,
he saw the king saluting a jackal that was crossing his palanquin. Thinking
thank the jackal was the right person for his protection, he followed it to his
cave and waited for a few days till the jackal gave him a cow with magical
power to give him whatever he asked. On his way, he felt hungry and asked the
cow for some food. When he got the food, a woman who was fetching water nearby
saw it and informed the matter to her husband who cunningly invited the boy to
stay at his home overnight and trickily exchanged the cow. The next day, when
the boy was on his way, he assumed what had happened. The boy sought help from
everyone including the village landlord but to his dismay, all of them
supported the couple by taking bribes from them. Finally, the boy brought the
jackal to the village to settle the case. On the judgement day, when the landlord
was about to tell the case to the jackal, it asked them to settle the case
between him and his wife. Then the jackal told them that though he and his wife
eat and drink together, he shits once, whereas his
wife shits thrice, for that he wants to know the reason. When asked, the
she-jackal told the village gathering that her twice passed stools fall on
those who pass unrighteous judgements, to seventh generations, and third one to
match with her husband. The terror-struck judges (villages) fearing the stool would
fall on them if they gave false judgement, asked the couple to bring all their
cows. Now the jackal identified its cow and returned it to the boy. Bodding (1925), 33-39 Another
version is found in Bompas
(1909). The Window’s Son. Here, the widow’s
son’s young cow was exchanged with an old one by a house owner, and the jackals
came as arbitrators. However, the she-jackal says: “It is true that I drop dung
twice to his once: there is an order laid on me to do so: I drop dung once at
the same time that he does: that excrement falls to the ground and stays there:
but the second time the excrement falls into the mouths of the ancestors of
those men who take bribes and do injustice to the widow and orphan and when such
bribetakers reach the next world they will also have to eat it. If, however,
they confess their sin and ask pardon of me they will be let off the
punishment: this is the reason why I have been ordered to drop dung twice.” And
the boy’s mother said: “they were not jackals, they were Chando” Bompas
(1909), 277-281. 3) Example 3 -The Jackal
and Husband and Wife Once a couple was on their way home, and it was almost evening. The
husband was walking ahead of his wife. Suddenly another man (bhut) came
and started walking behind her. When the husband turned back, he saw another
man walking behind his wife. When the husband asked him not to follow his wife,
the stranger quickly held her hand and the husband was also holding her another
hand. Both of them pulled her towards each other and
the woman started crying out loud for help. A jackal passed by, and they sought
his help. The realized jackal emptied the pot she was carrying oil on it. Now
the jackal declared that the one who could go inside the pot could have her as
his wife. Then the bhut entered the pot with a swish. Then the
jackal at once shut the pot and asked the couple to throw the pot away there. Bodding (1925), 2-7. 4) Example 4 – The Jackal
and the Prince Once there
was a king who had a son. When the king was reduced to poverty, he advised
his son to take protection under the big king. The boy worked as a cowherd with
a rich man for his livelihood. Then, in search of his fortunes, he left the job
and went to a far-off land in search of a big king. While he was going, he saw
a royal procession on its way and the king was saluting a female jackal.
Deciding the female jackal was bigger than the king, he followed it to its
cave. He gets a magical cow from two jackals. When he was passing through a
village, his magical cow was replaced with an old haggard one by a village
fellow. Even the village council takes bribes and gives judgement against the prince
who later calls the jackals to come to the spot and restore the issue. Later he
was duped by carters (garwan) and now he calls the
Chowkidar and the village headman (Majhi) but fails to get justice. The boy
goes to the court of law where a Mohamedan judge
orders an inquiry and a search. The cow is recovered, the guilty carters punished,
and the boy is compensated richly. Bodding (1925), 59-91). 5) Example
5 - The
Wise Jackal “Once a tiger with blurred vision fell
into a well while it was hunting. A bhisti (water
carrier) came to the well with his goat-skin bag to draw water, and the tiger
convinced him to save it by promising not to harm him and
also to be grateful forever. The persuaded bhisti dropped
the bag into the well and the awaited tiger got into the bag. The bhisti pulled him out of the well. Forgoing its
promise, the tiger wanted to eat the bhisti.
The scared and frightened bhisti wanted
to get a fair decision from a third person. He consulted a mango tree which
justified the act of the tiger by citing the unthankful act of a man who gets
fruits, shades and fuel wood from mango trees still cuts the tree in return. By
now a jackal was passing and the disappointed bhisti wanted
its decision. After carefully listening to the story of the tiger, the
arbitrating jackal pretended as if it couldn’t understand how the tiger got
into the goat-skin bag. Fooled by the trick of the Jackal, the tiger got into
the bag. Wasting no time, the jackal fastened the bag and the bhisti killed the tiger at once” (Sahay
(2013), 158, also quoted in M. Ramakrishnan and Shalini
Pallavi 2023). 6) Example 6-The Stupid
Tortoise Once a man
going for some work found a large tortoise crossing the road, and he caught it
for having a nice meat. But he had to cross a flooded river, and decided to ask
the tortoise to help him cross the river and he promised the tortoise that he
wouldn’t eat him. In the middle of the river, thinking that the man might kill
and eat him, the tortoise wanted to drown the man. The man saw a jackal on the
bank and asked the tortoise to his decision. Understanding the problem, the
jackal pretended as it didn’t hear and asked them to come near to the bank so
that he could tender his judgement. But once they reached the bank, the man
escaped from the tortoise. Since then, jackal and tortoise became enemies
because the attempts of the tortoise to catch hold of the jackal had never been
successful. Sahay
(2013), 152-153. 7) Example 7- The
Dishonest Oilman There was an oilman in a village, and he had an oil crusher. One day a
man (a rider) passing by on a mare wanted to take some rest in the night, and
without the oilman’s permission, he tied his mare to the crusher and slept. In
the night, the mare gave birth to a baby mare. The next morning, the oilman saw
the baby mare and claimed it as his own telling everyone that his crusher gave
birth to the baby mare. Shocked by the claim of the oilman, the owner of the
mare approached a jackal for a fair judgement. When the jackal started
shouting, “the fishes in the sea are burning, run fast”, the oilman laughed at
him and called him foolish by asking how could fishes in the sea burn. The
jackal replied that when an oil crusher can give birth to a baby mare, the
fishes can also be burned in the sea. The oilman had no answer to this
argument. Sahay
(2013), 223. Version one
in Bompas
(1909). The Changed Calf. A cowherd bought a calf
which was later claimed by the oilman by making his bull lick the oil
cake-plastered calf and claimed that the bull gave birth to the calf, the bull
licking the calf as evidence for the claim. The cowherd invited the night-jhar and jackal for arbitration in the forest along with
the villagers. The night-jhar told them it had a
dream and wanted its meaning from the oilman: “I saw two night-jhar’s eggs and one egg was sitting on the other; no mother
bird was sitting on them, tell me what this means” Bompas
(1909), 49-51. Similarly, the jackal also had a dream and
wanted the correct meaning of it from the oilman to retain the calf with him:
“I saw that the sea was on fire and the fishes were all being burnt up, and I
was busy eating them and that was why I did not wake up, what is the meaning of
this dream?” Bompas
(1909), 49-51. When the villagers pointed out, “The two
dreams are both alike; neither has any meaning; an egg cannot sit on an egg,
and the sea cannot catch fire”, the jackal replied “why cannot it be? If you
won’t believe that water can catch fire, why do you say that a bullock
gave birth to a calf? Have you ever seen such a thing? Speak” Bompas
(1909), 49-51. And all accepted that what was wrong. Bompas
(1909), 49-51. Version two
in Bompas
(1909). The Grasping Rajah. Here, too the
arbitrator jackal tells a dream and asks about its meaning. “I saw three die in one place; one from sleepiness; one from anger and
one from greed. Tell me what were the three and how did they come to be in one
place” Bompas
(1909), 295-298. The jackal gave answer to the puzzle:
“In a forest lived a wild elephant and every night it wandered about grazing
and in the day, it returned to its retreat in a certain hill. One dawn as it
was on its way back after a night’s feeding, it felt so sleepy that it lay down
where it was; and it happened that its body blocked the entrance to a hole in
which was a poisonous snake. When the snake wanted to come out and found the
way blocked, it got angry and in its rage bit the
elephant and the elephant died then and there. Presently a jackal came prowling
by and saw the elephant lying dead; it could not restrain itself from such a
feast and choosing a place where the skin was soft began to tear at the flesh.
Soon it made such a large hole that it got quite inside the elephant and still
went on eating. But when the sun grew strong, the elephant’s skin shrunk and
closed the hole, and the jackal could not get out again and died miserably
inside the elephant. The snake too in its hole soon died from want of food and
air. …[b]ut Chando prevented your guessing
it because you unjustly took the poor man’s cow…” Bompas
(1909), 295-298. Though
mentioned here are the tales that are from the tribal communities, another
well-known tale in different versions and familiar across the communities is
the Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal or The Brahman, the Tiger, and the Six
Judges. They are having similar storylines, but the number of story events is
different. These tales can be summarized in the following lines: A Brahman saw
a tiger in a trap, and it pleaded for his release with a promise of not hurting
him. When he released it, it wanted to eat him. Finding it unjust, he wanted a
fair justice from the third person. He encountered a tree, but it took the side
of the tiger by mentioning what it faced at the hands of humans. Then he
approached a buffalo that was also in favour of the tiger by mentioning its
hardships at the hands of humans. Finally, he met a jackal who had sympathy for
the Brahman and pretended to be incomprehensive about what had happened, it
managed to put the tiger back into the cage and saved the Brahman. Frere
(1868). (Another two versions: in one tale where Pipal
tree, road and jackal are contacted by the Brahman. Jacobs
(1892), 66-69 and another tale The Crocodile, the Brahman, and the Fox in which a Brahman was on
his way to Benares. A crocodile asked the Brahman to carry it with him so that
he could live in the Ganges. After reaching the river, the crocodile caught the
Brahman and wanted to kill him. So, he wanted to get an opinion from three
impartial judges who happened to be a mango tree, an old cow, and a jackal.
Among them jackal rescued the Brahman Benfey (1859), 113-114. Once a Brahman saw a tiger inside a trap
set up by the villagers. Once it pleaded for help with the promise of not
harming him. When the tiger was released, it wanted to attack him.
Understanding the situation, he insisted on a fair opinion from six people.
First, he met a Banyan tree, second a camel, then a bullock, fourth an eagle,
fifth an alligator and sixth a jackal, and except the last one all of them gave
opinion against him by citing their sufferings by humans. In the case of the
jackal, it trickily put the tiger back into the cage and saved the man. Frere
(1868), 135-38. 4. A Note (Folk) Judgement/ Establishment of Justice The genre
of folktales (including fairy tales) is known for its simple formula of
storytelling with a linear and chronological structure that consists of a
beginning, a climax and an end which is in parallel to the structure of
emotion, particularly anger. With the elements of entertainment and amusement,
figures of speech and other narrative techniques by storytellers, the folktales
are known for the establishment of justice, which is part of the system of folk
judgement. The folk judgement becomes a system of establishment of moral and
ethical values through the rewarding of good behaviour along with the
punishment of the wrong behaviour. Presenting both good and bad/evil elements
for the children is one of helping them in the process of their socialization
through a sugar-coated approach, that is, by constructing and presenting the
tales in such a way to impress the audience, usage of animal motifs, unexpected
twists, familiar characters, etc., that given the children audience a task for
imagination and creative thinking. Justice is bestowed on the characters that
are displaying good behaviours and those characters that are being deceived, cheated,
and humiliated by the characters that are being portrayed as bad or villainous.
The move towards justice is not a sudden turn, but a gradual progress on the
narrative trajectory. It questions subtly the socially unacceptable, culturally
inappropriate, and uncivilized things that are manifested through the negative
characters. Humour is another narrative technique that makes the serious
concept more effective and plausible apart from making it unsurprising to the
audience. In (most) folktales, justice and revenge are interwoven and portrayed
in an overlapping way, but finally to establish the former through the latter.
The sense of justice is established through the presentation of several evil
acts throughout the narrative paradigms, or a single evil act that leads to the
punishment and the establishment of justice. As all these tales point out,
there is a moral and ethical tone that is used to justify and normalize the
punishments given to the characters that perform evil deeds, and here a folk
morality (used not in a narrow sense) is being constructed. Also, these
examples collectively offer metaethics that characterizes the status of folk
morality with the help of narrative events and the process of establishment of
judgement, and it is systematic and logical in representing the moral and
ethical aspects of common life manifested through various characters. Putting
together examples of moral ideas present in these folktales and addressing the
moral judgement could be seen as a paradigmatic method of metaethics by Gill
(2009), 217, and here there is a commitment towards
objectivism, as Frank Jackson mentions, “some sort of objectivism is part of
current folk morality” Jackson
(2000), 137 cf. Sarkissian (2016), 213. The folktales shared in ordinary life
execute the commitments of ordinary language in making it possible for moral
dialogue and discussion among the folk. However, the folktales do not present
moral judgement through their examples for a debate and argument, rather they
are clear and conclusive in addressing the folk morality and there is no
ambiguity as the narrative events are transparent as well as conspicuous, than
hidden and complicated. The folk morality found in these folk tales does not
reflect any moral dilemmas, that is, there is no ambiguity in the
conceptualization and representation of moral perspectives since they are
chiefly meant to be told to children. Among the good and bad, there is a moral
judgement or moral evaluation that is subtly expressed in a way that the
audience must agree with the ‘ending’ of the narrative paradigm by closing the
activities of all the characters. The moral evaluation or judgement that is
founded through the narrative events has a larger responsibility of establishing
and nurturing a kind of virtue or a set of virtues as part of the community or
social obligation insisted by culture for moulding the kids for appropriate
behaviour within and outside their cultural milieu. However, what makes the
folktales move towards moral judgement can be argued and many things can be
related to get a conclusive statement which is diverse. Some theories can claim
the reason how “one arrives at a moral judgement”, for example, “the role of
automated, uncontrolled, unconscious and intuitive processes” and “social
intuitional model” Choudhuri & Basu (2019), 189, but concerning the moral judgement, the
case of the genre of the folktale is something different, in the sense that it
reflects collective conscious of humanity than any social groups. The
universalized or universal system that is embedded within this genre makes us
claim that the move towards moral judgement within folktales or fairy tales is
a matter of human intuition or intuition of humanity rather than any social or
cultural format. The reason to argue in its favour is that if systems based on
emotional and rational processing are involved in the moral judgement in
everyday life, in which “rational is slow, controlled and effortful, leading to
utilitarian judgements or emotional is automated, intuitional and uncontrolled”
Choudhuri & Basu (2019), 189-190, it is neither emotional nor rational,
but this universality is not due to the availability of common features,
rather, the progress of humanity through the development of attitude of
sociality. Therefore, the values and norms that are good for the building up of
human society are promoted through the punishment of people who violate them,
and here transgression is seen as moves by the villainous characters that are
involved in the violation activities. This moral dimension of judgement draws
our attention to other interrelated notions such as rights, welfare, care,
fairness, thankfulness, reciprocity, etc., and all of them can be seen as part
of universal ethics, that is, they cannot be confined or restricted to any
society or community. The format for learning moral and ethical values by
children is provided to them by culture in the form of certain creative
cultural forms, and it makes them acquire certain values even before their
experience. Here, one can say that folktales provide opportunities for children
to have a draft copy to be rewritten through their future experiences.
Folktales play a huge role in shaping the folk psychology of people by
providing immediate references, models, and examples to settle their issues or
to make any moral judgement. Indeed, the foundation of folk psychology for
moral judgement can be seen drawing elements from folktales and it is quite
common depending on the particular phenomena, that is,
human social behaviour is guided by folk psychology which draws its inspiration
from folktales. Similarly, the elements, characters and motifs present in the
folktales make them more ethnic or culturally local and at the same time the
reflection of human psychology and philosophy. Going through almost all the
folktales, one could find that justice is being established through a clear
moral judgement by overcoming the evil/bad force by defeating it and making
these tales available for reference in our daily life. There are incidents we
frequently encounter in our routine life that seek either justice or moral
judgement and folklore always comes to support us in settling the dispute.
Thus, the role of folklore as the model for settling disputes is quite
different from what we discuss in this paper as the judgement in folktales, and
in both cases, interestingly, there is a model of justice that is used to
equalize everything in terms of justice. Moreover, justice established in the
folktales or daily life forms a kind of knowledge as well as a form of truth.
As all these examples highlight, the justice or moral judgement founded through
the punishment of the bad/evil elements becomes antinomies of non-violence in
action. Though there are different models of normal justice, (formal,
selective, procedural, pejorative, desiderative, restorative, general,
evolutionary/psychogenetic, ecological, historical, pedagogic, and in-life
activity, the examples present a general and restorative model of justice.
Further, these folktales are simple and do not possess any historical and
political content, but they are ethnic and culture-specific which helps us to
understand the tribal language as simple and clear. More than that, these
examples help us to understand the nature and identity of the language of the
tribal communities. A systematic image of the ethnocultural justice of the
tribal communities could also be studied provided that a long list of tales is
added to this study. Among the techniques used in these tales for the
establishment of justice, one could find that a lie is being countered by
another lie, that is injustice is meted out through falsehood (Example no. 6.
The Dishonest Oilman). Some of the tales presented here have versions and are
spread across the communities in India (and abroad too) also presence of
non-human characters and their interaction with human beings could convey a
stronger message of unity among different elements – a unity among humankind as
well as humankind and other living organism. The justice established the
narrative paradigm, later becoming a model for folk psychology, which can
tell us that injustice is unjust, destructive, and disastrous, and a child has to learn moral values before it has any experience of
such things. 5. Animal motifs from Aesthetic Perspective Interestingly, all the selected folktales have the jackal
(Canis aureus; Indian jackal - Canis aureus indicus; Domain: Eukaryota; Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata;
Class: Mammalia; Order: Carnivora; Family: Canidae; Genus: Canis; Species: C.
aureus; Subspecies: C. a. indicus)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_jackal) as a lead character and its role is indispensable. It is
considered as one of the trickster characters in Indian folklore, and in some
of the tales, it is replaced by Brahman character, particularly in the case of
dispute settlement or for giving wise judgement in a tricky or clever way. Being a popular trickster character, the jackal is also
tricked or fooled by its tricks and gets into trouble or is punished for its
bad behaviour. However, in these folktales of tribal communities,
the jackal occupies the special role of an arbitrator. Being opportunistic
omnivorous, potential predators and excellent scavengers, jackals are found in
Africa and Eurasia. As a monogamous pair, a common social unit is good for
protecting its territory, and they gather in packs to eat a carcass or hunt
either alone or in pairs. They display their social behaviour when they wish,
and they are good at teamwork. They have code sounds meant for important
comrades in other families. As far as family or community life is concerned,
they show the best care and protection for their young ones (pups). There is no
uniformity in giving social attribution to this animal, for example, in the
Christian Bible, it is considered as a symbol of abandonment, loneliness and
desolation and also it is associated with death and
underworld, and thus seeing a jackal is considered as a warning of danger.
However, in world mythology, it is elevated to the level of cunning wizards and
sorcerers and attached to sly tricky and miserable. Stepping on the tail of a
jackal is considered as auspicious and good luck in some communities. But in
Egyptian mythology, it is portrayed as the head of the underworld god Anubis.
According to the popular belief prevalent in Senegal, the jackal is the first
animal created by God, and similarly, it is associated with solitude and
courage in the folklore of Pakistan. In some of the moral stories, the jackal
is used to represent the quality of people who cannot hide their true nature of
selves for a long time, like the jackal is inherently associated with howling.
Jackals are inseparable from human life, and they occupy an important place in
the belief system of many cultures. Myths, legends and even folktales depict
jackals differently as per their cultural and regional belongings, and in fact,
they are quite commonly depicted as clever and doleful creatures. For instance,
the Bible also mention this animal at least fourteen times according to a
Wiki source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackal). However, the jackals are
wily and wise animals in the Panchatantra stories Dalal
(2014), 189, and the Bengali tantric traditions mention
that the Goddess Kali takes the jackal when she is offered meat. Jackal is very
popular in world folklore materials, and they appear as malevolent and
treacherous creatures interacting with human characters. It is also known
for creating enmity among its friends so that it can gain, and it gets its food
from others in a trick way. As per the folklore materials, the cleverness, and it’s
tricky and adaptive behaviour, it is always seen outwitting not only big animals
as well as human beings. There are also examples from Indian oral literature
for the claim that the jackals are benevolent, wise, and helpful.
Interestingly, some of the assigned qualities/characteristics of
the jackal such as clever, wise, cunning, and tricky, the jackal has
emerged as a trickster motif in folktales. The jackal gets into our
consciousness to make us aware of the situation which enhances our
understanding of the crisis or problem to act appropriately to get a solution
or get out of the crisis, and the method of solution needs not be based on
rational or emotional strategy, rather by analyzing
the situation and weak point of the characters involved in evil behaviour and
by employing cleverness or tricky ways to settle it. The smartness of the
jackal as a narrative and imaginative character with the qualities and
characteristics attributed by human society makes this motif closer to human
beings, and the existence of a multidimensional archetypal character of a
jackal reminds us how the human mind is unpredictable and biased. Therefore,
the character of the jackal could be seen as exposing many of the human
behaviours that are problematic and negative. Speaking in human language and
interfering with human activities, even at the behest of human beings, are
interesting and they give different dimensions to folklore materials for the
interrelationship between human begins and non-human elements in nature. The
representation of jackals in folklore is not a matter of chance, rather a comprehensive
understanding of human beings on this animal and its behaviours could be seen
reflected in folklore, a way of transferring this knowledge to the forthcoming
generations. That is their qualities and features such as their quick adaptive
nature to new circumstances, stealthy and cunningness, obliterating their
tracks, feigning death, distinctive spoor to evade capture, and doing some
dramatics when they encounter predators and hunters have always been the source
of inspiration and that have been well incorporated in folklore and cultural
materials. The jackal as an animal motif cannot be compared with other animal
motifs because this animal has distinctiveness by possessing oxymoronic
characters of both positive and negative attributes, and what is represented in
folklore is also understood through the lens of this dichotomy. The beauty of
human imagination is that the animal with negative attribution is used
appropriately in the folklore materials to complete the narrative paradigm on
the one hand and to construct and convey the moral and ethical value of honesty
and justice on the other hand. Another interesting feature of the animal that
is being used in these tales is that the jackal is never been considered a
coward or shy animal, rather it is a shrewd and risk-taking animal, that is, it
never escapes from facing risk. In establishing the truth and pronouncing
justice, the jackal displays no fear or shy away from taking the risk of
meeting either a leopard or tiger or unjust men. It is contentful
in its approach and its purpose, and the strategies it uses for moving towards
the peak of the narrative or to end the crisis is almost theatrical and there
is a dramatic quality in the display. Though there are folklore and religious
items that portray jackals as malevolent and the role of helping the villainous
characters, there are equal amounts of religious and folklore materials where
the jackal is projected and portrayed as the benevolent and wise character. In
all these tales cited here, the jackal’s interventions are noteworthy and
reflect a kind of positivity and dynamic energy. The jackal animal and the
princess (example 4) story are different and provides an opportunity to discuss
the juxtaposition of both traditional and modern judicial systems, in which the
jackal appears in the traditional justice system. The spirituality or
supernatural power of the jackal as perceived in the cultural life of people in
different communities has also been seen reflected in two of the tales, and
according to these tales, as they appear as versions, the jackal provides a
magical cow to the protagonists who think that they can find refuge with the
jackal. Moreover, when the jackals emerge as arbitrators and settle the issue
among humans, do they appear elevated to the level of totem symbol or wild
animal with supernatural or mystic power? Or can we say that our constant fear
of totemic animals forces us to create oral literature with these characters
addressing (human) injustices or unjust behaviours –a fear of “animal revenge”
as Brunvand
(1986), 24–25) calls it? There is
aesthetics in finding wild animals in the folktales doing all the activities
that are meant for human beings, particularly, when they come forward to rescue
human beings who have been put under critical situations either being cheated
or cornered by either another (wild) animals or fellow humans. The interaction
between animals and human beings has not been monotonous, as both
of them reflect an understanding that they possess certain knowledge of
each other. However, the knowledge about animals is one way or another helpful
in addressing or expressing some of human experiences, and without them, the
reflections may not be aesthetically represented. In these tales cited here,
the injustice or dishonesty is neatly and in an appealing way portrayed chiefly
with the help of animal characters without the tales may not be
interesting to children. Therefore, the aesthetics of the representation
of animals in folktales or the animal-human relationship is filled with
puzzles, paradoxes, conflicts, and contradictions that are being reflected more
in symbolic forms. The aesthetic aspect of these tales presents the hybridity
of two realms of the animal world and the human world that are juxtaposed
through human creativity to reiterate the essential countenance of naturalism.
The hybridity is being continuously produced through different literary and
cultural forms due to the existing boundary between animal and human worlds,
and the aesthetic dimension of this hybridity can be simply understood with the
help of folktales that portray the very fine qualities of the animal motifs and
also dilutes the boundary between the nature and the culture on the one hand
and reversing the hierarchies among the animals and humans on the other hand.
Here aesthetics is one way of overcoming the inability to visualize the active
role of animals within the cultural spheres, particularly in the naturalistic
framework. When the jackal is not a domesticated animal, what kind of reasons
can be inferred for the presence of the jackal in all the tales that have the
theme of judgements? Compared to other wild and domestic animals, jackal is considered to be associated with more concepts than any
other animals, and many of these attributes are binary filled with both
humorous and serious properties which evoke a light mood for the children who
are the principal audience for folktales. For Strachan Donnelley, “we are
seemingly in a period of profound flux in our philosophical understanding of
ourselves and our ethical relation to the natural, animate world” Donnelley & Nolan (1990), 2, the complexity of human and non-human
relationships can be explored by paying attention to folklore materials that
dilute the boundaries between them through human aesthetics and imagination.
These imaginary tales having animal characters with human-imposed attributes
are antecedent even to the posthumanist thought that
extended personhood to nonhumans also Haraway
(1991), cf. Magliocco (2018). Mechling
(1989), who is considered the pioneer in urging
“folklorists to explore the rich realm of human-animal interactions as
folklore”, through his contributions took “human relationships with animals
seriously as forms of aesthetic vernacular culture”, and took “animals
seriously as agents in the play routines and other forms of interspecies
folklore that develop between pets and their guardians” Magliocco (2018), 3. Therefore, our assumptions, beliefs, and
understandings about the non-human beings such as jackal are found
aesthetically manifestations in the folktales and it is the narrative paradigm
that puts them characters with roles and tasks. Finally, as far as the tribal
communities living in Jharkhand are concerned, the jackal is part of their food
habits, and the hunting of jackals is more of a cultural event than a
sustainable endeavour. 6. Judgement/Settlement of Dispute from Aesthetic Perspective All the
tales mentioned here as examples have the judgement or dispute settlement as
their main theme, and their narrative programme them has been constructed in an
uncomplicated way that helps the narratives to convey the message flawlessly.
The disputes are realistic and they are unavoidable in
everyday life. However, finding a solution for a dispute may not be that easy
because the traditional system practiced by the traditional communities has
already been diluted due to modernity and globalization. But the modern
judicial or legal system has having different story altogether. A recall of
these tales for regrouping will provide an opportunity to explore the aesthetic
dimension of the process(es) of judgement: Group 1: Example 1: A jackal helped the
traders to kill the leopard that was saved by them from the people who wanted
to kill it, despite others justifying the intention of the leopard. Example 5:
A jackal saves a bhisti from a tiger. And, Example 6: A Jackal saves a man from a tortoise. Group 2: Example 2: A jackal helped the
boy to get back his magical cow by exposing the villagers who were bribed to
give wrong judgement. Example 4: A jackal helped the boy to get back his
magical cow by exposing the villagers who were bribed to give wrong judgement. And, example 3: A jackal rescued a wife from a ghost that
claimed as her husband. These tales
portray different characteristics of the jackal in its interaction with human
characters, and the narratives complicate the cultural understanding of the
jackal by even projecting its altruistic nature along with its stereotypical
cultural notions (of wise, clever, cunning, intelligence, brave, trickster,
supernatural, etc). The aesthetic advantage of the folktales in depicting
multidimensional relationships but emphasizes the role of the jackal as a
predominantly selfless being and brave in fact in challenging tiger, leopard,
and human as its counterparts, on the other hand, helping and rescuing the
humans, is possible only through the narrative paradigm. The aesthetics of
human creativity lies in the fact that is that it brings together different
opposite entities on a narrative programme and exploits them to succeed in
constructing and conveying the message. Everyday
life is governed and guided by some of the commonsensical models, or folk
models, that are embedded in language, folklore and cultural forms, and the
case of dispute or injustice, these models play a significant role. To conceive
it broadly, the tales offer two types of disputes that bring a lot of things
for discussion – while the first moves towards saving a person from being
punished for kindness. However, this discussion is not at all to provide an
interpretation of narrative events that move towards the establishment of
justice in favour of the innocents but to demonstrate how aesthetically it has
been achieved in the tales with the involvement of various narrative elements.
Let us begin with the lines of Kant who says that “you can stay safe from all
error if you do not start to judge something of which the knowledge you
possess is insufficient”. In daily life, can we escape from any judgement on
the binary lines of good vs bad or right vs wrong or moral vs immoral, or at
least, justice and injustice, etc.? They are not merely the options available
to us, but they are the perspectives that are grounded on moral and ethical
principles. As it is reflected in tales, everyone loves justice on the one hand
and also possesses elements for the violation on the
other hand. As there are no specific elements permanently associated either
with justice or with violation, as these tales point out, the characters in the
tales can be compared with the actors on the stage in a play, that is, they are
introduced in a way to move towards the end of the narrative to effectively
convey the message. If so, how do we treat the occurrence of the jackal motif
as arbitrator in all these tales? Indeed, the jackal is used as part of the
narrative technique that has aesthetically utilized the image of the jackal
drawn from the cultural life of people, and one of the Korean folktales of
similar for example, the Korean folk. In some of the tales around the world,
for example, the Korean version of the Wise Jackal has a rabbit in the
place of the jackal. All these tales move towards the end for restoring the
moral values or justice by punishing the guilty, or by exoneration of the
innocent. However, the aspect of reward is found to be missing in the tales,
and the reason can be said that affirming and reaffirming justice is the
responsibility of all who have to be exculpated from
any blame, or no one can be blamed for being ‘moral dumbfounding’ Gottlieb
& Lombrozo (2018). As the tales are meant for children, another
reason can also be drawn that children must possess intuitive theories of the
world before they formally experience it, also through formal education, and
their belief in these theories helps them to negotiate with future experiences.
The children must believe in the intuitive theories associated with moral and
ethical behaviour as duties and responsibilities. As the intuitive theories
will have to play a vital role, the children ought to be taught moral tales,
and considering the importance and as they are learned from the folklore
materials through an informal learning process, these intuitive theories can be
termed as folk theories. Characterization of these theories as having
structural, functional and dynamic levels is an
advantage to understanding the role of folklore for children. Here, the
structural level represents “a law-like regularities, and involve coherent,
abstract, and typically causal representations of the world; at the functional
level, they “support important judgments and behaviours, including predictions,
explanations, counterfactuals, and interventions, and at the dynamic level,
they are ready for revision in the light of new evidences Gopnik & Wellman (2012), Gopnik et al. (1997). So, folktales with moral content help the
children to develop simple schemas guided by these folk theories, the reward
may not be seen as a prominent element of these tales, but other tales may have
reward as an integral element. The
aesthetic aspects of these tales are quite interesting, and they are, of
course, the reflection of the culture of indigenous and tribal communities.
However, there are common aesthetic and linguistic codes that can be found as
part of the universal structure of the folk form. For example, all the tales
can be seen having codes for referential functions such as ‘once up a time’
that gives an introduction to the audience (reader)
about the form and other details necessary for them to get into the narrative
world and also to grasp the truth value of different elements and also the
overall message. Similarly, other language codes perform various functions such
as emotive (expressive or affective), conative, phatic, metalingual, and
poetic. The hierarchical relations among these codes and their coordinated
functions help the text to convey its message that is encoded in the text. As
these tales are taken as translated texts some of the codes and their functions
might have been either lost or faded. However, the aesthetic codes are not
denotative but connotative and have been constantly created within the audience
or reader through the participation of various features that have been
introduced for the construction of aesthetic effects. The aesthetic codes present
in literature or arts offer space for diversity of interpretation, i.e., it
expands one’s creativity in terms of appreciation and depiction. The aesthetic
codes in these tales are used to add certain values so that the tales can be
paid attention to and highlighted. The subjectivity or relativity associated
with the aesthetic appreciation or aesthetic perception gives ample scope for
exploring various dimensions of a text or expressive art form, and according to
Pierre Bourdieu, ‘aesthetic perception is a deciphering operation that is
learned or socially acquired and may be conscious or unconscious’ Bourdieu
(1968), cf. Rosario
& Collazo (1981). The condition here is that the tales are chosen
not arbitrarily but some of the elements found in the story have impressed or
evoked our aesthetic perception to pay attention to them. And the aesthetic
elements in the tales are not thematic components but the jackal as an
arbitrator performing its tasks bravely and beautifully, and a lot of theatrics
is involved in the display of its tasks and skills in providing judgement or
settling the dispute. Though there is a good number of stories that can be found
in tribal communities, these tales are particularly chosen for
the reason that the disputes are solved through methods that are
creative and unique. More than the spontaneous and natural, the significance of
these tales is understood, or found to be striking because of the influence of
perspective, means and framework provided by the Folkloristics and Semiotics
which have enhanced the perception to look at these tales, that is, the
aesthetic competence has been developed and facilitated by belonging some of
the disciplines that not only train us to locate and place some of the elements
within an art or text and also to identify distinctive stylistic features that
can be decoded for description. Here the tales have become interpretable, due
to the presence of aesthetic competence, through the trained process of
decoding, making things understandable. Although among hundreds and hundreds of
folktales available with the tribal communities, these tales have been picked
up for having aesthetic appeal, with the structure of preference. The aesthetic
quality of all the tales creates a coherence that elicits our attention to
these tales to understand something that has aesthetic appeal for us. Example
three is an interesting folktale creatively constructed as a normative
principle that elicits the behaviour of Santhali
husband that needs to be corrected. The usage that ‘in the old days, people
tell’ indicates, apart from the ‘once upon a time’, that the continuity of
certain behaviour, is also being practiced by the present generation, and also it aesthetically clarifies why the tale has to be
repeated. The use of the Taben and khajari (parched
rice), kupi as cultural codes indicates that they are
not away from their tradition and culture, that is, it makes ample scope for
the justification of the appearance of bhut (ghost). Moreover, the
husband walking in front and the girl after him, without talking to each other
– a patriarchal society where the unequal relationship between male and female,
particularly husband and wife, like modern writings, has also been neatly
highlighted with the help of spatial schema (one after another & not
speaking with each other). With the appearance of a ghost claiming to be her
husband, the dispute arises, jackal appears and settles the matter through a
competition/ challenge. Including other tales, from the circumstances, the
jackal as arbitrator presumes what might have happened and
also understood before the investigation the other one was a bhut.
The ‘Don’t take this pot along with you; throw it away here’ (lines from the
tale) – connotes the need to discard the practice of unequal relationship
between the husband and wife. The beauty of the story is that it (text) becomes
a code to be retold or remembered. The encounter between humans, animals
(non-human beings) and the ghost (supernatural being) seems to be unique since
human behaviour is being criticized creatively and aesthetically. The example
one moves on with its clear message that is trouble creator and betrayer of
promise (leopard) is being punished. The leopard as a villainous or ravenous
(evil) character has been constructed beautifully by overemphasizing its
cruelty. The leopard’s behaviour persuades people to their unity with a common
task. It is threatening language that “I say, you traders, I have one thing to
say to you: if you listen to what I have to say and do as I tell you, there
will be no end to the happiness you will get. But if you don’t listen to me and
will not do as I tell you, you will get into awful trouble. For
know this, I am the king of this forest. So often as I meet you, every
time I shall eat your bullocks" (lines from the tale) is highly imperative
and it makes it that the behaviour of the leopard is merely a linguistic
practice rather than a concrete activity. The leopard is projected as a
realized being and knows its danger as well as its manipulative strategy. The
Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) tree’s judgement
in favour of the leopard is amazing and it exposes the exploitative and
consumeristic attitude of the people, who happened to be the Santhals in this
story, as the Mahua tree supports their livelihood. Water-pool also extends its
support to the leopard and it is the replacement of
river, or water, in other tales. The conversation between the jackal and the
leopard seems to be theatrical, and the jackal’s tricky interaction puts its
counterpart – the predator to its death and the jackal is seen as a Chando
(Bonga) (the spirit worshipped by the Santhals). Although simple in its
narration Kindness (traders) and ungratefulness (leopard) are simply and
aesthetically depicted in this tale. Example two
offers a simple story and it has an unexpected twist that reflects not only the
creative side of the tribal communities but also their perspective on moral and
ethical values. Its harsh reaction to immoral things is impressive as well as
strong enough to make an impact on the minds of children. Another attribute of
the jackal is found to be represented in this tale with a twist, that is,
it is quite popular belief among many communities that it is auspicious and
good luck to see a jackal running across in front of them right side to left
side. However, in this tale, the jackal is running from left side to right
side, and instead of turning back from the mission, the king turns towards the
jackal and salutes him again and again thinking that his business might prosper,
and the task might be accomplished. The power of the folk mind is to turn and
twist anything creatively to suit the narrative programme. This becomes a
turning point for the boy to think of Jackal as his high authority as even the
king saluted him. On the day of judgement, the he-jackal’s presentation of its
case to be settled by the village council before the boy’s dispute and the
she-jackal’s reply are the marvellous product of folk humour indented at
reprimanding their immoral behaviour. Example
four is as similar to example two with a different
twist and an addition of another event of immoral activity which makes the boy
lose his cow one more time. The father’s (the king) advice to his son to take
protection from the big king seems to be interesting and it gives a twist or
turning point to the story. When he assumes that the jackal is the highest
authority, as even the king pays salutes to it, a strong sense of innocence
with the logical understanding of the principle of belongingness, among the
objects of different domains with disproportionate values, the jackal is
elevated with higher value due to the king’s attitude. The first incident of
exchange of the boy’s magical by a couple pretending to be quarrelling can be
seen as a typical folk motif that is creatively employed here. Here too, the
jackals came forward to settle the matter by indirectly pointing at the headman
and the village people who took bribes and supported the culprits, and the
jackals quoted the ancestors and reiterated the folk philosophy/belief that the
descendants of persons who took bribe to give judgement would eat their stools
for seven generations in both the worlds, and similarly, the person who
oppressed others and took other’s property would be immersed in hell’s dung. It
is quite amazing to understand that the second incident in the tale,
interestingly, brought the modern legal system for settling the matter. Drawing
elements from local settings like godet, durrie, papal tree, etc., the
tales give a kind of identity associated with the indigenous community. Example
five is a simple tale having a judgement as its main component, and it becomes
a stereotypical example for ‘instead of being grateful, punishing a person (a bhisti) for showing kindness.’ The problem is
clear and neatly settled down by the intervention of the jackal who uses a
tricky way in which the goat-skinned pouch is an important tool. The
goat-skinned bag had been used in traditional technology for drawing water from
a deep well, and it was used here brilliantly. Like the Mahua tree/tree, water-pool/water,
etc., in other tales, the mango tree makes its judgement in favour of the
tiger. Nature’s perspective on human’s exploitative attitude towards nature is
explored subtly. The most simple and flawless narration could be one of the
reasons why the tale seems to be impressive beautifully and aesthetically. Example six
offers a different type of story that depicts the problem that is rooted in the
assumption of fear that sprouts from human and non-human relationships. The
existing relationship between man and the tortoise that is portrayed in the
tale is not imaginary, whereas the help sought by man from the tortoise is
highly imaginary and unique. The tortoise’s presence in the tale is not a
matter of choice rather, it is logically configured similarly with the story of
crocodile and monkey, or crocodile and jackal in which one is prey and another is the predator. However, unlike
the crocodile, here the tortoise has the chance of being prey to the man,
as he had already expressed his plan. With the anxiety (or fear or assumption)
of being killed and eaten by a man, the tortoise wants to avenge the man by
drowning him in the middle of the river. The jackal’s intervention is simple
and creative, and that makes the relationship between the jackal and the
tortoise enemies. The tortoise – “Look brother Jackal, this man wanted to eat
me a few hours back. Should I drown him right now? The clever jackal replied –
“Look, I am deaf of one ear. Come nearer the bank and tell me.” “A little
nearer, please. I cannot hear you properly.” Later, after he escaped, the
tortoise told the jackal – “Well, brother, you will be taught a lesson.” Later,
once the tortoise caught the foot of the jackal who escaped by telling a
lie, “It must be a root you have caught.” On another occasion, the jackal
shouted mimicking the tortoise cry “Okha, okha” but the jackal escaped when the tortoise responded
with “Okha, okha.” Though
the jackal and tortoise are born enemies as the tribal communities believe,
thus the enmity between them referred to this, it is poetic and natural
innocence of the tortoise to address the jackal as a brother. The aesthetics of
the folk mind can be understood from the way the assumed inherent properties of
human and non-human beings are used in the tale. The beauty of the story is
that though it appears as simple, the story is complicated one as it is
difficult to decide who is wrong, or whether the jackal’s action is
justifiable. Example
seven presents a tale that is stereotypical but has an aesthetic appeal because
it settles the problem by parallelly producing a lie with the conditional logic
of elements having the same values within a system (if ‘x’ is true, then ‘y’ is
also true). When the man (rider) calls the jackal, “Brother, help me. Do
justice. The oilman is not ready to give baby mare to me” implies his innocence
and inability to make an argument with the oilman which makes to depend on
the non-human beings. The jackal's reply, “No, I do not want to stay here… the
dogs of the village will tear me,” denotes the reality and jackal’s existential
problem, and it forces the rider to reply, “Oh, do not worry for the dogs. I
will take care of them but solve my problem.” The reciprocity and assurance
confirm the desperation of the man to get his baby mare, and unlike other
tales, there is no interference from other agents like the village headman, so
the bribing segment is already avoided. It moves the tale as quickly as possible
towards the end. The strong belief held by the Santhals that the jackal is an
intelligent animal is neatly and flawlessly utilized in this tale. Another two
examples mentioned in the tale’s versions are quite noteworthy. ‘Egg over egg’
and ‘three die in one place’ are two examples of jackals used in versions one
and two, respectively, which can be seen as unique and creative. The
description of all these examples means that the judgement in folktales or
arriving at settlements over issues does not happen discretely because it
is based on the logic and models that are founded on socio-cultural
experiences. The recurring experiences of daily life are best codified with the
help of animal characters in the imaginary world created by literature and
texts. Thus, these examples are presented here merely to show that coding is a
linguistic practice. While aesthetics has its own elements of justification,
here in this article, there are examples cited to show that aesthetics is very
much associated with judgements. The aesthetics in these tales, though,
can be traced at different levels, but it is primarily located in the way the examples
are cited to achieve the justice that is denied aesthetically. To treat these
tales as codified texts or literature, the message embedded in them needs to be
significant and it is established through the collective participation of
various codes including linguistic and aesthetic codes. Some of the aesthetic
codes are mere examples and local elements, apart from the unique way of
language use including figures of speech. More than that we could see the pure
aesthetics in these tales from the way non-human beings are coming forward to
expose the unjust behaviours of humans who are in the grip of greediness and
insatiability, as pointed out predominantly by jackals in all these tales – an
indication that non-human beings have immense role to play in shaping human
society. 7. Discussion on the aesthetics of folktales of judgements, or dispute
settlement From the
examples given here, some discussions on the aesthetic perspective on the
judgemental tales can be generated, which has its point of argument on the link
between aesthetic judgement and judgement of aesthetics with reference to oral
literature of tribal communities. 1. The selection of these tales reflects a
kind of aesthetic purposiveness, that is, there are elements in the tales that
appear to be impressive and unique or creative for reading and
also for telling. The elements that had been the driving force behind
the selection of these tales may not be considered as impressive for others, but emphasize on the justification of these elements
could not be imposed upon the others, as the subjective preference differs. 2.
The aesthetically constructed moral and ethical values are not conditioned by
the narrative paradigm, rather they are embedded both in social and cultural
settings. 3. The aesthetic appeal of these tales is that the intervention of
non-human beings is essentialized and naturalized due to the polarization of
the society in terms of moral ground, and interestingly, when immorality
consolidates and maximizes its support base against the marginalized and
victimized. 4. The aesthetics of judgement, as far as these tales are
concerned, as well as from the evidences from daily
life, no exception for oral and written literature, and visual arts, explores
the beauty of unique aspect of method or tools or means of convincing the
guilty of moral violation. On this point, folktales are more flexible and
accommodative, and they transgress any boundaries and taboos in addressing the
issue on the one hand and offering a solution on the other hand. 5. Both
aesthetic judgement and judgement of aesthetics involve epistemological issues
and deep knowledge of the quality of moral crises/disputes and legitimate
solutions irrespective of the nature of involved parties. 6. By employing
certain creative examples that are simple and humorous, the folktales generally
emerge as folk models or folk metaphors that find utilization in the process of
restoration of justice or settlement of dispute not only daily but also in the
narrative discourses. 7. As these tales demonstrate, the power is not extended
from those who sought justice to those who are subjected to the judgement –
becoming an object of possessing power through the world of law to demean
another or to deprive dignity as well as to diminish the power of defense, because the victimized or neglected persons
reflect their helplessness of fear and insults and as well reflecting the fear
of inability of convincing the culprits, the arbitrating third party
accumulates, possesses and exhibits the power to condemn the guilty. 8. The
aesthetic experience these tales offer is unique and quite impressive as it
draws elements from various social and cultural domains – some of them founded
on individual aesthetic experience and others belong to the community’s
experience. 9. The aesthetic appreciation of these tales on judgement comes
from two levels: the first one refers to the construction of the tales with the
utilization of linguistic codes and the second rests on the separation of
specific codes, mostly in the form of examples or use of figures of speech. 10.
As aesthetic elements appear in folk tales as the reflection of folk poetics
and folk creativity, attempting at the aesthetics of generative code or a
generative grammar – deep-seated rules must again rely on the principles
developed in linguistics Chomsky
(1957/1972), cf. Cox
et al. (2004), that is, it needs to be understood within the
narrative grammar – a universal framework available as an integral part of
language. Thus, the understanding of the aesthetics of these tales must not be
seen in isolation but rather as part of a universal narrative structure. 8. Concluding remarks The tribal folktales offer a wide scope for studying the nature of human creativity, imagination, and aesthetics on the one hand and the relationship between human and non-human beings on the other hand. These tales prove that non-human beings particularly animals and supernatural beings are inseparable aspects of the human cognitive world, and they play a vital role in shaping and giving meaning to their socio-cultural life. However, creative expressive forms of people do not utilize the non-human characters as it is rather, they appear with the assigned characteristics and qualities to fulfil various aesthetics, poetics, and thematic purposes. As these tales prove, it is the human collective consciousness that utilizes the non-human characters, more in a way even to dominate human beings, where human behaviour needs to be criticized, condemned and advised, when they are involved in immoral and unethical activities, or to reproduce human behaviour as a way of indication, also to demonstrate the eternal relationship that is reciprocal and co-existence in nature. The animal characters, particularly, jackal which are part of the socio-cultural life of the tribal communities, have been utilized creatively and aesthetically to provide solutions to, or judgements to, problems that are created out of human greediness. By mentioning that while aesthetics has its judgement, this article proves that there is aesthetics in judgements. To conclude it with an example from a Chinese folktale that depicts the whole issue addressed here: “When Buddha lived on earth as a hermit, he became lost and came across a rabbit. The rabbit asked if he could help the hermit to find his way out of the forest, but the hermit replied that he was poor and hungry and could not repay the rabbit for his kindness. The rabbit instead told the hermit that if he was hungry, he should light a fire, roast, and eat the rabbit. The hermit then lit a fire, and the rabbit immediately sprang into the fire and cooked his flesh. The hermit then manifested himself as the Buddha pulled the rabbit out of the flames, and, to thank him for his sacrifice, sent him to live in the moon palace, where he became the Jade Rabbit. And that’s why the rabbit lives on the moon, where he continues to be seen to this day” (A Chinese tale. Quoted in DeMello (2021)).
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