-Brian Mendonça
When an old woman or man dies, a library burns to the ground.
When I signed up for Coursera’s online programme on ‘The
American South: Its Stories, Music and Art,’ I had no idea that the course
instructor would be a folklorist. After doing the 6 course hours at a stretch
last Sunday as the rain pelted on my window I felt that it was an obvious
choice. Only a folklorist would be able to painstakingly bring together the
diverse ‘quilt’ of the stories, the music and the art of the American South.
Of course, Dr. William Ferris, the course host, is the Joel
R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History at UNC but it is from a tradition of
folklore that his teaching emanates. As he oscillated between the Civil War and
the Civil Rights movement in America I was thinking how non-formal sources of
knowledge provided so intimate a view of a people’s past.
Folklore is essential an oral source, i.e. which is told,
sung or made. It was fascinating how he included and analyzed basket-weaving
and quilt-making as art forms. The South, he said has to be seen through the
prism of race, class and gender all of which are informed by oral narratives.
The point is made starkly in Kate
Chopin’s chilling short story, ‘Desirée’s Baby’ (1893) set in Louisiana – the
Creole state -- and William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’ (1930) set in
hometown Mississippi.
I was thinking why could such an initiative not be nurtured
for Goa? There are so many stories waiting to be told – to someone who would
only listen. When elders go away to the happy hunting grounds (a Lakota belief
in the afterlife) we are bereft of all their lore, mostly undocumented.
I was recently invited to chair a session at Goa University
(GU) featuring a paper by Tanvi Bambolkar titled, ‘Lore through the Lens:
Integrating Technology in Folkloric Studies.’ I discovered that there is no
separate department for folklore studies at GU. Tanvi was pursuing her research
through the Department of English at GU. ‘Being a new science [folklore
studies] opens up a new possibility in the field of humanities for folklore to
be a technology-driven field,’ says Tanvi. While this speaks for the latitude
of the Humanities this is no reason why the GU should not consider a
full-fledged department for folklore studies.
I was gladdened when I read the establishment of a Folklore
University in neighbouring Karnataka. Karnataka Folklore University (KFU) at
Haveri offers a PG in folk tourism which trains students to appreciate folk art
and culture of the region and showcase them to tourists including foreigners.
Goan Quest – an initiative of Goa Chitra, Benaulim,
conducted on Sundays through the season -- provides a window to the folkloric
traditions of Goa. The experience allows participants to view pottery,
mat-weaving and cane-weaving on the premises. Supported by the Directorate of
Art and Culture, Government of Goa, Goan Quest has provided the lead. Will others
take the cue?
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Published in Gomantak TimesWeekender , St. Inez, Goa on Sunday 26 July 2015; Pix source http://colvaholidayhomesgoa.blogspot(dot)in
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