Folktales of India (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226040837)

Bringing together nearly one hundred tales translated from fourteen languages, Folktales of India opens the vast narrative world of Indian folklore to readers of English. Beck includes oral tales collected from tribal areas, peasant groups, urban areas, and remote villages in north and south India, and the distinctive boundary regions of Kashmir, Assam, and Manipur. The tales in this collection emphasize universal human characteristics-truthfulness, modesty, loyalty, courage, generosity, and honesty. Each story is meant to be savored individually with special attention given to the great range of motifs presented and the many distinct narrative styles used. Folktales of India offers a superb anthology of India's bountiful narrative tradition.

"This collection does an excellent job of representing India. . . . It is the type of book that can be enjoyed by all readers who love a well-told tale as well as by scholars of traditional narrative and scholars of India in general."-Hugh M. Flick, Jr., Asian Folklore Studies

"The stories collected here are representative, rich in structural subtlety, and endowed with fresh earthy humor."-Kunal Chakraborti, Contributions to Indian Sociology

Author: Brenda E. F. Beck
ISBN-10: 0226040836
ISBN-13: 9780226040837
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 04/15/1999
Pages: 390
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.48w x 0.95d