AUDIO-UNIT3

The folk traditions of India have changed over time and it is difficult to define them as completely original. However, the concept of folk remains constant while the interpretations and modalities have varied. These traditions have seamlessly assimilated into the local culture, adding richness to the overall culture. Despite concerns that urban spaces have eroded folk traditions, they have actually provided a platform for these traditions to evolve and thrive in new forms of art, music, and theater. This unit will explore the evolution and richness of folk traditions in detail. Folk traditions of India have been a witness to dynamic changes down the centuries of their existence. They contest the idea of originality as its history has seen the ebb and flow of time, and thus we may fail today to demarcate a folk tradition as essentially original. The concept of folk, of course, remains immune to change, but the modalities and its interpretations have been multifarious, and that adds to the richness of the culture where each tradition undergoes a change and assimilates into the local culture seamlessly and organically. This therefore steers the discussion in the direction of the present-day context of folk tradition, which is a very natural progression of the previous unit, of its genealogy and its intricate relationship with language. Urban spaces have been accused of swallowing up local and folk traditions to give way to a very westernized identity of Indian culture in present times. But a keen eye into the rubric of folk traditions will offer the perspective that these urban spaces are the very crucible in which folk tradition is taking new shape and form and raises a very proud head in the form of art, music, and theatre. This unit will discuss in detail how the tradition of folk has evolved and gained an added layer of multiplicity and richness.