[INDOLOGY] Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance

Christophe Vielle christophe.vielle at uclouvain.be
Tue Aug 14 08:54:41 UTC 2018


On behalf of Sanjay Sircar, an independent scholar:

Le 11 août 2018 à 05:10, S Sircar <ssircar1 at yahoo.com.au <mailto:ssircar1 at yahoo.com.au>> a écrit :

This is not re skulls in the Tantropakhyana, Tantrakhyayika and Artola's work [cf. H. Tull's post of 30-6-2017], but this ---

Two Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance, New Delhi: OUP, 2018: 

a book on the margins/intersections of folktale/folklore studies, kiddylit studies and colonial Indological cultural studies proper.  

Maybe there is a  Bengal/South Asia-involved folklorist who would be willing to review it for the Folklore Fellows, who say they will not send it out for review themselves, but will print a review if they receive one? (This seems to be an odd way of doing things, but that is what they said.)

Vol. includes, on The-Make Believe Bridegroom
The Bengal Renaissance and folktale, in this case Maerchen-Rupkatha, Kunstmaerchen, and Women’s Ritual Bratakatha Tale  
1.      Abanindranath’s immediate source
2.      Folklore, Collecting Folktales, Colonial Control and National Pride
3.      Abanindranath’s story as a form of AT (Folktale) Tale Type 459
4.      Folk-fairytale, “Art”-fairytale; Folk nursery-rhyme used creatively in original work
5.      The “kheer” doll of Abanindranath’s story, its origin and nature
6.      The Brahmin Witch: who is she?
7.      Shashthi tales: the crossover between ordinary folk-fairytales and women’s ritual tales
8.      Yet another contemporaneous reworked Shashthi-tale from the Tagores: Jnanadanandini Devi’s drama for children “The Seven Champa Brothers”
9.      The particular “Indian dress” of AT 459 in Abanindranath’s Kunstmaerchen form
10.  Specific features of this translation, and the illustrations
Appendices
i.          Motif Summary of Kheerer Putul itself (not AT 459 generally)
ii.         Indian versions of AT 459 in the order they were first published
iii.        Relevant Puranic, Mangal-Kavya and Bratakatha Material
iv.        Iranian/Palestinian versions of AT 459 in the order in which they were first published
v.         Editions of Kheerer Putul in Bengali
vi.        Bengali dramatisations of Kheerer Putul
vii.       English translations of Kheerer Putul
viii.      Translations of Kheerer Putul into Other Indian Languages
ix.        A distinct line of translation/illustration into European languages other than English 
On Bhondaŗ Bahadur,“In the Manner of Lewis Carroll”, but a Very Different Matter
1. Dream-Convention: Entering Dream, Traversing Dreamland,and Returning from It 
2. The Social World of the New Bengal Dreamland
3. The Carroll-derived inhabitants of the new Bengal wonderland
4. Gendered and Generic Adaptation: A New Male Mock-heroic Quest
5. UnCarrollean Maerchen elements
6. The Epic Quest of the Divine Hero
7. The Myth of the Goddess and the Jaté-buṛi
8. Pointers to Interpretation
9. Unfinished Stories and an Unfinished Quest: Anti-climactic, Peripheral, Unnecessary, yet Meaningful
10. A New Theme: Growing Down, a New Start
11. In Sum: Carroll and Gaganendranath
12. Specific features of the Translation
13. Before we translate him, what species of animal is Bhondaṛ Bahadur?
14. From nature to culture: the Asian Palm Civet “bhondaṛ” in a Bengali lexical field and “perceptual group"
15. For non-Banglaphone South Asians: the Bengali (Asian Palm Civet) “bhondaṛ” or its closest approximations
16. Our bhondaṛ and his honorific in translated title and text
Appendices
i.        The text: editions
ii.   The supernatural and folklore figures
iii.    The musical instruments
iv.     The measures
v.       The magic lantern as a scientific instrument
vi.     The plants
vii.   Which subspecies is Bhondaṛ Bahadur;what do our bhondaṛs look like?
viii. Gaganendranath as a painter and Bhondaṛ Bahadur
x.     The Variations between Versions: “Dadabhay-er Deyala” (1926) and Bhondaṛ Bahadur (1956)


Editor's notice:
https://india.oup.com/product/fantasy-fictions-from-the-bengal-renaissance-9780199486755? <https://india.oup.com/product/fantasy-fictions-from-the-bengal-renaissance-9780199486755?>

Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance
Abanindranath Tagore’s The Make-Believe Prince (Kheerer Putul) Gaganendranath Tagore’s Toddy-Cat the Bold (Bhondaṛ Bahadur). Translated by Sanjay Sircar.
Publication date: 29/06/2018
ISBN: 9780199486755 
Paperback 372 pages
Description


Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance presents two masterpieces of Bengali literature by Rabindranath Tagore’s nephews, Abanindranath Tagore and Gaganendranath Tagore. 
The Make-Believe Prince is the delightful story of a king, his two wives, a trickster monkey, a witch, and a helper from another world who is not a ‘fairy godmother’. Abanindranath deploys traditional children’s rhymes and paints exquisite word-pictures in his original rendering of a tale which has its roots in Bengali folktale materials in various genres. 
Toddy-Cat the Bold sees a group of brave comrades seek help from a young boy to rescue the son of their leader from the Two-Faced Rakshasa of the forest. Here, a more numinous supernatural helper appears. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, it presents a comic, exciting, and mysterious journey quite unlike Carroll’s, with many traditional local touches and an unexpected ending. 

About the Author 
Abanindranath Tagore was a renowned Indian artist, author, and folklorist. 
Gaganendranath Tagore was a famous satirical cartoonist, and a pioneer of lithography and design in India. 
The two brothers are considered to be among the earliest modern artists of India. They founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Kolkata, India.



Table of contents


Foreword by Peter Hunt 
Preface 

THE MAKE-BELIEVE PRINCE (KHEERER PUTUL) 

Recasting Folktale: Maerchen-Rupkatha/Women’s Ritual Bratakatha Tale Material to Buchmaerchen/Kunstmaerchen 
1. The Two Queens 
2. The King Plans a Sea Voyage 
3. The Desires of the Younger Queen 
4. The Elder Queen’s Desire 
5. The King’s Illusions 
6. The Land of Rubies and the Land of Gold 
7. The Land of Pearls and the Land of the King’s Daughter 
8. The King’s Return 
9. The Younger Queen’s Welcome 
10. The Arrival of the Monkey 
11. The Elder Queen’s Welcome 
12. The Sorrow of the Elder Queen 
13. The Monkey’s Consolation 
14. The Disappearance of the Monkey 
15. The Monkey’s Prediction 
16. The Elder Queen’s Necklace 
17. The Royal Quarrel 
18. The Monkey’s Complaint 
19. The Hovel Renewed 
20. The New Pavilion 
21. The Witch 
22. The Platter of Sweetmeats 
23. The Monkey Physician 
24. The Imaginary Princeling 
25. Arranging a Betrothal 
26. The Make-Believe Prince 
27. The Bridegroom’s Journey 
Two Nursery Rhymes 
28. The Venerable Shashthi and the Aunts of Sleep 
29. The Monkey’s Blackmail 
More Nursery Rhymes 
30. The Dreamland of Children 
And Still More Nursery Rhymes 
31. The Monkey’s Quest 
32. The Wedding 
33. Happy Ever After 
Annotated Bibliography 

Illustrations 
The Neglected Elder Queen and Her Hovel 
The King’s Voyage 
The King Returns to the Younger Queen 
The Elder Queen Welcomes Home the King 
The Elder Queen and the Monkey 
The Monkey Seeks the Reason for the Elder 
Queen’s Sorrow 
Shashthi and Her Cats 
Shashthi and Her Cats, as the Monkey Looks On 
The Elder Queen Welcomes Home Her Little Prince 

TODDY-CAT THE BOLD (BHONDAṚ BAHADUR) 

‘In the Manner of Lewis Carroll’, but a Very Different Matter 

1. Bhondaṛ Arrives: The Call to Battle 
2. The Attack of the Two-Faced Rakshasa of Chutupalu 
3. Farewell to Bhondaṛ Mahal 
The Song the Army Sang 
4. Mishap at Kamalapuli Railway Station, but Soldiering on to the Ancient Apothecary 
5. In Front of the Mad King’s Garden, and What Happened There 
6. The Blue Mountain, the Palm-Leaf Sentries, and Brother Fox 
7. To the Secret Chamber 
8. The Top-Knotted Old Mother 
9. Sleeping— 
10. —and Waking 

Appendices 
About the Authors and the Translator

–––––––––––––––––––
Christophe Vielle <https://uclouvain.be/en/directories/christophe.vielle>
Louvain-la-Neuve





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