STUDYING ECOCRITICISM THROUGH FOLK LITERATURE FROM BIHAR

Abstract

The research explores the kinds of “relationship between literature and environment” as depicted through the past habits, customs, and rituals of the folk tradition of Bihar. Folk lore is a significant part of Bihar’s rich heritage as a state. Mithila art, unique folk songs, folk tales, and proverbs are all part of this state’s rich and insightful past, which is reflected in its various art forms. Proverbs, folktales, and folksongs were used in the research. Within Indian folk literature, one can find elements of philosophical inquiry, celebration of the natural environment, depictions of migration issues, and reflections on relationships. By regularly including flora and fauna in their rituals, folksongs, folktales, and art forms, the people of Bihar inherently embrace environmental consciousness. By studying Bihar’s folklores, we can delve into the connection between nature and human beings. The research studies the folk literature recited or written in the languages of Bihar. Maithili, Angika, Magahi, and Bhojpuri are the primary languages in Bihar. The present research takes into account the first three languages because exhausting research has already been done on Bhojpuri language. The researcher’s task is to extract environmental elements by selecting folklores from these languages. Aside from linguistic differences, it was observed that the folk elements of all four languages are distinct. The research suggests that the environment is worsening in parallel with the decline of these folk compositions. People used to recite folklores in v earlier times due to their attachment to the physical environment, but this connection was gradually lost with industrialization and mechanization. Through elements of folk literature, the thesis aims to explore how nature and folk culture are interrelated. The question is raised about the historical coexistence of nature and humanity. Females, as per ecofeminist Annette Kolodny, experience exploitation similar to that of land. According to the thesis, the decline of these forms of folk literature parallels the deterioration of the environment. An examination of folk literature can uncover the historical relationship between humans and the environment. The thesis suggests that individuals familiar with the folklores and ancient practices of Bihar will have a better understanding of the physical environment compared to those who are unaware of these beliefs. Studying the select folklores of Bihar reveals that the homocentric and ecocentric approaches are not considered as binaries. The main goals of the research are to uncover the diverse perceptions of Bihar and examine the connection between folk composition and the physical environment. Furthermore, this current research delves into how the natural environment is perceived in folk literature from both western and Indian viewpoints. The issues of homocentric and ecocentric approaches are examined through folk songs, tales, and beliefs. Interpretation, analysis, and comparison are the major techniques used in this research. Interviews are conducted as a part of methodology. Criticism on the text of folklores is included. Recording of folk tales and folksongs are carried out by the researcher. All folklores are in the languages of Bihar. Therefore, translation of these folksongs has been carried out for the analytical purpose of the research. Folklores composed in other languages are considered for the comparative treatment of the subject of the research through their translated versions. The research engages with the vi extant critical works for a pre-existing perspective on the proposed subject of the study. The research involved visiting Bihar, majorly along the banks of the river Ganga. The fourth chapter includes the folk beliefs of fisher community, and unravels how their age-old customs added to a balanced relationship between human beings and the physical environment. The research posits that due to erratic seasonal pattern, the traditional festivals are suffering. With the rising interference by human beings to the natural environment, an immense necessity to protect the earth emerges. Scholars and scientists are bound to evolve, modify, and rejuvenate the techniques that could add to a better well-being of the nature. Furthermore, philosophical questioning must be carried out in order to strive to recover the irreparable damage done to our planet. The present research is an attempt to explore the inherent environment consciousness through an ecocritical study of the folk-literature from Bihar. This could lead the future researchers in devising techniques that would possibly repair the damages inflicted on the physical environment by homosapiens. This research endeavours to devise future research and techniques to enhance the ecosystem through re-assertion of folk heritage. The statement does not necessarily mean that one should go back to their older ways of thinking and performing rituals, rather it asserts the belief that with a heightened human-interruption of ecosystem, a dire need to evolve ways that could rejuvenate the older harmony of the physical environment emerges. Folklore of Bihar proves to be an epitome of how human beings are affected and could affect the environment.