Literary Tropes in The Folktales of Bengal

<p>Bengal (or the Bengal Presidency, which comprises modern-day Bangladesh and the<br>Indian state of West Bengal) is renowned for its folk writing. It has a plethora of<br>folktales, ballads, melodies, proverbs, and riddles. The joys and tragedies, smiles and<br>tears of everyday life, as well as many ancient stories, fables, fairy, and moral tales,<br>have found their way into various branches of our folk-literature. Bengal's folktales<br>are natural riches of the land. The heartaches of its people, their hopes and<br>frustrations, their faith and disillusionment have all contributed to the creation of this<br>region's folktales. The eastern half of old Bengal (the Bengal Presidency), now free<br>and independent Bangladesh, is the richest region of Bengal in terms of folk literature.<br>Folktales from a certain territory disclose numerous traditions, beliefs, usages, rituals,<br>rites, and myths from that region, but as a genre they have a universality, with many<br>points of constant contact and similarity with folktales from all over the world.In this<br>paper, I am interested in literary tropes in folktales, which are classic prose narratives<br>passed down from generation to generation largely through word of mouth, but also<br>occasionally through writing. The customary nature of the stories is what matters<br>here.</p>