International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Folktales as a Mirror of Biate Women’s Image and Identity

Folktales are popular stories that were passed on in spoken form from one generation to another where the author is usually unknown. They are often used as teaching tool and entertainment for children by acquainting the community’s old traditions and culture. They constitute a folklore genre that comprises of fables, fairy tales, old legends, myths and even urban legends. Folktales have both a function and a purpose. They are often employed to share a common history to reinforce cultural values or highlight important traditions. But the Biate folktales exhibit the unremitting use of gender bias approach. Women took the major role in transmitting the old tradition through the recitation of folktales to the younger generation in the modern times. This research attempts to analyze the gender and power relations and struggle within the small patriarchal Biate society of North-East India through the folktales. The findings will show how women have been subjected to objectification. The results contemplate the patriarchal ideology remaining deeply rooted from the folktales. The folktales show that women even in imagination of the Biate community occupy inferior position than the men holding on to the patriarchal norms. The basis of data collection will be historical analysis and observation. Primary data as well as secondary sources will be consulted for this study.