Dr. Mian of the physics department attended our class this week and discussed folk stories of Bangladesh, specifically in the Bengali language he grew up hearing and speaking. From his presentation, I noticed the uniqueness of the Bengali folk tales as they were different from the other Asian stories and drastically different from European folk tales.
For me, it was interesting to see the variations between Indian and Bengali stories as I grew up next to a Hindu family and recognized many of the Indian figures and beliefs. The Bengali stories of Bangladesh contained demons as do the stories of India. Dr. Mian discussed the images used to portray the stories and it really made me realize how culturally impacted folk tales are as I have a good grasp of the Indian subcontinent culture in comparison the the American culture.
I realize that Bangladesh and India have different cultures but, Dr. Mian discussed the culture and lifestyle of the Bengali people in connection with tales so I am using his presentation as a backbone. In the images he described how it is common for males to wear nice jewelry and be very decorated, which I have noticed in my neighbor’s wedding pictures. Also, the incorporation of the ‘bindi’, the dot on the forehead, is present in the illustrations which makes sense but shows the application of the culture to the stories. I am also not sure about Bangladesh but I know that in India they have arranged marriages and if the same goes for Bangladesh, in a round about way, it shows that true love is attainable even with arranged marriages. I enjoyed this as my neighbors had an arranged marriage and have been happily married for 25 years.
Another unique quality was the incorporation of punishment meaning, there is never forgiveness in Bengali folk tales but rather, the evil figure is always punished in some ways. Yes, in other tales from different cultures, the evil character is sometimes punished but, in order to teach children, forgiveness is a big moral throughout tales. In Bengali stories, punishment is common and is obvious the stories.
What I really enjoyed about the story we read in class was the transformation. Transformations are very common in fairy tales but, this story contained the only transformation in which the character’s names change as well as there attitude and form. I was not sure if this had any special meaning but I took notice and was intrigued by the difference.
Generally, stories from the Indian subcontinent, specifically Bangladesh and India contain many cultural qualities that are apparent to me as I am very familiar with these cultures. Looking through my neighbors photo albums and shrines I recognized many symbolic meanings through the Indian and Bengali stories and until this weeks presentations, I never really recognized the unique cultural stories of these foreign countries as now I see not only the religious connection but also the heritage, climate, and tradition connections between a country and fairy tale.
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