UGC NET Folk Literature Syllabus 2025-26 — Complete Unit-wise Guide

Folk Literature is one of the most culturally rich subjects under UGC NET, drawing on Folklore Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Literary Theory, and Ethnomusicology. This guide covers the complete 2025–26 NTA syllabus in a comprehensive unit-wise format.

Exam Pattern

Unit 1: Concept and Definition of Folklore and Folk Literature

• Definitions: William Thoms (coined "folk-lore," 1846 — The Athenaeum, London); Alan Dundes (1965) — "folk" is any group sharing at least one common linking factor; Jan Harold Brunvand — "four-fold definition": traditional forms, variation, anonymous authorship, oral transmission.
• Scope of Folklore: Oral literature (myth, legend, folktale, proverb, riddle, folk song, epic); material culture (folk art, folk crafts, folk architecture); customary lore (folk beliefs, folk medicine, folk games, folk festivals); performing arts (folk dance, folk theatre, folk music).
• Folk vs. Classical vs. Popular: Folk — anonymous, oral, traditional, community-owned, variant-rich; Classical — authored, written, fixed text, elite patronage; Popular — mass-mediated, commercial, ephemeral; Robert Redfield's "little tradition" (folk) vs. "great tradition" (elite/classical).
• Oral vs. Written: Milman Parry and Albert Lord's oral-formulaic theory (Homeric epics composed orally; epithets and formulae as building blocks); Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy (1982) — primary vs. secondary orality; residual orality in literate cultures.
• Indian Context: Lokasakāhitya (Sanskrit — folk literature); Tamil Sangam as blend of oral/written; Vedic oral tradition; Jain oral narrative tradition; living oral traditions (Pandavani — Chhattisgarh; Teejan Bai, Padma Bhushan 1988).

Unit 2: Schools and Theories of Folklore

• Myth-Ritual School: James George Frazer (The Golden Bough, 1890) — king-sacrifice ritual; Theodor Gaster; Jane Ellen Harrison; myth as narrative explanation of ritual.
• Diffusionist School: Max Müller (solar mythology — Āryan migration of myths); Theodor Benfey (Indian origin of folktales — Panchatantra diffusion westward via Persia and Arab world); Historic-Geographic School (Finnish school — Kaarle Krohn, Antti Aarne — mapping variants to reconstruct original form).
• Psychoanalytic School: Freud — wish-fulfilment and repressed desires in fairy tales; Carl Jung — collective unconscious, archetypes (shadow, anima/animus, hero, trickster); Bruno Bettelheim (The Uses of Enchantment, 1976) — fairy tales help children process psychological conflicts.
• Structural School: Vladimir Propp (Morphology of the Folktale, 1928) — 31 narrative functions, 7 character spheres (villain, donor, helper, princess, dispatcher, hero, false hero); Lévi-Strauss — myth as binary oppositions (raw/cooked, nature/culture); A.J. Greimas — actantial model.
• Performance Theory: Richard Bauman (Verbal Art as Performance, 1977) — folklore as communicative event; context, performer, audience; the "keying" of performance; Dell Hymes' ethnography of communication.
• Feminist Folklore: Kay Stone, Bonnie Upton — re-reading fairy tales; women as active agents vs. passive; Angela Carter's feminist rewriting of fairy tales.

Unit 3: Folk Narrative

• Myth: Sacred narrative explaining origins, natural phenomena, religious beliefs; cosmogonic myths; aetiological myths; eschatological myths; trickster myths; Eliade — myth as "exemplary model"; Indian: Puranic myths (creation — Brahma, preservation — Vishnu, destruction — Shiva; churning of the ocean); tribal myths (Santali creation myth — Thakur Jiu).
• Legend: Believed to be true by tellers; set in historical time; memorates (personal experience) vs. fabulates; Saga; localised and culture-specific; urban legends (contemporary legends — "Vanishing Hitchhiker," Brunvand).
• Folktale (Märchen): Not believed true; "once upon a time"; Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) classification — animal tales (ATU 1–299), magic/wonder tales (ATU 300–749), religious tales (ATU 750–849), realistic tales (ATU 850–999), tales of the stupid ogre (ATU 1000–1199), anecdotes and jokes (ATU 1200–1999); Panchatantra and Jataka tales as animal fables.
• Jataka Tales: ~550 stories of the Buddha's previous lives (Pali Canon); moral/didactic; fusion of folk narrative and Buddhist doctrine; influence on world literature (Aesop debated, Arabian Nights).
• Epics: Primary oral epic vs. literary epic; Parry-Lord oral-formulaic; Indian folk epics — Pabuji (Rajasthan — Bhopa performers with Phad scroll painting); Alha-Udal (North India — Bundeli oral epic); Tulu Paddanas (Karnataka coastal epic).

Unit 4: Folk Poetry

• Forms: Ballad (narrative poem, oral, musical, dramatic, impersonal — English and Scottish Popular Ballads, F.J. Child; Indian equivalents — Braj lok-geet, Bengali baul songs, Rajasthani dhola-maru); Lyric (personal emotion, repetition, refrain — North Indian chaiti, kajri, sohar); Work songs (grinding songs, harvest songs, fishing songs — connection to labour rhythm).
• Life Cycle Poetry: Birth songs (sohar — UP, Bihar); marriage songs (vivah geet, sumangali paruva padal); death songs (vilapatu, rona); seasonal festivals — Holi songs (holika, phag), monsoon songs (kajri, malhar).
• Bhakti and Sufi Folk Poetry: Kabir's dohas — anti-caste, syncretism; Mirabai's padas — Radha-Krishna devotion; Baul (Bengal — Lalon Fakir, synthesis of Vaishnava bhakti and Sufi mysticism — UNESCO ICH 2008); Qawwali (North India/Pakistan — Sufi devotional music, Amir Khusrau).
• Tribal Poetry: Santali oral poetry (purnima songs, harvest songs); Gondi folk songs; North-East tribal oral poetry (Naga, Mizo, Garo).
• Riddles and Proverbs: Riddles as verbal play (Vedic riddles — brahmodyum; Finnish riddles as competition); proverbs — concise truths, culturally specific, anonymous authorship; Archer Taylor (definition of proverb); Mieder's Introduction to Paremiology; Indian proverbs in regional languages.

Unit 5: Folk Drama and Theatre

• Origin of Folk Drama: Ritual origins — Richard Schechner's environmental theatre; Arnold van Gennep's rites of passage and liminal space; folk drama as embodied cultural memory.
• Forms in India:
  • Ramlila — enactment of Ramayana; Ramnagar (Varanasi) most famous; UNESCO Representative List (2008).
  • Rasleela — Krishna devotional drama; Braj Vrindavan; Manipuri Rasleela (distinct style).
  • Jatra (Yatra) — Bengal; mobile stage; political/mythological themes.
  • Tamasha — Maharashtra; music-dance-narrative; Lavani prominent.
  • Nautanki — North India; melodramatic; Hathras and Kanpur styles.
  • Theyyam — Kerala ritual theatre; elaborate make-up; possession; ancestor worship.
  • Yakshagana — Karnataka; all-night performance; Mahabharata/Ramayana; elaborate costumes.
  • Ankia Nat — Assam; Vaishnavite; one-act plays by Shankardev.
  • Chhau — Jharkhand/Purulia/Odisha; masked dance-drama; UNESCO (2010).

Unit 6: Folk Music

• Classification: Ethnomusicology (Curt Sachs — organological classification); Hornbostel-Sachs classification — chordophones, aerophones, idiophones, membranophones (+ electrophones added later); Indian folk instruments — dhol, tabla variants, ektara, tumbi, sarangi folk variants, bansuri (bamboo flute).
• Regional Folk Music: Bhojpuri Birha (UP — protest/philosophical songs — Ramdesh Nirmalkar); Punjabi Bhangra (harvest); Rajasthani Maand (classical-folk hybrid); Baul (Bengal); Lavani (Maharashtra); Garba/Dandiya (Gujarat); Bihu songs (Assam); Pahadi folk music (Himachal, Uttarakhand).
• Devotional Folk Music: Bhajans; kirtans; qawwali; sufi dhamaal; tribal drum circles (jhuma, nagara).
• Field Recording and Preservation: Arnold Bake (early recordings, 1920s–30s); Ashoke Ranade's work on Indian folk music; Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE), Gurgaon (American Institute of Indian Studies — AIIS).

Unit 7: Material Culture and Folk Art

• Material Culture: Folk architecture (vernacular homes — Bengal jhaupari, Rajasthani havelis, Kerala nalukettu, North-East bamboo stilt houses); traditional water harvesting (kundi, baoli, johad, eri, phad, ahar-pyne); folk dress and textiles (Paithani saree, Phulkari, Kantha, Pochampally Ikat).
• Folk Art Forms: Madhubani/Mithila painting (Bihar — wall paintings; geometric, nature; Dusadh and Brahmin traditions; Sita-Ram motifs); Warli (Maharashtra tribal — geometric, rice paste on mud walls; hunts, dances, harvest); Pattachitra (Odisha — palm leaf + cloth; Jagannath, Ramayana; Pipli); Gond (Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh — Jangarh Singh Shyam; dotted/nature-inspired); Kalamkari (Andhra — hand-painted cloth, mythological).
• UNESCO ICH: Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Vedic chanting, Ramlila, Chhau, Baul, Kutiyattam, Nowruz, Mudiyettu, Ramman, Kalbelia folk songs and dances (2010), Sankirtana (Manipur, 2013), Traditional brass and copper craft of utensils making of Thatheras, Jandiala Guru (2014), Nawrouz.

Unit 8: Folk Belief, Folk Religion, and Folk Medicine

• Folk Religion: Distinction from official/great tradition religion; village deities (grāmadevatā — Mariamman, Ellamma, Sitala Mata — smallpox goddess, Ola Bibi — cholera deity); Bonga spirits (Santali); tree and snake worship; ancestor veneration (pitṛ-pūjā).
• Spirit Possession and Shamanism: Oracles (devaru/bhagat); Theyyam possession; Muthappan; Sidi Saiyid (Gujarat — syncretism); exorcism (ojha, jharphuk in North India).
• Folk Medicine: Ethnobotany (use of plants — tulsi, neem, turmeric, ashwagandha); bone-setters; midwifery (dai); malaria cures; hot-cold food theory; healing rituals; desi chikitsa; interface with AYUSH.
• Folk Games and Festivals: Kabaddi (origin in South Asia, National Sport of Bangladesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra), Gilli-danda, Kho-Kho; Festival games — Pongal bull racing (Jallikattu), Kambala (buffalo racing, Karnataka).

Unit 9: Folk Literature and Classical Literature — Interface

• Tributaries Flowing Both Ways: Vedic oral tradition influencing Sanskrit kāvya; Panchatantra fables → Hitopadesha → Arabic Kalila wa-Dimna → European Fables; Tamil Sangam poetry — folk and classical intertwined; Kabir's dohas influencing Hindi literary tradition.
• Written Versions of Oral Epics: Ramcharitmanas (Tulsidas) vs. Valmiki Ramayana vs. hundreds of folk Ramayanas (A.K. Ramanujan — "300 Ramayanas," 1991); Mahabharata folk retellings (Pandavani, Terayattam); tribal Ramayana traditions.
• Adaptation and Indianisation: Stories from Silk Road arriving in India adapted to local cultural contexts; Arabian Nights and Panchatantra cross-fertilisation; Sanskrit plays drawing on folk entertainment (Mrcchakatika).
• Neo-Folk and Urban Folk: Bollywood folk (Tilak deke chalo, dandiya-inspired pop); fusion folk music (Rabbi Shergill's Bulla Ki Jaana); contemporary folk revival movements; Kabir Project (Prahlaad Tipaniya, Prahlad Singh Tipanya).

Unit 10: Documentation, Preservation, and Policy

• UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH (2003): Definition of ICH; five domains (oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, nature knowledge, traditional craftsmanship); inscription process (Representative List, Urgent Safeguarding List); Intergovernmental Committee.
• India's Folklore Documentation: Sangeet Natak Akademi (1952 — national level performing arts); Sahitya Akademi (folk literature publication); National Folklore Congress; Folklore Research Journal (Dehradun); Tribal Research Institutes (state level); National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM).
• Endangered Oral Traditions: Language loss and folk literature; Master artists and guru-shishya transmission; documentation projects (Endangered Archives Programme — British Library; ARCE); digital archiving.
• Folk Literature and Identity Politics: Dalit folk literature (Dalit Panthers; oral resistance traditions); women's folk literature (Viraha songs as protest); tribal oral literature as land/rights assertion; decolonising folklore studies.

Important Books

FAQs

Who can appear for UGC NET Folk Literature?

Candidates with an MA/M.Phil. in Folk Literature, Folklore Studies, Cultural Studies, any Indian Language, Comparative Literature, or Cultural Anthropology with 55% marks (50% reserved) from a recognised university are eligible.

Is there a standard textbook for UGC NET Folk Literature?

No single textbook covers the full syllabus. Prafulla Kumar Mohanty's Folk Literature of India, Dundes' anthology, and Propp's Morphology are the core readings. Supplement with university notes specific to this subject.

How many folk drama forms need to be memorised?

Know the 10–12 major Indian folk theatre forms (Ramlila, Jatra, Tamasha, Nautanki, Yakshagana, Theyyam, Chhau, Ankia Nat, Rasleela, Therukoothu) along with their states and key features.

UGC NET लोक साहित्य सिलेबस 2025-26 — सम्पूर्ण इकाईवार मार्गदर्शिका

लोक साहित्य UGC NET के सबसे सांस्कृतिक रूप से समृद्ध विषयों में से एक है। यह मार्गदर्शिका 2025–26 के सम्पूर्ण NTA पाठ्यक्रम को इकाईवार प्रस्तुत करती है।

परीक्षा पैटर्न

इकाई 1: लोककथा और लोक साहित्य की अवधारणा

• परिभाषाएं: William Thoms ("folk-lore" शब्द, 1846); Alan Dundes (1965) — "folk" = साझा संबंध वाला कोई भी समूह; Jan Harold Brunvand — चार पहलू: पारंपरिक, परिवर्तनशील, अज्ञात लेखक, मौखिक प्रसारण।
• लोककथा का दायरा: मौखिक साहित्य; भौतिक संस्कृति; प्रथागत ज्ञान; प्रदर्शनकारी कलाएं।
• लोक vs. शास्त्रीय vs. लोकप्रिय: Robert Redfield — "little tradition" (लोक) vs. "great tradition" (अभिजात/शास्त्रीय)।
• मौखिक vs. लिखित: Milman Parry और Albert Lord — oral-formulaic theory; Walter Ong — Orality and Literacy (1982)।
• भारतीय संदर्भ: लोकसाहित्य (संस्कृत); तमिल संगम; वैदिक मौखिक परंपरा; Pandavani (छत्तीसगढ़ — तीजन बाई, पद्म भूषण 1988)।

इकाई 2: लोककथा के विद्यालय और सिद्धांत

• Myth-Ritual विद्यालय: Frazer (The Golden Bough, 1890); Theodor Gaster; myth as ritual explanation।
• Diffusionist विद्यालय: Max Müller (solar mythology); Theodor Benfey (Panchatantra का पश्चिम में प्रसार); Finnish School (Kaarle Krohn, Antti Aarne — Historic-Geographic)।
• मनोविश्लेषणात्मक विद्यालय: Freud — इच्छापूर्ति; Jung — collective unconscious, archetypes (hero, trickster, shadow); Bruno Bettelheim (The Uses of Enchantment, 1976)।
• संरचनात्मक विद्यालय: Propp (31 functions, 7 character spheres); Lévi-Strauss (binary oppositions — raw/cooked, nature/culture); Greimas (actantial model)।
• Performance Theory: Richard Bauman (Verbal Art as Performance, 1977) — folklore as communicative event; context, performer, audience।

इकाई 3: लोक आख्यान

• मिथक: पवित्र आख्यान; cosmogonic, aetiological, eschatological, trickster myths; Eliade — "exemplary model"; भारतीय: पौराणिक मिथक; संताली सृष्टि मिथक।
• किंवदंती: सत्य मानी जाती है; ऐतिहासिक काल में स्थापित; memorates vs. fabulates; urban legends।
• लोककथा (Märchen): सत्य नहीं मानी जाती; ATU वर्गीकरण — animal tales (1–299), magic tales (300–749), religious tales (750–849), realistic tales (850–999); Panchatantra और Jataka tales।
• Jataka कथाएं: ~550 कहानियां; बुद्ध के पूर्वजन्म; नैतिक/उपदेशात्मक; विश्व साहित्य पर प्रभाव।
• महाकाव्य: Primary oral vs. literary epic; भारतीय: पाबूजी (राजस्थान — भोपा कलाकार, फड़ चित्रकला); आल्हा-उदल (बुंदेली)।

इकाई 4: लोक काव्य

• रूप: Ballad (narrative poem — F.J. Child; भारतीय: ब्रज लोकगीत, बाउल, राजस्थानी ढोला-मारू); Lyric (chaiti, kajri, sohar); work songs।
• जीवन-चक्र काव्य: जन्म गीत (सोहर); विवाह गीत (विवाह गीत); मृत्यु गीत; त्योहार — होली गीत (होलिका, फाग), मानसून गीत (कजरी, मल्हार)।
• भक्ति और सूफी लोक काव्य: कबीर के दोहे; मीराबाई के पद; बाउल (UNESCO ICH 2008 — Lalon Fakir); Qawwali (अमीर खुसरो)।
• पहेलियां और कहावतें: Verbal play; Vedic riddles (brahmodyum); Archer Taylor (proverb definition); Mieder's Introduction to Paremiology।

इकाई 5: लोक नाटक और रंगमंच

• भारत में प्रमुख रूप:
  • रामलीला — UNESCO Representative List (2008); रामनगर (वाराणसी) सबसे प्रसिद्ध।
  • रासलीला — कृष्ण भक्ति; ब्रज वृंदावन; मणिपुरी रासलीला।
  • जात्रा — बंगाल; गतिशील मंच।
  • तमाशा — महाराष्ट्र; लावणी प्रमुख।
  • नौटंकी — उत्तर भारत; Hathras और Kanpur शैलियां।
  • थेय्यम — केरल; विस्तृत श्रृंगार; possession।
  • यक्षगान — कर्नाटक; रात्रिकालीन प्रदर्शन।
  • अंकिया नाट — असम; शंकरदेव के वैष्णव नाटक।
  • छऊ — झारखंड/पुरुलिया/ओडिशा; UNESCO (2010)।
• कठपुतली: String (राजस्थान — कठपुतली); Shadow (आंध्र — थोलु बोम्मलाट; केरल — थोलपावकूत्तु); Rod (बंगाल — पुतुल नाच)।

इकाई 6: लोक संगीत

• वर्गीकरण: Hornbostel-Sachs — chordophones, aerophones, idiophones, membranophones; भारतीय: ढोल, एकतारा, तुम्बी, सारंगी, बांसुरी।
• क्षेत्रीय: भोजपुरी बिरहा; पंजाबी भांगड़ा; राजस्थानी माँड; बाउल (बंगाल); लावणी (महाराष्ट्र); गरबा/डांडिया (गुजरात); बिहू (असम)।
• भक्ति लोक संगीत: भजन; कीर्तन; Qawwali; सूफी धमाल।
• प्रलेखन: Arnold Bake (1920-30); Ashoke Ranade; ARCE (Gurgaon — AIIS)।

इकाई 7: भौतिक संस्कृति और लोक कला

• लोक स्थापत्य: बंगाल झौंपड़ी; राजस्थानी हवेली; केरल नालुकेट्टु; उत्तर-पूर्व बांस के स्तंभ घर।
• लोक कला: मधुबानी/मिथिला (बिहार — GI Tag 2007); वर्ली (महाराष्ट्र — geometric, white); पट्टचित्र (ओडिशा — GI Tag); गोंड (MP/CG — Jangarh Singh Shyam); कलमकारी (आंध्र — GI Tag); फुलकारी (पंजाब — GI Tag)।
• UNESCO ICH: कुंभ मेला, योग, रामलीला, छऊ, बाउल, कूटियाट्टम, संकीर्तन (मणिपुर 2013), Kalbelia (2010), Thatheras (2014)।

इकाई 8: लोक विश्वास, लोक धर्म, लोक चिकित्सा

• लोक धर्म: ग्रामदेवता (मरिअम्मन, सीतला माता, ओला बीबी); बोंगा (संताली); वृक्ष और सर्प पूजा; पितृ-पूजा।
• Spirit Possession: देवरु/भगत; थेय्यम; ओझा; झाड़-फूंक।
• लोक चिकित्सा: Ethnobotany (तुलसी, नीम, हल्दी, अश्वगंधा); हड्डी जोड़ने वाले; दाई; गर्म-ठंडा आहार सिद्धांत।
• लोक खेल: कबड्डी; गिल्ली-डंडा; खो-खो; जल्लीकट्टु; कंबला।

इकाई 9: लोक और शास्त्रीय साहित्य का अंतर्संबंध

• दो-तरफा प्रभाव: Panchatantra → Hitopadesha → Arabic Kalila wa-Dimna → European Fables; तमिल संगम; कबीर के दोहों का हिंदी साहित्य पर प्रभाव।
• मौखिक महाकाव्यों के लिखित रूप: तुलसीदास की रामचरितमानस vs. सैकड़ों लोक रामायण (A.K. Ramanujan — "300 Ramayanas," 1991); पंडवाणी, तेरायट्टम।
• Neo-Folk और शहरी लोक: Bollywood folk; fusion (Rabbi Shergill — Bulla Ki Jaana); Kabir Project।

इकाई 10: प्रलेखन, संरक्षण और नीति

• UNESCO ICH Convention (2003): 5 domains; Representative List; Urgent Safeguarding List।
• भारत का प्रलेखन: Sangeet Natak Akademi (1952); Sahitya Akademi; National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM); ARCE (Gurgaon)।
• संकटग्रस्त मौखिक परंपराएं: भाषा लोप और लोक साहित्य; Endangered Archives Programme (British Library)।
• लोक साहित्य और पहचान: दलित लोक साहित्य (Dalit Panthers); महिला लोक साहित्य (viraha songs as protest); जनजातीय भूमि अधिकार और मौखिक साहित्य।

महत्वपूर्ण पुस्तकें

अक्सर पूछे जाने वाले प्रश्न

UGC NET लोक साहित्य के लिए कौन पात्र है?

लोक साहित्य, भारतीय भाषाएं, तुलनात्मक साहित्य, सांस्कृतिक अध्ययन या सांस्कृतिक नृविज्ञान में न्यूनतम 55% (आरक्षित: 50%) के साथ MA/M.Phil. वाले पात्र हैं।

लोक नाटक के कितने रूप याद करने हैं?

10–12 प्रमुख भारतीय लोक रंगमंच रूप — राज्य और मुख्य विशेषता के साथ जानें।