Nanzan University Banana Republics and V. I. Degrees: Rethinking Indian Folklore in a Postcolonial World Author(s): Kirin Narayan Source: Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 52, No. 1 (1993), pp. 177-204 Published by: Nanzan University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1178456 Accessed: 15-03-2016 01:20 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Nanzan University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Asian Folklore Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 130.56.106.27 on Tue, 15 Mar 2016 01:20:12 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions KIRIN NARAYAN University of Wisconsin, Madison Banana Republics and V.I. Degrees: Rethinking Indian Folklore in a Postcolonial World Abstract In the history of scholarship on folklore in India, little attention has been directed towards the relationship between folklore and social change. This paper reviews British-based folklore studies in India, identifying a paradigm of self-contained peasant authenticity that viewed references to changing social realities as adultera- tions that must be edited out. It then contrasts such suppressions of change with the conscious revamping of folklore materials to disseminate nationalist, Marxist, feminist, and development ideologies.