USE OF FOLK ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION 1 Rajesh Cheemalakonda USE OF FOLK ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION FOLK ARTS AS MASS COMMUNICATION MEDIA Origin of Folk Arts With the creation of living things the art of communication started. The animal expresses its feelings of pleasure, anger and hunger through their own means of sound and other sense organs. The primitive people with their nomadic culture were concerned more with food rather than shelter and clothing. They moved from terrain to terrain in search of roots, fruits, and beasts to prey upon. After toiling from dawn to dusk, either they relaxed in the shades of trees or on the banks of rivers to relieve themselves from the ordeals as they encountered. When they found the area ideal for habitat and learnt the art of agriculture and cattle rearing, they settled there and began to put up huts on the ground with wood and other materials at elevated places in order to escape from the fury of nature and animals. Later they moved to plains and slowly learnt the art of building houses, which withstood the onslaught of weather. Men lived in groups though many houses were built each adjoining the other. Thus, human habitation came into existence and later it took the form of villages. The village people of those days spent their times usefully and purposefully. The labourer in agricultural fields and in rural industries sang songs to overcome the weariness of their work. These are known as Folklore. Folklore is a medium through which the soul of a people expresses itself colourfully. In such creation, they find an artistic fulfilment and entertainment combining with dance that is called Folk arts. Folk art differs from primitive art in its outlook and character. It comes into being after a culture begins to sophisticate, taking shape in various styles and techniques. It does not involve any formal training. The children pick up the song and dance as they pick up their language. The needs and peculiar problems of the village people's life find an expression in folk art. Their daily life is full of religious customs and ceremonies. Myths and legends are required to be illustrated interestingly and conveyed to the public. USE OF FOLK ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION 2 Rajesh Cheemalakonda Children require toys and dolls to play with. Changing tastes of women are to be satisfied with new types of ornaments. Shrines and idols are to be built. While satisfying the needs of the people, folk art attains a certain aesthetic level. Folk art has its own individuality and character and it exists by its intrinsic merit i.e., flight of fancy of the artist, its symmetrical form, rhythm of design and efficient workmanship. Materials used in folk art are local and not imported from outside. Folk art is closely connected with the soil, linked up with the customs and belief of the people. It is in no way art for art's sake. It is utilitarian in outlook and is based on the socio-religious life of the people. It is anonymous and its origin cannot be traced to any particular period of time. Over all, Folk art is a higher form of culture in comparison to primitive art. Folk Arts as an Effective Mass Media The word 'Tradition' implying customs, habits and way of life existed in a society for a long period of continuity from time immemorial and practised from one generation to another. It can be transmitted through written scriptures or by word of mouth. The nomadic primitive people sharing a common cultural heritage based on oral tradition are generally said to have a folk culture. Folk implies the people's participation and spontaneity. Folk culture in a society is seen in four different forms: 1. Oral tradition: These include mostly verbal arts or expressive literature consisting of spoken, sung and voiced forms of traditional utterances like songs, tales, poetry, ballads, anecdotes, rhymes, proverbs and elaborate epics. 2. Material culture: These are visible aspects of folk behaviour such as skills, recipes and formulae as displayed in rural arts and crafts, traditional motifs, architectural design, clothes, fashions, farming, fishing and various other types of tools and machinery. 3. Social folk customs: These are areas of traditional life, which emphasize the group rather than the individual skills and performances. They include large family and community observances and relate to rites of passages such as birth, initiation, marriage and death or USE OF FOLK ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION 3 Rajesh Cheemalakonda annual celebrations, festivals, fairs, ritual and ceremonial gatherings, market occasions and rural meets. 4. Performing arts: These consist of traditional music, masquerades, dance and drama. Among these, the Oral tradition and the Performing arts appear to be the main media of communication. Storytellers, singers, minstrels and other kinds of folk entertainers have acted for centuries as sources for the transmission and dissemination of news and information through face-to-face live communication. Families, social groups and community gatherings served as the main flora of communication and sources for feedback for the folk performers. The values, attitudes, beliefs and culture of the people are propagated, reinforced and perpetuated through these folk forms. The issues in a society are depicted in the form of satire by the folk artists for curing societal evils. Anthropologically, India is divided into tribal (12%) rural (75%) and urban (13%). Due to vast geographic disparities, rural settlements and lack of modern education, folk cultures abound in India. Indian society with its complex family system, classes, ethnic groups and clans has not fully emerged out of the deep associations of the folk culture. In remote villages and in tribal communities, indigenous strands of basic Indian culture persist through the use of oral and functional role of folklore. This emphasizes the strong links the Indian society has with the past. This aspect of cultural perpetuity is discernible in our attitudes and taboos, in spite of the acceptance of modern innovations. Hence, the folk arts have been used for moral, religious and socio-political purposes in India right from ancient times. Rarely have they been resorted to for pure entertainment alone. Indeed, there have been schools of learning, courts of justice and discussion forum. It must be noted that folk forms have specific, religious, communal, caste wise and linguist dialects and bear values and associations that need to be taken into account. Thus, the folk arts preserve and disseminate in a lively manner, the tradition and culture of our forefathers, since they are deeply rooted in the social mainstream. Folk media are relatively inexpensive and easily accessible which adds to the popularity of the folk media in rural areas. Their highly spontaneous, participatory and involving quality makes them the media par excellence for any powerful and effective communication. USE OF FOLK ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION 4 Rajesh Cheemalakonda Folk Dances Folk dances are a spontaneous human expression of the joy of living. The forms may change from place to place but the rules, or the lack of them, in this field, are guided entirely by the spontaneity of the moment. Every country has its own variety of folk dances. Folk dances in India have always had a spiritual purpose and religious background and through them the fundamental principles and philosophic truths of the dominant religions in our country have been enabled to permeate into the minds of the masses. At the same time, they have been the most convenient means reflecting the community life and belief, the social customs and manners, and the hopes and aspirations of the people at large. Unsophisticated simplicity, spontaneity and gaiety are the characteristics of folk arts. Karakam, Kavadi, Nayyandi Melam, Puravi Attam or DummyHorse Dance, Villupattu, Kaichilambu, Oyil Attam, Bommalattam, Therukoothu Peacock Dance, Thola Bommala Kama, etc. are the popular forms of folk dances of India. Thus, the folk dances play an important part in the life of people. Folk Music Music appeals to the physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual instincts of man. A child is contained by the soft strains of music though it does not understand the language and meaning of the song. The smoothing tones of the lullaby have the power to put the baby to sleep. Adults find rest and relaxation at times of stress and worry by listening to rhythmic music. In all spheres of life - private or public, in villages and in towns, in times of peace and in times of war, in social and religious functions and in the life of the individual - music is absolutely essential. In India, more than anywhere else, music is inseparable form of all these various activities. Music is remembered more faithfully because to the folk singer the whole meaning of the song is emotional rather than logical. The appeal lies in the elemental simplicity of the musical styles that make the people involved in group behaviour. In tribal societies or societies other than urbanities, folk music plays a main role in the daily life. Most of the activities of the members of these societies revolve round the rituals and festivities associated with their traditional music. The music functions as a communication device when it is employed through the language and accepted melodic patterns of a community. Folk USE OF FOLK ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION 5 Rajesh Cheemalakonda musical styles supplement the speech communication with patterned vocal sounds, i.e., musical styles of modes. "Like the forms of Language" Alain Danielon writes, "the musical modes are permanent marks of the tradition to which people belong". Folk Songs The foresters of the woods, hill-men of the mountain ranges, fishermen of the seaside, the dwellers in the river basins, boatmen and the mariners all these follow their own traditions.