Rupkatha: Bengali Fairy Tales

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Malay Bera (Ashoka University)

Ed. by Dainy Bernstein, University of Pennsylvania
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.2: Pakistani and Bangladeshi Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Sarker Hasan Al Zayed (Independent University Bangladesh), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Muneeza Shamsie (Independent Scholar - Asia), Niaz Zaman (Independent University Bangladesh)

Dates

Date of occurrence c.1880-

Places

Bangladesh (Location)
India (Location)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature

Resources

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This article traces the meandering journey of rupkatha (Bengali fairy tales) as a genre from "timeless" orality to print culture and nationalism in 19-20th century colonial Bengal, ultimately leading to multimedia adaptations in the contemporary culture industry. The article also contains a discussion of the gendered politics of male and female writers of rupkatha, and provides an overview of the different stylistic features adopted by well-known writers.

Rupkatha is a narrative genre from Bengal, the linguistic region roughly spread across present-day Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. The term rupkatha (pronounced, rūp-kaw-thā, alternatively spelled roopkatha and rupkotha) is often loosely translated to English as fairy tales (märchen in German). These stories

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6691 words

Citation: Bera, Malay. "Rupkatha: Bengali Fairy Tales". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 August 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19748, accessed 16 October 2024.]

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Rupkatha: Bengali Fairy Tales

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