Tribal Verse
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. Identify the common characteristics shared by tribal
communities all over the world.
2. What distinguishes the tribal imagination from the secular
imagination?
3. How does G.N. Devy bring out the importance of the oral literary
tradition?
4. List the distinctive features of the tribal arts.
5. ‘New literature’ is a misnomer for the wealth of the Indian literary
tradition. How does G.N. Devy explain this?
Discuss the following in pairs or in groups of four
1. ‘It is time to realise that unless we modify the established notion
of literature as something written, we will silently witness the
decline of various Indian oral traditions.’
2. ‘Tribal arts are not specificlly meant for sale.’ Does this help or
hamper their growth and preservation?
3. Because India’s tribal communities are basically bilingual there
is a danger of dismissing their languages as dialects of India’s
major tongues.
4. While tribal communities may not seem to possess the scientific
temper, there are many ideas from tribal conventions that could
enrich modern societies.
APPRECIATION
1. How does ‘A Munda Song’ show that the perspective of the tribal
mind towards the girl child is different from that of (other)
mainstream communities?
2. How does ‘A Kondh Song’ substantiate the tribal urge to gain
domination over time by conversing with their dead ancestors?
3. ‘Adi Song for the Recovery of Lost Health’ is in Miri Agom while
Adi Agom is the Adi community’s language for routine
conversation. How does this reflect upon the high level of
language sensitivity of the Adi? Can you think of other parallels
in modern languages between the literary variety and the
colloquial variety?
DABP006706
