Drishti: the Sight
Vol.
III, Issue: II (November, 2014-May, 2015)
ISSN
2319-8281
A
REFEREED (PEER-REVIEWED) BI- ANNUAL NATIONAL RESEARCH
JOURNAL
OF ENGLISH LITERATURE/ASSAMESE LITERATURE/FOLKLORE /CULTURE
Editor
(Hon.)
DIPAK
JYOTI BARUAH,
Associate
Professor, Dept. of English, Jagiroad College(University of Gauhati)
Members
of Advisory Body
Dayananda
Pathak, Former Principal, Pragjyotish College, Guwahati, Assam
Prabin
Ch. Das, Former Head, Dept. of Folklore, University of Gauhati
Biplab
Chakraborty, Professor, Centre for Advanced Studies, Dept of Bengali, Burdwan
University
Kalikinkar
Pattanayak, Reader, Post Graduation Department of English, Khallikote
Autonomous
College,Barhampur,
Odisha
Manash
Pratim Borah, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Central Institute of
Himalayan
Culture
Studies, Arunachal Pradesh
Members
of Editorial Body
Lakshmi Das Pathak,
Associate Professor, Dept. of Assamese, LCB College (University of Gauhati)
Angshuman Das,
Associate Professor, Dept. of Assamese, Moirabari College(University of
Gauhati)
Pranjal Dutta,
Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Sarupathar College(University of
Dibrugarh)
Nizara Hazarika,
Associate Professor, Dept. of English, Sonapur College(University of Gauhati)
Praveen
Kumar Anshuman, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Kirori Mal College
(University of Delhi)
Address
for correspondence:
Dr.
Dipak Jyoti Baruah,
Associate
Professor, Dept.of English, Jagiroad College, Jagiroad-782410, Assam, India;
Cell:
09854369647; E-mail: baruah_dj@yahoo.com/drishtisight111@gmail.com
Drishti: the Sight
Vol. III, Issue: II (November,
2014-May, 2015)
ISSN 2319-8281
A REFEREED (PEER-REVIEWED)
BI-ANNUAL NATIONAL RESEARCH
JOURNAL OF ENGLISH
LITERATURE/ASSAMESE LITERATURE/FOLKLORE /CULTURE
(A NON-PROFIT VENTURE DEDICATED TO THE CAUSE OF EXCELLENCE IN
RESEARCH
PARTICULARLY AMONG THE YOUNG SCHOLARS OF THE NATION)
Published by :
Ms. Rupjyoti Goswami
Editor (Hon.):
Dr. Dipak Jyoti Baruah
Price : #
Single: Rs. 600/-
#One Year Subscription: Rs. 1200/-
(Price includes commissioning and postage charges)
Printed
at :
Sri
Ganesh Printers, Noonmati, Guwahati-781020
DISCLAIMER:The
responsibility of the facts, quotations made, opinions
expressed
or conclusions arrived at is entirely that of the authors of the
articles
and neither the Editor, nor the Publisher or any of the Members of
the
Editorial and the Advisory Bodies accepts any responsibility for them.
Drishti: the Sight
Vol.
III, Issue: II (November, 2014-May, 2015)
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
DISINTEGRATION
OF COMMUNITY LIFE: A DISTURBING CONTEXT
As early as one and a half centuries
back, scholar E.B Tylor had said: “Culture…is that
complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society.” The societies of North East too
claim their rich heritages in all these spheres and aspects of culture.DISINTEGRATION
Just allow a sweeping view upon the
socio-cultural life of the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.
This state situated on the extreme
Northeastern tip of India displays a prismatic scape of sociocultural life
pertaining to about 26 major tribes and 110 sub-tribes. Exploration of the
sociocultural traits of all these Arunachali tribes with all their
distinctiveness could be a great source of enlightenment and aesthetic delight
for any researcher. The Adi (one of the Arunachali tribes) society, for
instance, still retains the custom of having two types of dormitories- for theboys(‘Moshup’)
and for the girls(‘Rashang’). The Adis use to believe that this system promotes
the spirit of cooperation, mutual respects and adjustment and fellow feelings among
the children and youth. The usual dress of the Adi consists of one special
multipurpose cloth, worn by both sexes. They also wear helmets made from cane;
bear and deer skin are also sometimes worn by them. The majority of the tribe
follows the animist Donyi-Polo worship. Donyi means the sun,Polo means the
moon. A sizeable number of the population however of late have converted themselves
into Christianity, thus moving away from the cult of Donyi-Polo. The Arunachali
women are also skilled weavers. In his Philosophy for NEFA,
scholar-traveller Verrier Elwin dealt with weaving in the state and
particularly upheld their self-sufficiency in clothing. According to Nilmani
Phukan(Loka-Kalpa-Dristi), eminent poet and art-critic, among all the
folk arts of Assam, the most attractive are the clothes woven by Assamese
female artisans.He also in the same breath praises another folk art of
Assam:woodcarving.EXT
However, at the present juncture, almost all
the indigenous ethnic communities of the region are being constrained to adjust
themselves to various ‘odd’ circumstances due to the tide of modernity. They
are trying to readjust their ways of living in the fresh contexts albeit
getting at the same time perplexed about what they should do to bring about a
balance between the modernity and tradition.For example, the once booming
cottage industry of the region is now fast losing out in most of the areas due
to its inability to negotiate with the market competitions.DISI
Modernity signifies temporality of the
anti-traditional kind and the cultural traditions are the products of a
collective society. But, the prolifeation of the nuclear families has led to
the growth of a lifestyle marked by individualism.In the changing economic set
up, there is minimal participation of the people as a community in their
economy. This has brought a clear void into the collective mode of living of
the ethnic societies too.NTEGRA
With the changing order of economic
activities being increasingly evident even in the
hinterlands, coupled
with disintegration of the community life, there is no certitude that the
cultural properties like the above may still remain alive in the decades to
come.#T
ION OF COMMUNITY LIFE: A DISTU
ION OF COMMUNITY LIFE: A DISTU