Abstract
This paper is based on a premise that (a) folktales reflect the social and political milieu of particular times and places and that (b) Bhutanese folktales originated from the common people (“small people”). It first explores the social context which led small people to express their dissent through folktales and then examines an exemplary Bhutanese folktale for elements of dissent to show how themes, plots, and characters satirize the existing social and political order to the extent of overturning the status quo. Folktales are, therefore, a popular medium of the common people to express their discontent with the inequalities of a social order dominated by elites (“big people”); the composition, narration and even adaptation of such folktales was/is of significance for all social classes.
Recommended Citation
Penjore, Dorji
(2010)
"Oral Traditions as Alternative Literature: Voices of Dissent in Bhutanese Folktales,"
Storytelling, Self, Society: Vol. 6:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/storytelling/vol6/iss1/8