Review by Choice Review
The discovery of an unknown manuscript led to the publication of this book. Naithani (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) found these Indian folktales, many Muslim, in the archives of the Folklore Society in London. The depositor of the manuscript, William Crooke, was an important early-20th-century scholar of Indian folklore, and the apparent compiler/translator, Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube, was largely unknown. Intrigued, Naithani sought to clarify the relationship between these two folklorists, who had identical degrees from Irish and Indian colonial universities. Her search raised some additional questions, but her discoveries suggests that the two men shared intense, respectful mutual interest in folk materials but could not bridge in their wider lives the social gaps that separated them. To say, however, that Crooke exploited Chaube is simplistic. Publication of this manuscript was worth the wait. The longer marchen-like stories are sometimes compressed and hard to follow, but the shorter fables and wisdom tales are wonderfully ironic. And a surprising number of tales feature strong women. The book has a skimpy glossary but a complete tale-type index. A useful contribution to postcolonial and Indianist studies and to folklore. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All readers; all levels. W. B. McCarthy emeritus, Pennsylvania State University, DuBois Campus
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
