So, this thread is for @Spirited_Gal , who is a wonderful person & author. She reached out curious about Asian storytelling structures and techniques, then links to South Asian ones. This became a convo about native/common/historical structures/styles/techniques from South Asia.
So, let's get into some loosely (just to make y'all aware, without turning this into an academic essay because it easily can - but I do not have time for that, and am not being paid for that writing, and it could be a lot when fully fully fleshed out).
Katha | Kathya: this is an Indian style of storytelling rooted in religious stories (mythology) - the performances are ritual events in Hindiusm. Sikhism holds a different take on it but somewhat related in that there is a focus on religious discourse, taking things apart, -
questioning meaning/interpretations, & then using this to teach scriptures for a moral/religious education - directing beliefs & practices. But the purpose regardless when reduced to the simplest is the same: the moral/religious education & impartation of societal good values to people through the stories.
Usually the stories and this style are performed with a class of people who are both priests and narrators (narrators/storytellers have a massively important role in South Asian culture that they cannot be understated and undervalued, especially-
considering so much of the religious history | myths, epics/stories were orally performed and passed down. Aural (listening/hearing) pleasure are just as important as music and song and dance accompany these performances, and couplets, hymns are common as well.
Anyways, Katha is its own style focused on the religious epics like Ramayama. These stories as mentioned feature a storyteller proficient in classic music, oration, accompanied by dance/song at times, and involve story digression points - if that sounds familiar :throws copy of The First Binding at your face (lovingly).
This particular style is called: Kathakalakshepa.
Another style of Katha is: Purana-Pravachan - built on/around expounding the Puranas, a vast collection of folklore, stories, poems, legends, and more. They are heavily layered with-
deep symbolism, diverse, incorporation tales of all sorts including sciences and topics like cosmology and cosmogony (not the same). This style focuses on the spiritual interpretation of these stories while reciting them.
Folk Narratives (and I have another thread on specific ones such as Panchatantra and Jataka tales which I have talked about and have been argued by some experts to contribute | inspired to 30-50 percent of western nursery tales, ballads, "fairy" tales, as well as some (some not all, not many) middle eastern ones. Some. These are usually narrated with drumming and bow-string instruments. You might see more of these in future Tremaine novels. Perhaps even book two <.<
One of the most common type of story within the folk narrative is particularly - the heroic ballad.
Another specific style here is the Burra Katha - an oral storytelling technique that comes from the Jangam Katha (an order of religious monks associated with Shiva). It incorporates many of things I've mentioned before: prayer, drama, dance, songs, poems, humor (lewd and tame), and usually focuses on mythological stories, or interpretations to focus on modern social issues. Interesting fact, Burra refers to tambura - a stringed instrument with a hollow shell. In Telegu, the word Burra means brain. The shell of the instrument so resembles a human skull (metal! or...gothic. w.e.), it's made of baked clay, pumpkins, or soft metals like brass/copper. In this style, the narrator doesn't just narrate, they play the instrument and dances to the music. South Asia has very little just tell a story traditions.
They're all performances. You will move, you will dance, you will evoke, sing, riddles, lessons, so on. :Gestures to Ari:
Okay - that's it that I want to talk about Katha (yep one tradition/style with varied structures). Just one...see how diverse it gets.
NOW, CLASS:
Kirtan | Keertan: It's narrating, reciting, telling or describing a story or an idea. Wait isn't that the same? No. Because it's a genre of religious performance arts but you're not necessarily breaking down a religious epic/myth a certain way. Instead, you are focused on the
performance of them, many times in a group, with multiple singers, each of whom recite/focus on the name of a specific deity, or a legend, and then you perform that part, very heavy on emoting, evoking that aspect to the audience, the romance, the heroism, and then use multiple singers to discuss that. This particular style is built to engage the audience.
You bring the audience in on the chanting, on the songs, or reply to the singers. You're not lecturing and teaching a moral/spiritual education here. You're performing them and involving the crowd
That IS different. This is a collective performance. Just because you might cover similar topics as Katha, for example, doesn't mean it's the same thing.
That's like saying anything involving a four chord progression is the same (I know someone musicy will bring up a joke about how...yeah they're all the same. I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING WITH THAT BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. CHILLLLL).
Anyways, what specifically makes Kirtan different is the fact that it's not required to be educational, and it's focused on shared performances. Katha can be performed by ONE person.
Kirtan again is commonly a call-and-response style performance.
I've already talked about Puranas and Jatka Tales and Panchatantra before (you can look those up in my other thread). Also styles of storytelling because of what they entail in their collections, diversity of topics, and varied styles between them in the presentation. They're not just "works" but it's how they're collected/presented and what they cover. That matters.
Hitopadesha: Beneficial Advice. This is an Indian text, written in, as you can imagine, Sanskrit. It's compromised of fables with human and animal characters and focuses on, you guessed it, imparting advice - maxims, so on. Things involving political affairs, life advice, and is delivered in simple and elegant language. It is said in fact to actually predate the Panchatantra (which I've shared is already one of the oldest things out of there. This is said at times to be the Panchatantra before Panchatantra )
The argued point of this particularly story and its structure of being four books, really, is to both encourage the proficiency of people reading it in Sanskrit expression (writing, poetry, more), and imparting wisdom/good behavior. Note, this is not focused on religious/ mythological connections. These are some of the oldest folklore/folktale/fable style stories. You can convey lessons/wisdom/life advice without a religious epic. Though, note, religious figures DO appear and can in this style. Some examples from within:
Book one: (Translated title) How to gain a friend (some of y'all might need this with how you behave online). It begins with a statement on how the wise and sincere friends might often appear poor or destitute, however, they are the ones who more often/earnestly help one achieve true success in life. It focuses on finding friends of good quality, doing this through many particular animal stories such as: The traveler and the tiger. Or, the deer, the jackal, and the crow. The old man & his young wife. The huntsman, deer, the boar, & the serpent & jackal.
Frame Narrative: I think I've talked about this one so much it'll be mildly depressing if I have to really break this one down. But, ahem. Sandwich narrative, kind of self explanatory. Story (or stories) within a story. You have a main narrative and or narrator (hi Ari) set the stage for more emphasized and secondary narratives within (going as deeply layered as you want). The legendary South Asian epic, Mahabharta is the earliest example of Frame Narratives we have, along with Ramayama, Panchatantra, The Seven Wise Masters, and Vikram Vetala (or Vikram the Vampire oh yes, Indian Vampire - technically flesh eating demon, long story. HA. GEDDIT?). Anyways some other examples from other cultures are: 1,001 Nights, The Decameron, and Canterbury Tales. Parts of the Odyssey employ this too, the beginning, where Odysseus tells of his time in the court of King Alcinous.
Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein, has multiple framed narratives in it. Neil Gaiman's used it in parts of Sandman. But we're getting away from the South Asian history/roots.
Next:
Qissa | Kisse | Kissa (NOTE: This is not solely an Indian origin, but a fusion that comes out of Islamic/Persian heritage that developed a different localized form to Punjabi and Bangladeshi people once introduced and changed for them through migration). The word Qissa is Arabic for epic legend or folk tale. It's regularly common in Indo-Aryan languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, so on.
You can also translate it as: interesting story (which is a whole own genre - something that has led me to butting some heads with people in the biz when I explain YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A STANDARD PLOT STRUCTURE FROM THE WEST. SCREAMS. :Jabs at one piece, an epic adventure fiction with a numinous goal still in the distance after 20 years, but strung together with tightly woven character driven and location arcs - it quite literally follows the history of great, grand, ADVENTURE fiction, promising more than anything, a great adventure story in pursuit of a goal. The end).
Anyways, I digress.
Punjabi Qisse/Kisse focuses on stories of love, passion, betrayal, and sometimes a common man's revolt against a larger system. Stories of friendship, loyalty, love. These are usually sung and performed. Poetry forms of this are VERY common (through all the mentioned cultures above, not just Punjabi). The Bengali style is similar (as obvy both evolved out of the Arabic tradition), just focusing more on Bengali culture and stories. They are all UTTERLY beautiful.
If you've read Tales of Tremaine (and wait for book two) you will catch these themes and notes as well.
It's almost like that series is trying to smash and share every freaking kind of storytelling technique and tradition I can from along the silk road because...there isn't one of those (golden road) in the book. Oh, wait. :blinks:
Kavya: This is a particular style of utterly beautiful poetry performed by court poets. It's a blend of prose and poetry focusing specifically on the flowery/hyperbolic uses of figures of speech, metaphors, and similes.
Sometimes you'll have pieces flowing through normalized prose and poetry in and out. That is NOT required in that specific way. It's just something that happens/can be done.
There is a very specific intentional use of that in the chapter, Brahm, in The First Binding, in where there is a creation/cosmogony story, performed in normalized prose, rhyming couplets and quatrains, with a mini section in verse.
That section is not actually Kavya, just inspired, as it is not a court epic, more drawing from the other requirement of a "short" lyrical work with those aspects I mentioned above.
There is Bhakti poetry: a specific poetic tradition from the 6th century focusing on celebrating the love and devotion for Hindu gods - showing one's mystical devotion to a god. It's devotional and religious, also focusing on condemning evils, promoting egalitarian values, transcending ideas of caste, gender, and restrictions. It hinges upon message of love.
Dastan: Is an Urdu storytelling tradition focused on epic tales of adventure, romance, chivalry (note, not only pakistani/urdu, other islamic cultures use this style). It is performed both orally and in written format.
This whole thread is JUST A PRIMER.
If you are interested, please take the time to go do a proper deep dive.
