A girl swallowed by a tree: Lotha Naga Tales Retold

by Nzanmongi Jasmine Patton, Easterine Kire (Foreword)

This is a marvelously brave book. I know Jasmine has swum against the tide of publishers wanting her to fit her book into their agenda, and her refusal to do so testifies to her faith in her book. This is a book that should be used like a pathfinder for other books on oral narratives. Literature from the Northeast has been suppressed too long by mainstream publishing that requires writers from the region to write within a prescribed box and format. Here is a writer daring to write oral literature her way, retaining the flavor of oral storytelling, including Lotha words that are culturally untranslatable in their original forms, unashamedly using the logic of the oral narrator and taking us back to an age when 'all animals and insects could talk, and streams could babble, and all creation had the gift of language'. Easterine Kire

Genres: India

Paperback

Reviews

[Sucheta Chatterjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

While many outsiders imagine the Northeast as a feminist utopia because of visible things like female market traders, inheritance rights in some matrilineal tribes, or women’s public roles, that doesn’t automatically translate into an egalitarian, non-patriarchal society. In fact, A Girl Swallowed by a Tree reveals exactly the kind of layered, internalized patriarchy that also pervades so-called “mainstream” India. Marriage without consent often happens offhandedly in these stories, like it’s part of the natural order. The woman’s choice is neither explored nor expected. Violence within the family, especially against wives or daughters-in-law, is not condemned, it’s presented as ordinary. What’s chilling is how emotionally neutral the tone often is. There’s no outrage. It’s just life.

I think one of the most important things Patton does (perhaps unintentionally) is strip away the illusion of cultural innocence. These stories aren’t sanitized. They don’t pretend that marginalised cultures are always kinder or purer. And in doing so, they complicate the political imagination because it reminds us that patriarchy is not solely a function of colonialism or Brahmanism or capitalism, though those amplify it. It also exists in communitarian, indigenous, and oral cultures. It’s a system that can emerge anywhere power is unequally distributed.

So this book is a great insight into Lotha culture, and that makes it important and worth a read.

[Poornima · Rating 5 out of 5]

short, sweet, magical....gives you a peep into the folklore of the Lothas

[Vijayalakshmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One cannot really “review” this book, the way one would review others. It is as futile as trying to review The Illiad, The Odyssey, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, or The Jataka Tales. A culture and its products–the stories, music, food etc, are subject to scrutiny, but should never be subject to judgement.
These stories are just that–a reflection of the thoughts and beliefs of the Lotha Naga tribe (or the Kyongs, as they call themselves). The thirty stories in this anthology are part of their cultural sub-conscious, reflecting the ideas that matter to them.
Stories like The Legend of how Men became Monkeys, How Chilli was discovered, The Duel between Wind and Fire, and The Legend of Man and Wolf give us an idea of how we with our human senses and imaginations invent stories as a way to understand the world around us. Other stories, like Humchupvuli Eloe, The Pumpkin Bride and The Gourd Bride, talk about relationships and friendships. Others, like, The Emi and the Forty young Men from the Chumpo, or The Legend of the Sungalia Plant are parables that guide and inform us about good and bad.
At the start of the book, the author gives an explanation of how the Lotha Naga society is structured, their customs and beliefs. I am glad for this section, because it truly helped me gain an understanding of their way of life. I also appreciate that the author has not shied away from using Lotha words–the glossary provided at the end of each story is explanation enough! By using the vocabulary of the people, she has ensured that translation has not watered down the ideas, and I applaud her for that.
The Introduction at the beginning also details the author’s journey while writing this book–the why and the how, and that story is a pleasure to read in itself!
In its bold assertion to be itself, the book accomplishes great things.
Full review at: https://thereadingdesk.wordpress.com/...

[Evanjelina Krkić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book for folktale lovers!