PRESERVING NARRATIVE HERITAGE: ART OF STORYTELLINGIN PAKISTANI FOLKLORE PJAEE, 20 (1) (2023)

PRESERVING NARRATIVE HERITAGE: ART OF STORYTELLINGIN

PAKISTANI FOLKLORE
Nida Zahra1, Dr. Shafia Azam2
1
Department of Anthropology. Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Pakistan.
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology. Fatima Jinnah Women University,
Rawalpindi. Pakistan.
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]

Nida Zahra, Dr. Shafia Azam. Preserving Narrative Heritage: Art Of Story telling
in Pakistani Folklore-- Palarch’s Journal Of Archaeology Of Egypt/Egyptology 20(1),
1446-1453. ISSN 1567-214x

Keywords: Pakistani Folklore, Storytelling, Oral Tradition, Narrative Heritage,

Cultural Identity.

ABSTRACT
This ethnographic research aims at exploring the tradition of storytelling within Pakistani
folklore focusing on its practices and changing patterns. Drawing upon the theoretical
framework of global cultural flow by Arjun Appadurai, this research addresses the
transmission and transition of oral narratives in the form of folk tales that have been passed
down from generation to generation. For this study, the data was collected by conducting in-
depth interviews and participant observation in Lal Kurti, Rawalpindi. The sample of the
study consisted of 23 females belonging to diverse age, socioeconomic, educational, and
ethnic backgrounds. The findings show that the tradition of storytelling played a significant
role in constructing and shaping cultural identities in the past. Through folk narratives, people
convey historical events, moral lessons, societal norms, and collective wisdom. However, this
practice of storytelling has been transformingand diminishing due to the urbanization and
technological advancements in society that have transformed the family structures in
Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION
The tradition of storytelling has been a part of human culture for thousands of
years. People tell stories to one another for leisure, entertainment, to

1
Department of Anthropology. Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Pakistan.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology. Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Pakistan.
Email: [email protected] (Corresponding Author).

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communicate, and to transmit knowledge from one generation to the next. We

are storytellers by nature, but our varied racial and geographic backgrounds
have influenced the ways in which we tell tales. (Beratet al., 2014).In addition
to providing entertainment, certain folktales teach moral values and spiritual
percepts, as well as historical and political knowledge. There were hundreds of
legends and customs in almost every hamlet, which are fervently recounted by
parents, and grandparents before bedtime as well as by storytellers during
festivals and public gatherings. Certain folktales, which explain cosmology
and the significance of local shrines and deities, become essential components
of religious practice (Çelik, 2018).

Pakistani folklore includes folk music, folktales, myths, legends, customs, and
proverbsshaped by the languages and customs of the country's numerous
ethnic groups as well as by the religious beliefs of its citizens throughout the
country. Folktales from Pakistan provide insightful historical insights into the
traditions of many religious and ethnic groups as well as the impact of various
cultures (Bronner, 2018).In this global age, wherein we see how television and
plenty of different technological gadgets have saturated the art of storytelling.
The once-popular tradition of storytelling wherein our elders reminisce about
the adventures of fictional characters who face moral dilemmas at the end of
their stories is gradually disappearing (Khan et al., 2015).This storytelling
tradition has served as a teaching tool for future undertakings and ethical
guidance.The storytelling tradition served to strengthen our bonds as a family
and expanded the level of intimacy between grandparents and grandchildren.
The present study employs the global cultural flow theory, coined by Arjun
Appadurai. He argues that the cultural flow is a result of the process of
globalization and identifies five distinct scapes: ethnoscapes, technoscapes,
finance scapes, media scapes, and ideoscapes, that contribute to the global
cultural flow.The current research uses the concepts of ideoscape and
mediascape. Mediascape denotes the distribution of electronic capabilities to
produce and disseminate information and images, stories, and news through
mass media i.e. television, film, and the internet to spread around the world
created by these media. Ideoscape involves the global flow of ideologies and
cultural ideas. Religious beliefs, political ideologies, and cultural norms move
across borders influencing local societies at a global scale. Mediascapes and
ideoscapes are inextricably linked to globalization (Appadurai, 1996).This
framework provides a valuable perspective for understanding the complexities
of changes in local cultures in this contemporary world. In the light of this
theoretical lens, we can see in Pakistani society the cultural patterns changing
implicitly and explicitly. Our cultural folk stories and folklore preserve our
cultural heritage, values, and traditions. The path of things the world is usually
taking nowadays, the first and main being urbanization, has an instantaneous
link to the loss of rhetorical storytelling traditions. Due to the rapidly changing
family structure and urbanization, the tradition of storytelling is disappearing.
Westernization has permitted cultural traits such as languages, customs, and
traditions from around the world to diffuse into each other.

While it opens doors, it also leads to an amalgamation of cultures and the

decline of unique cultural differences. Today, the vanishing of our folk story
tradition is disturbing the traditional culture of Pakistan. The media and

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technological advancement play an important role in showing the changes in

the culture and encouraging the values of a particular nation on a global
platform (Khan et al., 2015).Thus, this study aims to explore how the tradition
of storytelling in Pakistani folklore has evolved over time, and what are the
key factors influencing its preservation. Furthermore, this study explores what
role traditional story tellers play in the transmission and preservation of
Pakistani folklore, and how has their role changed in the face of modernization
and technological advancements.

METHODOLOGY
An ethnographic research method is used to collect data for this study. This
approach is used to analyze the data in great depth and comprehend people's
perceptions over an extended length of time in a natural context (Torres,
2022). In-depth interviews and participant observation were employed as the
main data-gathering techniques. Participant observation refers to
understanding the social world by actively participating in the natural setting
for the in-depth study of the phenomena. A qualitative data-gathering
technique called an "in-depth interview" involves conducting lengthy
interviews with a select group of respondents to learn more about their
viewpoints on particular phenomena (Milena et al., 2008).The methods of in-
depth interviews were chosen to take the people’s opinions concerning the
vanishing tradition of folk storytelling in Pakistan. The total size of the sample
is 23 females with an age range of 18-70 years old belonging to diverse
educational, socio-economic, and ethnic backgrounds. The sample was
selected from Lal Kurti, Rawalpindi using a purposive sampling technique.
Field notes were taken during the interviews which were later converted into
detailed transcriptions. The interviews were conducted in Urdu language and
were transcribed later into English for data mapping and sorting. Afterward,
themes were drawn from the sorted data. To analyze the collected data,
thematic analysis was employed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Storytelling Tradition: Inculcating Social Cohesion

There are norms, customs, and values for the people of that culture in folk
stories. Folk tales conform to the idea that those norms may be internalized,
which might make a person conform without external rewards or punishments.
Many types of folk stories may assist in telling people what is considered
perfect and acceptable. These stories contain folkways, mores, taboos, and the
law. Further, social norms can range across time, cultures, places, and even
sub-groups (Kuutma, 1998).Folklores are manners that can be learned through
cultural norms and shared through social institutions, which we often refer to
as group customs that are not morally significant but are important for social
acceptance. Each group has developed their own specific customs. However,
there may be customs that might be embraced at a larger, societal level
(Bronner, 2012). A respondent named Saima who is a 40-year-old housewife
and belongs to the Saraiki culture expresses her thoughts on how to maintain
informal social control within folk stories. She stated:

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There was a king. He made a law. Every girl who gets married in the kingdom
will have to spend the first night of her marriage with this king. This is how it
happened and time passed. God gave a daughter to this king. After her
marriage, according to the law, she had to live with her father. That night the
wrath of God's deeds descended and the whole kingdom would be destroyed
and ruined.

In her folk story, she elaborates on the family structure of her culture and
additionally informs us of the paternal bond between father and daughter that
is not acceptable in their culture. Moreover, she added that a social norm is an
obligation to society, which can result in sanctions if one violates it.
Therefore, laws are social norms that have developed officially at the ethnic or
cultural local level and can be enforced through guidelines that can bring
about formal punishment for violations, such as custody or death. Laws are a
form of social manipulation that summarizes rules, habits, and customs a
society uses to enforce conformity to its norms (David & Ali, 2021). The
respondent argued that such folk wisdom should necessarily passed down to
the next generation through stories and folk tales to maintain the balance of
the society. Most of the respondents also mentioned similar views about the
need to ensure informal social control.

Similarly, a25-year-old respondent, named Salma, hails from Gilgit Baltistan.

She stated her views in her interview while telling me her famous cultural folk
story about ensuring informal social norms. She articulates,

In the old days, a king used to eat live animals by cutting pieces of meat from
their bodies and gradually he became a man-eater. Then people killed him
under a conspiracy. After that, this special day is celebrated every year on 11th
November in Gilgit till today. The locals call it Thomi Shelling. That is why
this celebration is held. The day we put an end to this man-eating king.

According to her, these folk stories maintain the social cohesion that allows
individuals to communicate with each other at these events. There are a
number of social issues that are solved by celebrating these events with each
other and telling this folk story to the next generation on November
11th.Moreover, folk story content contains the message in which the
information is embedded. This kind of information is in the form of a taboo
and is forbidden from doing something vigor a step additional. It is a very
negative norm that gets violated because people will be dismayed.
Additionally, one can become excluded from the group as well as society. The
nature and the degree of the taboo are in the traditions. By listening to these
cultural folk stories, children understand that what they do is morally or
ethically right (Yasmeen, 2022).

Narrating Stories: Source of Amusement and Inculcating Moral Values

There was a time when listening to a story from grandmothers in the villages
of Punjab was one of the major sources of entertainment for children. This was
the traditional way of engaging as well as training children. Through these
words, children were taught the basics about society, family, and a way of life.

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It was also a means to inculcate the basic values and importance of heritage.
Usually, these stories were in the context of farming, bravery, and good moral
values. These stories were also training for future endeavors (Dundes,
1969).The tradition of storytelling was also a means to develop intimacy
between grandparents and children. This socialization was also helpful in
strengthening family ties. Usually, at night time, Grandma would tell the story
of legends and the bravery of our people. This was a two-way communication,
as usually, we used to ask questions during or at the end of the story (Wadley,
1983).A 35-year-old respondent, named Nimra, belongs to a middle-class
family. She stated her views in her interview about the moral and educational
percepts in folk stories of Pakistan.

A body was found in the desert. A caravan had a brick lying next to it on
which it was written that there are better turnips than wealth. At least appetite
then ends after eating them.

She added further that the custom of folk storytelling was a major
communication tool of old times. These stories were oral manuals of moral
guidelines dictating to children the right and wrongs of society. There was a
time when listening to a tale from grandmothers in the villages of Pakistan
became the most effective source of amusement for youngsters. This was the
traditional manner of engaging as well as educating children. It also served as
a means of instilling fundamental values and the significance of heritage.
Typically, these stories revolved around farming, bravery, and proper ethical
values (Gómez, 2016).This custom of storytelling has been a teaching tool for
future endeavors as well. A 23-year-old respondent named Noor belongs to
Kashmir and is from a middle-class family. In her view, she told me the ghost
stories in the mountainous regions, which were interesting stories.

A man lives in the mountains and has many dogs who kidnap those children
who go to the mountains. And this man has supernatural powers. He tells these
dogs to go to this place and catch the kids who are wandering there. Now that
man is dead, but her dogs are still in the woods and the mountains.

In her interview, she narrated a Kashmiri folk story in which the content
shows that through horror and fear of being kidnapped by dogs, they teach
their children not to go to the mountains alone. So, these stories play a role in
preventing children from involving them selvesin dangerous activities. It is
said that folklore is more primitive than the idea of towns in human
civilization. People discovered the art of communication through folk stories,
as that is the way they narrate and fill the colors in their imagination.

Storytelling has been a precious part of entertainment throughout history

starting fromthe written symbols and carvings in an old cave that reveal the
stories and evident expressions of a primitive man about the occasions around
him. This art of narrating events traveled with humans anywhere they moved,
however, with the advancement of human history, the tradition of oral
storytelling extended to further areas and served the human wishes for fun and
amusement in historic times. Despite the fact that scientific progress has

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changed the mode of this magnificent art, folklore remains the most important
source of statistics on human history (Samwel, &Duhoe, 2020).

FadingTradition of Storytelling

The development of urbanization has disrupted Pakistan's cultural patterns and

has modified the fundamental fabrics of society and the way of socialization.
It has also cracked the concept of the joint family system. Educational and job
chances urge parents to move away from their families and villages.
Urbanization has fragmented the family dynamics. Now in Pakistan, the
family structure is tending more towards a nuclear family system.
Grandparents are living in the villages, and parents are residing in urban areas
for work, so there is no one to entertain the children with folk tales (Pop,
1964).Another respondent, 45-year-old Nasreen said: ‘I do not have to bother
to share stories with my six children. They are not interested in listening to my
stories because of social media, video games, and seasons that have eclipsed
this ancient art.’

Naseem added that the "storytelling" tradition is not entirelyover but has
changed into other forms. During the interview, she argued that technological
development shave changed the pattern of many traditions across the world.
Storytelling, an ancient tradition, is nowadays less common in society and
among families (Smith, 1959).One of my respondents, Shafaq Hussain, a 50-
year-old who is from Punjabi culture, said while telling me folk stories:

In my time the transfer of knowledge was verbal and reading stories was not
very popular. Storytelling was a basic tradition and people considered
themselves educated if they had heard enough stories. And I think that when I
die, these stories will die with me.

In his view, she said that nowadays, children are now more likely to use
mobile phones and the internet. It has come to be part of their daily routine.
The Internet is beneficial for learning, connection, and leisure, but it diverges
children from traditional ways of learning. Instead of finding time to pay
attention to stories, youngsters are more inquisitive about watching cartoons
on YouTube. Attractive movies and videos, a variety of cartoon series, and
other desirable features on the internet wield youngsters towards this colorful
sphere. This technological development has broadly disturbed the social
structure of Pakistan. A 30-year-old respondent, named Shagufta, belongs to a
middle-class family. She stated her views in her interview about the
diminishing status of folk stories. She says that,

In the old days when we used to hear stories from our grandmothers, their
content was mostly on the fact that after death the soul has to be held
accountable. The torment of hell and the grave and the principles of Islam
according to which we must live. And if you do good deeds, you will get to
heaven. But now more attention has been paid to the content of horror stories.
During the interview, she said that late-night gatherings were once a hub of
cultural activities in Punjab. Usually, after dinner, all family members gather
in one place and discuss all the matters, and the grandparents tell the stories of

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their time. These are like festivals. Along with other activities, these
gatherings were the center of cultural development in Pakistan. But rapid
development has enormously diminished the attraction of these gatherings.
TikTok and other social media plat forms are now major sources of
entertainment for the country's youth, wildly popular in part because it is
accessible to all including illiterate users in rural areas just as the folk stories
once were. However, many famous tales spread throughout Punjab through
festivals such as those on shrines and trading. But now this tradition is
dimming day by day (Samwel, &Duhoe, 2020).

CONCLUSION
The tradition of storytelling in Pakistani folklore is a dynamic and
multifaceted aspect of the nation’s cultural heritage. Each Pakistani language
has a very specific repertoire of poems, songs, folk stories, and proverbs
related to its beginning, data, and way of life. This tradition of narrating folk
tales plays a significant role in shaping cultural identities, transmitting
knowledge, and fostering social cohesion.

The manner of leisure has modified from oral traditions to digitization and
social media at the same time, taking children far from collective lifestyles and
folk expertise. Therefore, the obsessive usage of electronic devices has
influenced storytelling culture that was once considered to promote good
manners, parental love, a compassionate attitude toward animals, peers,
special people, weaker segments of society, and respect for the elderly.
Unfortunately, parents are unable to spend valuable time with their children
and transfer the folk wisdom from the rich indigenous knowledge held by their
ancestors.

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