18 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 SERIAL NO. 15 MARCH 2004 Conversation 2: Folklore and Identity Desmond Kharmawphlang, Program of Folklore Research (and Archive), Centre for Cultural and Creative Studies, Northeastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya. <desmond_kharmawphlang@hotmail.com> Arupjyoti Saikia, Lecturer, Dept. of History, Cotton College, Guwahati, Assam. <Arupjyoti_saikia@yahoo.co.uk> Laltluangiana Khiangte, Reader and Head, Dept. of Mizo, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram. <dritkhiangte@yahoo.co.in> Chandan Kumar Sharma, Dept. of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University, Naapam, Tezpur, Assam. <chandan@tezy.ernet.in> Saikia: In response to the conference in which we have just participated, I think it is essential that we should sit and take up issues that have been raised during the last two days, and engage in a dialogue especially in relation to the region that all of us come from — Northeast India. Let us start with Chandan. He has contributed a lot to Folklore studies. So, what areas do you take up for study in Tezpur? Sharma: Folklore constitutes a very important component of our department. Our department in Tezpur University is the Department for Cultural Studies. As you know, Cultural Studies is coming up as a kind of inter- disciplinary field, and Folklore itself is emerging as a kind of inter-disciplinary field. Apart from folklore, we also study art, aesthetics, language, performing arts, and literary and other cultural theories — so it really is quite inter-disciplinary. Kharmawphlang: When did your department start? Sharma: 1996. Khiangte: What school are you in? Sharma: We are in the School of Social Sciences. Kharmawphlang: It has been a trait of Northeastern Folklore studies that Folklore studies has come to be synonymous with the study of literature in many respects. In Khasi Literature departments, fifty per cent of what they are studying is actually folklore. The same is the case in Assam. Khiangte: In my department also — the Department of Mizo — we have the category of folk literature. We call it folklore literature. Of course we deal with all folklore matters. This is a compulsory course. We trace right from the beginning of oral cultures to when writing appears. Sharma: From what I have seen in this conference, this is not something that is unique to the Northeast. It seems that many Folklore scholars are based in Literature departments. Saikia: Also Sociology. And I am from History. People from many disciplines are coming and working in the field of Folklore. Kharmawphlang: One feature of Folklore studies is that until very recently our job has mainly been the collection and compilation of data. There has not been very much analytical, scientific, or theoretical analysis of the materials. I think now some changes are taking place. People are getting trained, they are getting exposed. Scholars are travelling, they are reading, they have access to the Internet. So, some very promising people are coming up to take up this job of taking Folklore as a very serious discipline. Khiangte: In that sense I feel that the present conference is very important. At least we can meet all these popular folklorists, experts in their fields. Saikia: Personally, I am open to all kinds of disciplines. The question is, “How can folklore help us to understand ways to improve society?” Folklore provides a large landscape. It provides a landscape of material located in different forms, and awareness of folklore can help scholars to understand any subject in the Humanities in a much more dynamic way. For example, I’m writing about the social journey of a legend over the last five hundred years. The different components of folklore are helping me to understand the social history of Assam. A problem in the Northeast is that most of the folklorists are primarily antiquarianists. They are trying to collect. There are other groups also, who are on theoretical platforms. I think there should be a better mixture of these groups. As has been mentioned, most of the theoretical formulations that have been created over the CONVERSATIONS