Tales Across Time: Understanding Hybridity in Children’s Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance
Sircar, S. (Trans. & Annot.). (2018). Fantasy fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, The Make-Believe Prince – Gaganendranath Tagore, Toddy-Cat the Bold. Oxford University Press.
Abstract
This review article discusses the book Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, The Make-Believe Prince – Gaganendranath Tagore, Toddy-Cat the Bold, translated and annotated by Sanjay Sincar (2018). The author of the paper situates the Tagore brothers’ stories in the context of Indian folklore and literary traditions, highlighting Sircar’s research skills as expressed in his meticulous commentaries and analytical thoroughness. She also notes that the work combines translation with comparative studies and elaborates on these issues in a detailed discussion of the monograph’s contents. In her opinion, the reviewed book confirms the validity of the study of vernacular works for children and may provide an impetus for further research focused on Indian works beyond the traditional literary canon.
Keywords
Abanindranath Tagore; Bengal; children’s literature; fantasy; folklore; Gaganendranath Tagore; India; Sanjay Sircar
References
Benjamin, W. (2004). The task of the translator. In M. W. Jennings & M. P. Bullock (Eds.), Selected writings. Vol. 1, 1913–1926 (pp. 253–263). Harvard University Press.
Bhattacharya, N. (Trans.). (2016). Trailokyanath Mukhopadhyayׂ’s Kankabati. Primus Books.
Bramwell, P. (2005). Fantasy, psychoanalysis and adolescence: Magic and maturation in fantasy. In C. Butler, K. Reynolds (Eds.), Modern children’s literature: An introduction (pp. 141–155). Palgrave Macmillan.
Carroll, L. (1998). Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. In Alice’s adventures in Wonderland and through the Looking-Glass (H. Haughton, Ed.). London: Penguin. (Original work published 1865).
Detha, V. (2020). Timeless tales from Marwar (V. Kothari, Trans.). Puffin Books.
Drabu, O. (2019). The legend of Himal and Nagrai: Greatest Kashmiri folk tales. Speaking Tiger Books.
Dundes, A. (1980). Interpreting folklore. Indiana University Press.
Dundes, A. (2007). Meaning of folklore: The analytical essays of Alan Dundes. Utah State University Press.
Dutta, S. (2009). Folk tales of West Bengal. Children’s Book Trust.
Frere, M. (1868). Old Deccan days or, Hindoo fairy legends current in southern India. J. Murray.
Ghosh, A. (2021). Jungle Nama. Hodder and Stoughton.
Grenby, M. O. (2008). Children’s literature. Edinburgh University Press.
Hunt, P. (2018). Foreword. In S. Sircar (Trans. & Annot.), Fantasy fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, The Make-Believe Prince – Gaganendranath Tagore, Toddy-Cat the Bold (pp. ix–xii). Oxford University Press.
Hunt, P. (2018). Foreword. In S. Sircar (Trans. & Annot.), Fantasy fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, The Make-Believe Prince – Gaganendranath Tagore, Toddy-Cat the Bold (pp. ix–xii). Oxford University Press.
Hunt, P. (2001). Children’s literature: Blackwell guides to literature. Blackwell.
James, E., & Mendlesohn, F. (Eds). (2012). The Cambridge companion to fantasy literature. Cambridge University Press.
Lang, A. (1884). Custom and myth. Longmans, Green and Co.
Mondal, D. (2021). The forgotten Bengali cubist artist: Gaganendranath Tagore. Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science, 9(3), 35–37.
Olrik, A. (1965). Epic laws of folk narrative. In A. Dundes (Ed.), The study of folklore (pp. 129–141). Prentice-Hall.
Sen, N. (1992). Bangla Shishu Sahitya: Tathya, Tattva, Rup o Bishleshan. Duthipatra.
Sircar, S. (2018). (Trans. & Annot.). Fantasy fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, The Make-Believe Prince – Gaganendranath Tagore, Toddy-Cat the Bold. Oxford University Press.
Steel, F. A., & Temple R. C. (1884). Wide-awake stories: A collection of tales told by little children, between sunset and sunrise, in the Panjab and Kashmir. Education Society’s Press.
Zipes, J. (2012). The irresistible fairy tale: The cultural and social history of a genre. Princeton University Press.
Central University of Jammu India
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4438-2843
Neena Gupta Vij – PhD, works at the Department of English at the Central University of Jammu (India). Her research interests include contemporary women’s writing in English and English translation, translation studies, American literature, postcolonial studies, diaspora studies, and myth studies. Contact: neenaguptavij@gmail.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Open Access Policy
All articles presented on the pages of ”Dzieciństwo. Literatura i Kultura” are published in open access under a Creative Commons license - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). It means that:
- they can be made available and quoted under the condition of explicit and clear indication of the author/authors of the referenced text;
- you cannot use legal or technological means that would limit others in using the text under the terms of the license.
More information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
