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Folktales, fairy tales, legends are instantly attractive to any type of personality at any age. The present volume deals a little seriously with the topic and we glimpse the part that folklore can play in the study of anthropology, sociology, ethnology and other disciplines. We learn the methods in which folklore can be dissected structurally through semantics and morphology to arrive at conclusions which are significant to sociologists, anthropologists and ethnologists. It is similar to watching a psychoanalyst probe the intricacies of behaviour from the choice of words and nuances of speech and is extremely interesting.

As we go along, we also learn some very interesting tales belonging to the Santals of Rajshahi and the famous Baul songs, some of which are reputed to have influenced Rabindranath Tagore in his vision of life and his literature.

This fascinating volume is one of the few in-depth studies on folklore on this subcontinent.