Gender Role: Womenhood in Folk Narratives of West Odisha

Folk narratives are powerful medium through which folk assimilates and disseminates knowledge and power of a given society. Like any other oral discourse narratives construct, reconstruct social order, define gender roles and reverse it when necessary. It is a misconception that female voices are subdued, passive and in obedience to male dominance. On the contrary, mute voices denote meaning with social bearing. Folktales explain womanhood and basic principles of female biology which signifies social reality. The three stages; menstruation, defloration and childbirth are most important events of women’s life which rule and determine women’s behaviour in a society and culture. It seems, these phases of female life are expressed symbolically in a narrative. A brief study will be done of some selected tales who may speak gender discourse within it. Following three folktales from Nuapada District of Odisha have been picked up for the present study. Folktale-I: “Tol Tol Phul Dada” The story as narrated by Sukharam Paharia is presented below: “There are Twelve Brothers and One Sister.One day the brother