Page 264 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

Introduction 239

the history of the Indian legal system and practices, which are shown
in their diversity at different points of time as constantly subject to
processes of transformation. It was further illustrated by the study by
Guy Poitevin of Vaâr narratives that turn the figure of the donkey into an
asset of self-identification. Cultural forms are the result of compromises
and negotiation between contending forces vying for—or attempting
to controvert—control and governance of the social fabric.
In this regard, our studies will not be expected to focus on ‘textuality’,
and debate about the superiority of one form over another—for instance,
traditional (folk forms) over modern (electronic and information
media), dramatic (dance, theatre) over visual (film, slides, video,
images), speech (storytelling, lecturing) over print (reading, posters),
song over speech, personal face-to-face over collective meeting (group
discussion), direct and personalized interaction over mass display of
instrumental media, etc. They will not remain too concerned with the
potential and limitations of each form and means. The focus eventually
will be on the social agent and the process that he/she tries to unleash,
on his/her capacity, skill and means to reinvent from within the
available symbolic material, on the suitability of forms and means to
intended aims, on the degree of autonomy left to the artist as social
actor, as the case is strongly made in particular by P.J. Amala Dos
in ‘Folk Arts and Folk Artists’. In short, he dwells on the impact of a
process over a context, and a performance over an environment. In
this regard, the following essays remind us of a dimension structurally
specific to folk art, and a secret of its efficacy, namely, its ‘multimedia’
dimension. A combination of forms and media is possibly most
effective in facilitating processes of artistic as well as social creativity.
An innovative communication is ‘multiform’.

Scenarios of Stress

P.J. Amala Dos is a folk performer in Tamil Nadu. In his chapter
‘Folk Arts and Folk Artists: Myths and Realities’, he champions the
genuineness of folk culture, claiming that it cannot fit into the rigid
and constricting models as theorized by scholars: ‘The folk form
takes its shape on the basis of the lifestyle, environment, strength and
weakness, nature of work, the problems and pleasure, struggles and
success of the people.’