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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 01
January 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 543
Narrative (Katha) in literature
SUREKHA
Assistant Professor, Faculty of English,
Vaish Girls College, Samalkha, Panipat
ABSTRACT
The art of storytelling has its origin within the origin of literature and is known as Narrative.
The purpose of a narrative is to engage readers in a story with a beginning, middle and an end.
The word narrative is derived from Latin verb narrate which means to tell. Which genres of
literature can be called narrative, is a question which demands a lot of discussions. The
method of writing is different for every writer. Many writers start to tell the story instantly
and introduce the characters later. Many western writers narrate stories through the diaries,
letters and commentaries. For having a deeper understanding of narrative we must try to
understand what is narrated. The construction and retelling of events either in oral or written
form can be called ‘The narrative’. A narrative may be categorized on the bases of their theme
and style.
Key Words: literature, character, narrative, fiction, epic, novels
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European Journal of Business &
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INTRODUCTION
The emergence of a narrative component in the literature has begun with the emergence of
folk tales, legends, myths and fables. It is believed that Fables are the most expressive form of
folk literature. This form is literature had made its place in literature via oral narration in spite
of written one. Every country has its own folk tales, legends, myths, fables and parables. The
modern narrative theory is based on folk tales and novels. Tales are constructed and retold in
almost all countries and cultures with a specific narrative purpose in the absence of its known
author. These tales impart a moral lesson to its readers such as the tales from The Hitopdesh.
Aesop’s fables include best known western fables such as ‘The Crow and the Pitcher’, ‘The
Tortoise and the Hare’ and ‘The Lion and the Mouse’. Fables having the animal characters
follow the rich oral narrative tradition and depict the birth of storytelling or narrative in
literature. The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer are also the collection of tales.
Indian literature also shows the rich narrative element in fables and parables like Jatak Katha,
Hitopdesh, Panchtantra and Kathasaritasagar, etc. Betal Pachisi and Sinhasan Batissi also fall
under this category.
Jatak Katha: it is considered that Jatak tales are the oldest tale of the world which include
around 600 tales and tells the stories of last birth of Mahatma Buddha written in narrative
style and narrated by Mahatma Buddha himself. Several of these tales are similar to the
stories of Mahabharata, Panchatantra and other non-Buddha tales.
Panchtantra: Panchtantra also presents the narrative tradition in its early form. It holds a
primary place among Sanskrit fables and parables. Vishnu Sharma has used human beings
and animal both as characters of the stories; many time animals are made to speak precious
morals of the stories in these tales. Tales of Panchtantra are described in a vivid manner and
these tales are considered helpful in making people familiar with worldly ways. Almost all the
parables comprise one primary story which is generally concreted with the help of several
subsidiary tales.
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Hitopdesh: Panchatantra are known as the base of Hitopdesh. The writer of these didactic
tales Narayan Pandit seems to be influenced by the Indian sensibility while creating these
tales. The tales in this book are divided into four parts, namely-Mitralabh, Suhridbhed, Sandhi
and Vigrah. These four parts are comprised of 42 tales in total.
History of the literature shows that narrative elements are not confined to a particular time or
a particular genre. Well-known novelists and short story writers of even modern period are
indulged in carrying forward the tradition of narrative through their endless efforts. Rudyard
Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894), a collection of short stories binds its readers with the
narrative full of many climax and suspense. Most of the characters of this book are animal, for
example, Sher Khan the tiger and Nag the snake and many others. The principal character is
Mowgli, who is a human child and was brought up by these wild animals. Each new chapter
presents a new story in this book. Gothic tales came into existence with Horace Walpole in
1764 with the Castle of Otranto later, this tradition developed in the hands of many other
writers such as Mary Shelley, Charles Dickens, and Edger Allan Poe, etc. In 1840, Edger
Allan Poe published a collection of tales entitled Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.
These tales were collected from comic and serious tales. Later, many interpretations were
made on the title of these tales, John Ruskin in 1853 defined grotesque as the art of disturbing
imaginations. Allan has depicted the struggle of spirit and passion through the tales.
Description of hysterical outburst and the atmosphere of terror further enhance the terrific
effect in the narrative of gothic tales. Height of the horror is revealed through the image of
Ligeia “...... It was blacker than the raven wings of the midnight!....” Edger Allan Poe, The
Curse of Ligea.
Storytelling is part of human instinct. Human beings have to tendency to narrate things in
order to grip the attention of people. Writers and poets also tend to capture the attention of
their readers so, they make use of narrative in their writing. What is a narrative? All we know
that it is the art of telling and retelling the story. Two well-known Indian epics The
Mahabharata and The Ramayana are no exception to this as these epics tell the great legends.
But how these epics can be classified into the category of a narrative is also equally
