Ushasi Bhattacharya, Dr Debalina Debnath
Volume-XIV, Issue-IV, JULY 2026
Volume-XIV, Issue-IV, July 2026 | ||
Received: 06.07. 2026 | Accepted: 18.07.2026 | |||
Published Online: 31.07.2026 | Page No: 138-144 | |||
DOI: 10.64031/pratidhwanitheecho.vol.14.issue.04W.125 | ||||
A Study of R. K. Narayan’s “An Astrologer’s Day” – Through the Lens of Folklore Ushasi Bhattacharya, Research Scholar, Department of Folklore, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, India Dr Debalina Debnath, Associate Professor, Department of Folklore, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, India | |
R. K. Narayan’s An Astrologer’s Day is a short story taken from his widely celebrated story collection Malgudi Days. The story is a vivid portrayal of Indian folk life. The setting of this story is a market of the fictional town, Malgudi. The story has literary elements of irony, humour, deception, coincidence and folk motifs. It centres around a fraud astrologer whose occupation depends on a popular folk-belief. This paper explores the folk aspects in the story within an urban setting. It focusses on folk-belief such as astrology and superstition, folk occupation like astrologer, folk setting such as market as a place of communication, and oral communication performed by the characters of this story. The story becomes a reflection of folk belief system which helps to form an identity, earn livelihood, and interact with communities. Narayan has depicted astrology as a livelihood where the astrologer performs his occupational duty based on folk belief, wearing saffron costume and using some mystic tools, and providing satisfactory prediction to his customers. The market represents a miniature folk society. The paper explores a complex interaction among folk-belief, folk-identity, folk-space and folk-performance where fate and, irony play an important role for survival. | |
Keyword:
|