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VOL. 12, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Indian myths and folktale sensibilities coloured in the poetry of A. K. Ramanujan
Authors
Dr. Priyanka Kumari
Abstract
A. K. Ramanujan, an eminent Indian English poet, folklorist, and
translator, synthesizes the cultural wealth of Indian myths, folktales, ritual
practices, and ancestral traditions into a modern poetic idiom shaped by
linguistic precision, psychological insight, and diasporic consciousness. This
research article examines how mythic structures and folktale sensibilities
colour Ramanujan’s poetry, shaping its themes, imagery, narrative style, and
cultural discourse. The study adopts a qualitative interpretative methodology
grounded in myth criticism, structuralism folkloristics, and cultural
anthropology. Poems such as “A River,” “Obituary,” “Small-Scale Reflections on
a Great House,” “Ecology,” “Elements of Composition,” and “Love Poem for a
Wife” are analysed to show how Ramanujan reinterprets myths not as static
narratives but as dynamic frameworks that meld family life, ecological vision,
and modern identity. The research demonstrates that Ramanujan’s poetry
functions as a bridge between the oral traditions of India and the intellectual
traditions of modernism, making him a unique mythopoetic voice in Indian
English literature.
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Pages:1-12
How to cite this article:
Dr. Priyanka Kumari "Indian myths and folktale sensibilities coloured in the poetry of A. K. Ramanujan". International Journal of English Research, Vol 12, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 1-12
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