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: | |||
DOI: 10.64031/pratidhwanitheecho.vol.14.issue.04W. | ||||
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:
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