Culture itself is a “trap” or a net that we weave to catch meaning! ❤️

The Fierce Tug-of-War |In Campus

Doggy Fight 🐕

Buddhir Yasya Balam Tasya. (He who has the intellect has the strength)

It was yet another beautiful day in Campus today. 

Two little campus dogs, were up to their routine playfighting in the main quadrangle of the College – the space that plays host to the annual festive extravaganza – Deep Woods.

I was quite engrossed in watching their playfighting that was going on and on - a fierce tug-of-war, a battle of wills – nay a real battle of wits - for the ultimate, coveted trophy: a bone! 😊

[You may want to watch the full video of the doggy fight on our vlog HERE]

Coming back - 

After an intense bout of wrestling, the ‘victor’ finally emerged, claiming his spoils and settling comfortably into the grass to enjoy the spoils of glory nay the taste of glory. 😊

But wait! Therein lies the twist in the plot! 😊

Peace was ‘seemingly’ restored as the winner triumphantly lied down, satisfied at the astounding victory, regally placing the bone between his paws - a trophy of his strength.

The loser too ‘quietly’ retreated, ‘feigning’ defeat.

When suddenly, in the flash of a second, the loser came up to the ‘victor’ and quickly did a snatch-and-grab! By the time the winner could even register the theft that had happened, the thief was already halfway across the yard, leaving behind nothing but a cloud of dust and a look of total betrayal.

A lightning-fast blitz it really was! He swiped the bone! And he was gone! 😊

What a turnaround in the end!

Well, this incident that happened today, proves a very fascinating area of study, especially with regard to the “snatch-and-run” saga after a hard-fought victory - particularly those involving the Trickster figure!

The Trickster is not just a character archetype (as Jung defines it), but an ecological agent as well – in literature in general, and in bioregional literary studies in particular.

The Trickster personifies the “survival of the smartest” rather than the “survival of the fittest”.

The Trickster is usually considered a ‘Border Dweller’ – which is often the most biodiverse and chaotic zone. Bioregional tricksters almost always inhabit these ‘edge’ spaces.

They are neither fully wild (like the Lion/Wolf) nor fully civilised (like the Human/Village Dog).

Much akin to the “snatching dog” which exploits the gap between the fight and the rest, the Trickster operates in the margins. In folklore, the Trickster is the gatekeeper of these margins, teaching us that boundaries are permeable.

The Tricksters hence survive by sheer wit because they lack the brute strength of the big predators.

In arid, or harsh landscapes, survival requires a lot of adaptability. The Coyote is the ultimate survivor - he eats anything, goes anywhere, and often “plays dead” or uses decoys to catch prey. He represents the resilience required to live in a desert bioregion.

Lewis Hyde, in his seminal book on the Trickster figure in literature, specifically identifies the Coyote as the premier Trickster figure of the North American plains and deserts. In fact, the Coyote is not just a trickster; he is the specific embodiment of the archetype for that bioregion.

In the Indian context, the Trickster happens to be the the Jackal (Nari)

The Golden Jackal often finds place in the Panchatantra and Jataka Tales).

In the dense Indian scrub jungles and agricultural plains, the Jackal lives in the shadow of the Tiger and the Lion. He cannot kill a buffalo; he must wait for the Tiger to kill it, or trick the Tiger into leaving the carcass.

Yet another role of the Trickster in literary / bioregional literary narratives is that, the Trickster indulges in ‘disturbance’ of the ecological order.

And this is quite important especially from a bioregional context. That’s because, if the Predator-in-Chief (here the ‘winner’ dog) becomes too comfortable or too dominant, the ecosystem tends to stagnate.

The Trickster disturbs this ‘stagnation’, by introducing chaos (stealing the bone) to remind the Predator-in-Chief (the dominant power) that they are not invincible. This keeps the ecosystem dynamic. The Trickster hence teaches us the valuable lesson that possession is temporary in the wild!

Connect it with the concept of bricoleur, used by Strauss, [and later by Derrida], and you have a lovely potpourri of sorts!

Well, the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss used the term bricoleur (tinkerer) to describe how mythic thought works, which applies beautifully to the bioregional trickster.

Much akin to the bricoleur – who makes do with whatever is at hand – the Trickster is a Bricoleur: He makes do with ‘whatever is at hand.’

In short, the Trickster doesn’t have a plan, but a situation, which helps him plan his smart moves, thus validating the idea that, it’s landscape that creates and shapes character!  (does it ring a bill with the core concepts of Naturalism?)

To conclude, these Trickster Narratives (including the Jackal stories) are manuals of resilience and smartness, on how the weak survive in a land of the strong.

In short, they use buddhi (intellect) to defeat shakti (power)!

Buddhir Yasya Balam Tasya. (He who has the intellect has the strength)

I would like to sign off this post with one last literary takeaway, on the Trickster Narratives, from Lewis Hyde’s highly engaging book on the subject. It’s titled, Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art.

It is a seminal text on the Trickster, much helpful in understanding the Trickster in a modern literary and creative context. Hyde argues that the Trickster is the “technician of appetite” and the “lord of the in-between”. In short, a literary deity!

Hyde argues that culture itself is a “trap” or a net that we weave to catch meaning, but we often get caught in it ourselves. The Trickster is the one who finds the hole in the net.

Hermes is the god of the ‘lucky find,’ the unexpected gift. He is the one who finds the hole in the fence, the gap in the trap. He teaches us that every trap we build for nature eventually traps us, unless we have a trickster to show us the way out!

Attests to the significance and relevance of the Trickster figure - both in life and in literature!