At the end of his discussion on patterns of difference, Ramanujan poses the question, “is there a common core to the Rama stories, except the most skeletal set of relations like that of Rama, his brother, his wife, and the antagonist Ravana who abducts her” (44)? And I think the answer really is no; the core of the story really depends on who is telling it, the context of the person telling it, and the context of the person reading/hearing/receiving the story. In Sita Sings the Blues, we see this last point really amplified. The cartoonist and main character of the autobiographical segments of the movie, Nina Paley, appears to get the inspiration to make this movie from reading Valmiki’s Ramayana (if you pause the movie when she puts her copy of the Ramayana back on her shelf, you can just make out Valmiki’s name in white ink). But because of the trials of life she had been experiencing, she read much more into Sita’s role in the story and found a lot of herself in that character. She was able to glean an entirely different perspective from other interpreters of the Ramayana because of what happened to her in her present moment, and she took that and turned it into a film where Sita’s trials and woes were the forefront of the story. Ramanujan points out that beyond the different beginnings and endings to the tellings, “another point of difference among Ramayanas is the intensity of focus on a major character” (43). I think we clearly see this executed in Paley’s movie, and I love how she intertwines her real-life parallels into Sita’s narrative to show (at least part of) her inspiration for making this film.
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Rachel, I also couldnt help but notice the similarities and parallels between Sita's trials and the woman in the modern age. I thought it was so telling of how much it effects Indian culture and their population's thinking, much as the Bible does for Christians. The way that she toggled back and forth between her experience and Sita was also extremely helpful for viewers (at least me) in understanding how Sita was feeling because it was put in a modern context.
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Rachel! What a good catch seeing that the copy of the Ramayana in the film is Valmiki's. I did not catch that, but that is such an important detail, especially in your discussion.
I think the question you brought up that Ramanujan poses is important. I found myself answering yes to the question because I saw it as the metaphor of Aristotle's jack knife. It may have a different blade and different handle, but it is the "same knife." However, I think there is not necessarily a "right" answer to this.
I think the question you brought up that Ramanujan poses is important. I found myself answering yes to the question because I saw it as the metaphor of Aristotle's jack knife. It may have a different blade and different handle, but it is the "same knife." However, I think there is not necessarily a "right" answer to this.
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I thought it was interesting about the different telling and retelling and intensity as well because you can see the different ways how individuals interpret different stories themselves
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Hey Rachel! I also enjoyed seeing the parallels between the Ramayana and present-day situations that were depicted in Sita Sings the Blues. I love how you noticed the details of the copy of the Ramayana in the story!! I agree, I think the core of the story is not the characters and the plot, but the meanings and motifs which change with every telling.
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