Little Tradition and Great

Tradition
Indian Society: Images and Reality
Semester- I (General Elective)
Patna Women’s College
 Great Tradition
• It is believed that the great tradition is a part of the dominant culture of
the society. They are also called refined tradition. They are of reflective
few and is associated with the elites and literate. Hence, great traditions
are supposed to reflect the worldview of those who are well-versed in
analysing, interpreting and reflecting of the associated culture and their
knowledge.
• The domain of great tradition includes the textual knowledge and the
body of knowledge from various religious texts, such as mythologies
and epics and, like, Shastriya Gyan. Ramayana and Mahabharata are
two important religious texts which form the basis of cultural
unification, are example of the great tradition.
 Little Tradition
• Little tradition comprise of the belief system, anecdotes, folk tales,
wisdom, legends, myths, oral tradition, and folk-lore of the peasants.
• The universe of little traditions are folks and peasant and of local
versions of textual knowledge and cultural performance.
 Universalisation
• Universalisation is a process by which cultural traits of a relatively
small tradition are absorbed into a great tradition. In other words, a
local phenomenon becomes univeralised. This is a cultural change
from little tradition to great tradition. Both these processes are related
to the interaction between little tradition and great tradition.
Universalization is the process of carrying further the great tradition.
 Parochialization
• The word ‘parochialism’ means being provincial and narrow in one’s
scope of thinking. Parochialization is the process which is the opposite
of universalisation. According to M Marriott, parochialisation is
downward spread of elements of great traditions into parochial
villages.
• According to him, these twin concepts are operating simultaneously in
the socio-religious system of Indian villages. The two processes are
complimentary to each other, and the study of either one of them in
isolation will never enable a person to understand Indian civilization
as a whole.
 Parochialism
• Yogendra Singh observes that when the little tradition moves upward
to the great tradition, it is the process of universalisation. And, when
the great tradition moves downward to the local or village level, it is
parochialisation.
• Parochialisation and universalisation are supplementary to the
concepts of little and great traditions. These are processes of cultural
change. When the great tradition, i.e., the tradition of epics and sacred
books undergoes change at the local or village level, it is
parochialisation or localisation of great tradition or civilisation.
Great traditions →
Parochialization
↑ ↓ 
Universalisation ← Little
traditions
McKim Marriot
• An American anthropologist; PhD from the University
of Chicago in 1955.
• McKim Marriott has researched villagers and
urbanites of India and professionals of both South
Asia and Japan.
• He criticized Western categories which often present
obstacles to understanding peoples, and he elaborated
alternative models for studying differing cultural
realities.
• He has constructed alternative social sciences for
studying differing cultural realities.
Robert Redfield

• Robert Redfield (1897 – 1958) was an

American anthropologist and
ethnolinguist, whose ethnographic
work in Mexico is considered a
landmark of Latin American
ethnography.
• He was associated with the University
of Chicago for his entire career.