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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2014/Paper II/Village India, Urbanisation & Social Change
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2014 10 Marks Model Answer Available

Great Tradition and Little Tradition — 2014 Paper II

Question · 2014 · Paper II · 10 Marks

Great tradition and Little tradition

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Explain the concepts of Great and Little Traditions and their significance in understanding civilization and local culture.
  • Structuring the Response: Define Redfield’s distinction, explain their interaction and relate it to Indian studies through Singer and Marriott.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Robert Redfield, literate elite tradition, folk tradition, universalization, parochialization and Indian civilization.

Model Answer

Introduction: The concepts of Great Tradition and Little Tradition were developed by Robert Redfield to understand the relationship between the literate, formal tradition of a civilization and the everyday cultural practices of local communities.

Great Tradition

It refers to the:

  • literate;
  • reflective;
  • codified;
  • elite

tradition preserved through scriptures, philosophy and learned specialists.

Little Tradition

It refers to:

  • local beliefs;
  • oral traditions;
  • folk rituals;
  • village customs

transmitted mainly through everyday community life.

Thus:

Great Tradition ↔ Little Tradition

The two are not isolated but continuously interact.

In Indian anthropology, Milton Singer and McKim Marriott applied this framework to Indian civilization.

Marriott described:

  • Universalization — local cultural elements move upward into wider civilizational traditions;
  • Parochialization — elements of Great Tradition acquire localized forms.

For example, a pan-Indian deity may acquire distinctive village myths and ritual practices.

Conclusion: The Great–Little Tradition framework explains how Indian civilization maintains cultural unity without eliminating regional and local diversity.

2026 Critically examine the salience of F. G. Bailey's study on Bisipara village of Odisha. 2025 "The village was not merely a place where people lived; it had a design in which were reflected the basic values of Indian civilization." Who said this? Elaborate. 2024 Digitisation of rural economy 2024 Compare and contrast the approaches of M.N. Srinivas and L.P. Vidyarthi to social change in village India.

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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2014 — Paper II

28 questions

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