Jita Baruah

Ringtones of Mobile Phones: a Folkloristic Study in Guwahati City, India Jita Baruah

The mobile phone has brought about a communication revolution in the world. SMS through mobile phones are reflective of different behaviour patterns and new mediums of expression. Connected to the mobile phone, there is another aspect which can be studied as a new form of folklore?the ringtone. An attempt has been made to perceive mobile phone ringtones as an emergent folklore genre and how they are reflective of the personality and sensitivity of the user. At present there are thousands of ringtones available in the market which provide a wide range for users to pick from according to their choice and need. Ringtones constitute a genre of folklore in the sense that it can become a channel for aesthetic creativity, as a means of communication, as a mechanism for the achievement of emotional release and a source of pleasure for the listener. The means of transmission is non oral and the creators are anonymous. Through ringtones people unwittingly reveal a lot of their personality. Thus it has similarity with traditional folklore characteristics like anonymity, collectiveness, publicity and variability.