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Dr. Haseena Naji

Folklorist  |  Narratologist

Researcher and educator in narrative analysis and folklore studies — examining oral traditions, ritual speech, and cultural identity in South Indian and indigenous communities through structuralist and comparative frameworks.

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About

Biography

Education & Positions

2023 – Present
Assistant Professor
Division of English, School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT Chennai
2016 – 2023
Ph.D., Department of English Studies
Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur
2013 – 2014
Bachelor of Education
Department of English, University of Kerala
2010 – 2012
M.A. English Language & Literature
Fatima Mata National College (Autonomous), Kollam, Kerala
2007 – 2010
B.A. English Language & Literature
Sree Narayana College for Women, Kollam, Kerala

Dr. Haseena Naji is an Assistant Professor in the Division of English, School of Social Sciences and Languages, at Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai. She is a researcher and educator specialising in narrative analysis, folklore studies, and indigenous knowledge systems, with a strong foundation in structuralist and interdisciplinary methodologies.

Her work explores ritual speech, oral traditions, and cultural identity, particularly in South Indian and indigenous communities. She integrates comparative folklore studies, linguistic anthropology, and performance analysis to examine how oral traditions function as sites of cultural memory, resistance, and knowledge transmission.

Her doctoral thesis, “Narrativising Experience: A Structuralist Analysis of the Polymorphous Kurichyan Tales with Special Reference to Propp and Ochs and Capps” (Central University of Tamil Nadu, 2023), argues that universal structural frameworks like Propp’s are insufficient for capturing the semantic richness of indigenous oral narratives, and that incorporating Ochs and Capps’ dimension of linearity provides a more comprehensive analytical lens.

She has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork among the Kurichyan community of Wayanad, Kerala, documenting oral storytelling, ritual songs, and indigenous knowledge transmission. She is dedicated to preserving and critically analysing indigenous storytelling practices through active contributions to academic networks, interdisciplinary collaborations, and scholarly publications.

Affiliations & Roles

  • Assistant Professor, Division of English, VIT Chennai
  • Faculty Coordinator, Women Development Cell, VIT Chennai (2024–present)
  • Innovation Ambassador, IIC — MoE’s Innovation Cell
  • Member, International Society of Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR)
  • Member, American Folklore Society (AFS)
  • Lifetime Member, FSLE-India (ASLE-USA Chapter)
Areas of Inquiry

Research Interests

My research sits at the intersection of narratology, folklore studies, and structural analysis, seeking to understand how indigenous oral traditions encode cultural knowledge through narrative form.

Narratology & Narrative Analysis

Exploring the formal structures and dimensions of storytelling across cultures and traditions.

Structuralism & Post-structuralism in Folklore

Applying and critiquing structuralist methods in the study of folk narratives, moving beyond Eurocentric models.

Indigenous Oral Narratives

Documenting and analyzing the Kurichyan tribal traditions of Wayanad, Kerala — their stories, structures, and cultural significance.

Propp’s Morphological Framework

Extending and recontextualizing Vladimir Propp’s 31 narrative functions for non-Western tale traditions.

Ochs & Capps’ Narrative Dimensions

Integrating dimensions of tellership, embeddedness, linearity, tellability, and moral stance into structural analysis.

Mythology & Folkloristics

Studying myths and folk traditions as repositories of cultural memory and collective wisdom.

Ethnographic Fieldwork

Long-term community-based documentation of oral storytelling, ritual songs, and indigenous knowledge transmission through participant observation and in-depth interviews.

Discourse Analysis of Indigenous Narratives

Analyzing the discursive strategies and pragmatic dimensions of indigenous storytelling practices.

Mortality, Ritual & Cultural Memory

Examining death rituals, ancestral veneration, and commemorative practices as sites of cultural identity and community memory.

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Current Research Project

Ethnographic study of the rituals and ceremonies of the Kurichyan community in Wayanad, Kerala, India — documenting and analyzing the living ceremonial practices that sustain indigenous cultural identity.

Scholarly Work

Publications

Journal Articles

Accepted

“Spirits, Sanctions, and Cures: Ancestral Veneration and the Epistemology of Healing among the Kurichyas of Wayanad, Kerala, India”

Mortality, Taylor & Francis

Examines ancestral veneration and indigenous healing epistemologies among the Kurichyan community of Wayanad, Kerala.

2023

“Construction of Hegemonic Femininity and Masculinity in Upper Primary School Textbooks: A Study on SCERT Textbooks of Classes 5 to 7”

Language and Language Teaching 23.1 (2023)

Investigates the construction and reinforcement of gender norms — hegemonic femininity and masculinity — in Kerala SCERT textbooks used in upper primary education (Classes 5 through 7).

2022

“Inundating Cultural Diversity: A Critical Study of Oral Narratives of Kurichyas and Guarani in the Structuralist Perspective”

Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 14.3 (2022)

A comparative Proppian analysis examining the oral narratives of the Kurichyan community of India and the Guarani of Paraguay, revealing how structuralist methods illuminate both convergences and divergences across culturally distant traditions.

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v14n3.13

2022

“Revisiting Propp: A Structuralist Analysis of Marmaaya Paattu of Kurichyan Tribe in Wayanad”

Roots International Journal of Multidisciplinary Researches 8.4 (2022)

A structural analysis of the origin myth of Malakkari in the Tree Song (Marmaaya Paattu) tradition of the Kurichyan tribe, demonstrating how Proppian functions manifest in and must be adapted for this indigenous narrative form.

Book Chapters

Under Review

“Death, Ritual, and Deification: Examining the Commemorative Procession of Kerala’s Iconic Politician, Oommen Chandy”

Jithin Joseph, Haseena Naji, and Sharon P. B.

The Routledge Handbook of Dark Events: Celebrations, Heritage, and Customs of Death and the Macabre, ed. Brianna Wyatt, Hannah Stewart, and Philip Stone. Routledge.

2025

“The Urban Gestalt: Understanding Lefebvre’s Vision of City”

Jithin Joseph, Haseena Naji, et al.

Interstices of Space and Memory, ed. Sreedevi Santhosh et al. Routledge, 2025, pp. 117–22.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003606666-22

Engagement

Invited Talks & Activities

International Conference

“Unveiling Cultural Nuances: Integrating Ochs and Capps’ Linearity with Propp’s Framework in the Analysis of Kurichyan Folk Songs”

ISFNR 19th Congress, University of Latvia, Riga

June 2024
International Conference

“When the Forest Crosses the Threshold: Tiger Attacks, Rumour, and Indigenous Memory in the Kurichyan Folksongs of Wayanad”

42nd Perspectives on Contemporary Legend, Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Stockholm

June 2025
International Conference

“Restorying as Resistance: Narrative Flexibility and Cultural Negotiation in Kurichyan Folksongs of Wayanad”

137th Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society, Atlanta, Georgia

October 2025
Keynote Address

“Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Career Guidance from the Pursuit of Happyness”

Jeppiar College of Arts and Science, Chennai

December 2024
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Presented papers at 15+ international and national conferences across narratology, folklore studies, ecocriticism, and cultural analysis.

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Presented at the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting 2025 (Atlanta) and the 42nd Perspectives on Contemporary Legend Conference, Stockholm 2025.

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Cleared UGC Junior Research Fellowship and National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professor.

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Conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork among Kurichyan and Malai Pandaram communities in Kerala (2018–2025).

Research Technology

Computational Analysis

Proppian Narrative Analysis Tool

A computational tool for analyzing narratives using an integrated framework that combines Vladimir Propp’s 31 narrative functions with Ochs & Capps’ five narrative dimensions. Designed specifically for non-Western and non-linear narratives.

  • Propp’s 31 narrative functions analysis
  • Ochs & Capps’ five-dimensional framework
  • Integrated structural and experiential analysis
  • Non-linear narrative support
  • Cross-cultural narrative comparison
  • Detailed analytical reports

Built on the theoretical foundation of Dr. Naji’s doctoral research on the polymorphous Kurichyan tales.

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Launch Tool

Free for researchers and educators

Connect

Academic Profiles

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Get in Touch

Contact

Email

haseenanaji@gmail.com

Phone

+91 953 909 2991

Institution

Division of English
School of Social Sciences and Languages
Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai
Tamil Nadu, India