Intangible Heritage of the Folk: Study of Conceptual Metaphors in the Folk Bihu Songs of Assam

Abstract

Design is the process of creation, manifestation, and consumption of ideas. Yet the dominance of vision, and by extension, the focus on tangibility in the domain, potentially marginalizes Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). However, ICH forms like folk songs and folklore frequently embed rich documentation connecting the tangible to the intangibles. This thesis investigates Assamese Folk Bihu songs (Bonghokhas), associated with Assam's state festival, as significant representations of ICH, aiming to explore the cultural knowledge and lived experiences they encapsulate through the lens of conceptual metaphors.