Fairies are fake. So what?

The compelling reason for belief in fairies has to do with the Homo sapiens being a storytelling animal, which thinks in stories rather than hard facts.

Not long ago, one day in 2009, the Irish story collector Eddie Lenihan was chided by a woman for broadcasting his beliefs about fairies, and thereby perpetuating stereotypes of the Irish as mystically backward or irrational. Lenihan had responded by pointing at the nearby cathedral and saying that everyone believed in God although no one had ever seen him. Whomsoever one might align with, the fact is that fairies, and their less favored cousins, witches and ghosts have lived through times, with as many claiming to have seen them as believing in their contested existence. Curiously, these entities continue to attract wide attention. That the famed images of ‘Cottingley Fairies’, the fake photographs that shook the world in 1917, could fetch £ 20,000 a century later in 2018 is testimony to their unceasing popularity among general public, in literature and in arts.       

Shot in the village of Cottingley in Yorkshire, the picture shows a teenage girl looking at the camera as dancing fairies with butterfly wings appear in the foreground. Claiming to have found the winged creatures gamboling near their home, Elsie Wright, 16, and her 9-year old cousin Frances Griffiths could convince the world, including the great rationalist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with indelible proof of the existence of the supernatural beings. Although the fairies in the pictures looked anything but fake, with serious doubts being expressed even then, it took some sixty years before the myth was finally busted. Yet, these images remain so famous and potent that it is hard to imagine them never having existed. 

Fairies is an intriguing inquiry into a subject that is widely considered the stuff of fancy, whimsy, and childhood. After reading several accounts of fairy sightings, Richard Sugg meanders through the fairy narratives in arts, literature, and media to draw fresh perspectives on the cultural meanings of the unceasing fairy-belief. If Sir Doyle created the literary myth named Sherlock Holmes, Elsie and Francis complemented it with their unforgettable icon, the Cottingley Fairies. It may seem a strange coincidence but the desire to be taken in by faith of some kind during a war-ravaged period could have been the innate cultural compulsion.    

But why would such a notion persist in the present times? One would imagine that the technological revolution across the hundred years between 1917 and 2017 would have buried the numinous otherness of the fairies for good. That is not yet the case if Sugg’s entertaining but thoughtful narration on the fairyland and the fairy-faith is anything to go by. Give any child a pair of crayons and ask to draw fairies, winged creatures in different hues will erupt on the drawing sheet. Fairies seem omniscient and omnipresent!   

To think that fairies exist only in English, Scottish, or Irish imagination may not be correct, fairies stories are part of folklore literally across every continent in the world. Every culture has their stories of fairies or nature spirits, from Ireland to China, South Africa to India, and Canada to Australia. Not only stories, designated elf habitats and no-go zones have been part of the folklore. Most cultures believe that they are not actually on our plane of existence, but another plane overlapping ours. Whatever be it, why do fairies stories abound across cultures?

Having authored eight books on weird subjects covering Ghosts, Mummies and Vampires, Sugg sought to explore and bring to surface a subject that is buried deep in the caves of our childhood. It becomes clear that the compelling reason for belief in fairies has to do with the Homo sapiens being a storytelling animal, which thinks in stories rather than hard facts, and believes that the universe itself works like a story, replete with heroes and villains. On top, there is the unwritten rule – if the majority believe in it, it becomes the truth by default.

Should it matter whether or not fairies exist and are real in a world where sensationalized fake news is an accepted reality? Hasn’t the world long believed Kardashians to be real without anybody watching them? A belief in fairies has given a sense of purpose to treating nature in a compassionate manner. Sugg presents the case of emerging genre of fairy ecologists who have helped to counter the predatory behaviour of industrialism and capitalism. The belief in fairies has led many development proponents to accept that cutting an oak tree or demolishing an elf habitat will invite dangerous retribution. The belief in fairies has the power to respiritualize nature, much like what the nature spirits, the Navi, demonstrated in James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar. If faith in fake can have real impact, let the fake-of-the-fairies prevail. And, why not?  

Fairies: A Dangerous History
by Richard Sugg
Reaktion Books, UK
Extent: 280, Price: £16

An edited version was published in The Hindu on January 9, 2022.

Catching the fleeting idea

It is a common perception that unless ideas root and grow, these wither and lose relevance.

Ideas are fleeting in nature, considered by many as a kind of potential energy that dissipates in quick time. It is a common perception that unless ideas root and grow, these wither and lose relevance. Yet these are rarely in short supply, as everybody has ideas! Either pricked by a curious moment or triggered by a news event, ideas erupt in fertile minds without any regard for time and place. Unless ideas are allowed to mature like wine, this fleeting energy does not catch much attention. If this is what ideas may mean then why should a compilation of newspaper columns as a book of ideas catch any attention? In his foreword to India in the Age of Ideas, economist Bibek Debroy sets aside this dilemma by arguing that other than pandering the writer’s ego the idea of packing ‘ideas’ in a book may remain somewhat questionable. So be it!

Written over a decade and more, there are some sixty-six short pieces packaged together to take the reader on a roller-coaster ride through history and culture, urban designs, and economics. Several of the pieces are set in the past and therefore dated, whereas the more recent ones reflect contemporary concerns and hence relevant. While the author claims to have addressed diverse issues from an inter-disciplinary perspective, using a Complex Adaptive System lens, the narrative is a linear response to evolving situations. It couldn’t have been different as the basic premise is rooted in providing quick response to current challenges. 

Many of the issues raised are simple and relatable. Who would not agree that the Indian history must be rewritten by properly revisiting the primary evidence? Isn’t the issue of legitimacy of ruling elite at the core of the current crises in democratic governance?  Can the country afford to discount the role of new middle class as a harbinger of cultural transformation? These and others issues need a nuanced understanding rather than a quick fix. Given his academic and administrative background, however, solutionism remains core concern for Sanjeev Sanyal. 

India in the Age of Ideas misses out on assessing complexities of interactions between human psychology, cultural norms, and social behaviour in addressing contemporary social, economic, cultural, and political challenges the society is currently grappling with. While the author holds up a mirror to the historical contradictions, cognitive dissonances, and governance deficit, how must collusion course between them be resolved has remained largely unaddressed? 

Although there is a limit to which meanings can be layered into newspaper columns, many pieces written over the years are reflective and engaging. In an easy to read style, Sanyal shares some of his off-the-cup concerns. While agreeing with the author on the need for relocating the Independence Day celebrations across different parts of the country, I may suggest similar attention to other events of national importance. Similarly, there is merit in author’s laying emphasis on debates based on evidence than on ideologies and personalities. 

By deliberately avoiding an updation of the articles, Sanyal has not only taken the readers for granted but has weakened his own arguments at several places. The author’s assertion that quick response to a situation is more important than a meticulous plan seems preposterous. And for a book of ideas, inclusion of such unsubstantiated ideas is surely not a good idea. There are quite a few repetitions and contradictions that have gone unnoticed in the compilation. 

India in the Age of Ideas should be more valuable to the author, as he may not need to preserve newspaper clippings of his articles anymore. Given that it is a compilation of old articles, the book seems over-priced. However, this genre of book publishing has value provided the information is updated and the arguments substantiated into a coherent narrative.   
India In The Age Of Ideas
by Sanjeev Sanyal
Westland, New Delhi
Extent: 318, Price: Rs 699.

First published in the Hindustan Times, dated May 11, 2019.