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{{Short description|Indian folklorist and post-colonial theorist (born 1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Infobox academic
| native_name = साधना नैथानी
| birth_place = [[Dehradun]], [[Uttarakhand]], Northern India
| thesis_year = 1994
| discipline = [[Folklore]], [[German studies]], [[Postcolonialism]]
| workplaces = [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] (JNU)<br>[[Doon University]]
| notable_works = ''In Quest of Indian Folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke'' (2006)<br>''Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence'' (2019)<br>''The Inhuman Empire: Wildlife, Colonialism, Culture'' (2024)
}}

'''Sadhana Naithani''' (born 1964) is an Indian [[Ethnography|ethnographer]], [[Folklore studies|folklorist]], Indo-European [[post-colonial theorist]] and educator. She was president of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) until 2024, coordinates the Folklore Unit at [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] and established the School of Languages at [[Doon University]]. She originated the term "[[colonizer]]-folklorist."

== Biography ==
Naithani was born in 1964 in [[Dehradun]], [[Uttarakhand]], Northern India, and was raised speaking [[Hindi]] and [[English language|English]].<ref name=":4">[https://www.academia.edu/19548102/ELEPHANTINE_A_novella_by_Sadhana_Naithani Book cover of ELEPHANTINE A Novella by Sadhana Naithani]. Retrieved 15 February 2026.</ref> She achieved her PhD in 1994 in German Folkloristics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sadhana Naithani |url=https://www.usief.org.in/meet-our-india-fulbr/sadhana-naithani/ |access-date=2026-02-15 |website=The United States – India Educational Foundation (USIEF) |language=en-US}}</ref>

Naithani works as an associate professor at the Centre of German Studies, [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] (JNU) in [[New Delhi]], India, where she additionally coordinates the Folklore Unit.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Sadhana Naithani |url=https://www.jnu.ac.in/content/sadhanan |access-date=2026-02-15 |website=[[Jawaharlal Nehru University]]}}</ref>

In 2010, Naithani was nominated as a member of the Folklore Advisory Committee of the [[Finnish Academy of Science and Letters]], based in [[Helsinki]], Finland. She was president of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) until 2024<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mrvič |first1=Rok |last2=Fiadotava |first2=Anastasiya |last3=Babič |first3=Saša |last4=Džekčioriūtė |first4=Vita |date=2024-11-01 |title=ISFNR's 19 Congress "Folk Narratives in the Changing World": Riga, Latvia, 17.–19. June 2024 |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/fabula-2024-0023/html |journal=Fabula |language=en |volume=65 |issue=3–4 |pages=424–437 |doi=10.1515/fabula-2024-0023 |issn=1613-0464 |access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref> and is an honorary fellow of the [[American Folklore Society]] (AFS).<ref name=":0" /> Naithani was invited to establish the School of Languages at [[Doon University]] in [[Dehradun]], [[Uttarakhand]], India in 2010.<ref name=":1" />

In 1997, Naithani originated the term "[[colonizer]]-folklorist" to describe [[Richard Carnac Temple]] in an article.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naithani |first=Sadhana |date=1997 |title=The Colonizer-Folklorist |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3814697 |journal=[[Journal of Folklore Research]] |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |jstor=3814697 |access-date=2026-02-15 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>

In her book ''In Quest of Indian Folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke'' (2006)'','' Naithani presented previously unknown and unpublished scholarship from colonial-era India, which she found during research in the archives of London's Folklore Society.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Norford |first=Beth |date=2008-05-01 |title=In Quest of Indian Folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke. By Sadhana Naithani. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. xi, 328 pp. $65.00 (cloth). |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/journal-of-asian-studies/article-abstract/67/2/738/341810/In-Quest-of-Indian-Folktales-Pandit-Ram-Gharib |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |language=en |volume=67 |issue=2 |doi=10.1017/S002191180800106X |issn=0021-9118 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240713024659/https://read.dukeupress.edu/journal-of-asian-studies/article-abstract/67/2/738/341810/In-Quest-of-Indian-Folktales-Pandit-Ram-Gharib |archive-date=2024-07-13 |access-date=2026-02-15|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naithani |first=Sadhana |date=2002 |title=To Tell a Tale Untold: Two Folklorists in Colonial India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3814691 |journal=Journal of Folklore Research |volume=39 |issue=2/3 |pages=201–216 |doi=10.2979/JFR.2002.39.2-3.201 |jstor=3814691 |issn=0737-7037}}</ref> She explored the long-term professional relationship between the British orientalist [[William Crooke]] and his "native" assistant [[Ram Gharib Chaube]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ii5JAQAAMAAJ&q=Sadhana+Naithani |title=The Middle East & South Asia Folklore Bulletin |date=2005 |publisher=Division of Comparative Studies in the Humanities, Ohio State University |volume=21 |pages=45 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McBratney |first=Michael Frank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kq5PAQAAMAAJ&q=Sadhana+Naithani |title=Tales of Colonel Temple: Critical Folkloristics and Colonial Modernity |date=2006 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |pages=44 |language=en}}</ref> Her work also included an [[anthology]] of North Indian folktales that had been collected by Crooke and Chaube.<ref name=":2" />

In her book ''The Inhuman Empire: Wildlife, Colonialism, Culture'' (2024)'','' Naithani theorised that the [[British Empire]] was built upon the destruction of [[Wildlife of India|Indian wildlife]], for example with the body parts and skins of hunted tigers made into exotic [[commodities]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=Murfin |first1=Audrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DKyEQAAQBAJ&dq=Sadhana+Naithani&pg=PA153 |title=Animal Fashions: Colonialism, Collecting, and Gender |last2=Lantz |first2=Victoria Pettersen |last3=Bucheli |first3=Sibyl |date=2026-01-17 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-032-06191-1 |pages=153–154 |language=en}}</ref> expanding backwards on the potential time of the [[anthropocene]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Yunker |first=John |date=2024-11-25 |title=Book Review: The Inhuman Empire: Wildlife, Colonialism, Culture |url=https://ecolitbooks.com/2024/11/25/book-review-the-inhuman-empire-wildlife-colonialism-culture/ |access-date=2026-02-15 |website=EcoLit Books |language=en-US}}</ref> The book also compared ancient [[fable]]s, such as ''[[Panchatantra|Pañcatantra]],'' with accounts from British hunters written between 1860 and 1960.<ref name=":5" />

Naithani has written a novella, ''Elephantine'' (2016), which is based on her research into colonial forestry led by German scientists in the [[British Raj]].<ref name=":0" /> She has also explored the magic charms with which people solve "[[karma]] problems."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpFOAQAAIAAJ&q=%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE+%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%80 |title=Folklore |date=2008 |publisher=[[The Folklore Society]] |pages=150 |language=en}}</ref>

Naithani has contributed articles to journals and news publications, such as ''[[The Times of India]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWkWAQAAMAAJ&q=Sadhana+Naithani |title=Himal |date=1994 |publisher=Himal Associates |volume=7 |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref> She has also made two [[Ethnography|ethnographic]] films on contemporary German village life.<ref name=":4" />

== Select publications ==

* ''Folktales of Northern India'' (2002)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bacchilega |first=Cristina |date=2004 |title=Review of Folktales of Northern India; Indian Ocean Folktales: Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25474698 |journal=Western Folklore |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=334–337 |jstor=25474698 |issn=0043-373X |access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref>
* ''In Quest of Indian Folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke'' (2006)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaliambou |first=Maria |date=2010 |title=A Review of In Quest of Indian Folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke by Sadhana Naithani, Hydrabad: Orient Black Swan Pvt. Ltd., 2006. 330p |url=https://ia802906.us.archive.org/35/items/MOSHIEMOMMYAFRAFRAMIXPDF/964-3998-1-PB%20%281%29.pdf |journal=Indian Folklore Research Journal |volume=10 |pages=119–123 |access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pauwels |first=Heidi |date=2009 |title=In Quest of Indian Folktales. Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke. By Sadhana Naithani. pp. 328. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2006. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/in-quest-of-indian-folktales-pandit-ram-gharib-chaube-and-william-crooke-by-naithanisadhana-pp-328-bloomington-indiana-university-press-2006/9CA620E005AD27A1CF467420F02314C5 |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]] |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=256–258 |doi=10.1017/S1356186308009486 |issn=1356-1863 |access-date=2026-02-15|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* ''The Story-Time of the British Empire: Colonial and Post-Colonial Folkloristics'' (2010)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Korom |first=Frank J. |date=2011 |title=Sadhana Naithani, The story-time of the British Empire: colonial and postcolonial folkloristics |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA268650579&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=18826865&p=AONE&sw=w |journal=[[Asian Ethnology]] |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=131–134 |access-date=2026-02-15 |via=GALE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lange |first=Michael A. |date=2011-12-07 |title=Michael A. Lange - Review of Sadhana Naithani, The Story-Time of the British Empire: Colonial and Post-Colonial Folkloristics |url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jfrr/article/view/39286 |journal=Journal of Folklore Research Reviews |language=en |issn=2832-8132 |access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref>
* ''Folklore Theory in Postwar Germany'' (2014)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Repciuc |first=Ioana |date=2016 |title=Sadhana Naithani, Folklore Theory in Postwar Germany, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2014, 142 p. |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=540846 |journal=Diacronia |language=English |issue=4 |pages=1–4 |issn=2393-1140 |access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref>
* ''Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence'' (2019)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=James I. |first=Deutsch |date=2021 |title=Reviews: Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence. By Sadhana Naithani. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2019. Pp. xi + 115, preface, acknowledgments, references and conversations, index. $30 paper.) |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/c8300be4d3953e448c55b4e307473c41/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=40891 |journal=Western Folklore |volume=80 |issue=2 |access-date=2026-02-15 |via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Šmidchens |first=Guntis |date=2019-11-14 |title=Guntis Šmidchens - Review of Sadhana Naithani, Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence |url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jfrr/article/view/38658 |journal=Journal of Folklore Research Reviews |language=en |issn=2832-8132 |access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nyce |first=James M |date=2021-04-03 |title=Folklore in Baltic history: resistance and resurgence: by Sadhana Naithani, Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 2019, 128 pp., $90.00/$30.00 (pbk), ISBN 978-1-4968-2356-4; ISBN 978-1-4968-2357-1 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01629778.2021.1913330 |journal=[[Journal of Baltic Studies]] |language=en |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=284–285 |doi=10.1080/01629778.2021.1913330 |issn=0162-9778 |access-date=2026-02-15|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seljamaa |first=Elo-Hanna |date=2022 |title=Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence by Sadhana Naithani (review) |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/27/article/883955 |journal=Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=139–141 |doi=10.1353/mat.2022.0051 |issn=1521-4281 |url-access=limited |access-date=2026-02-15 |via=Project MUSE}}</ref>
* ''The Inhuman Empire: Wildlife, Colonialism, Culture'' (2024)<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{ResearchGate|id=Sadhana-Naithani}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naithani, Sadhana}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scholars from Dehradun]]
[[Category:Writers from Dehradun]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:Indian ethnographers]]
[[Category:Indian folklorists]]
[[Category:Germanists]]
[[Category:Postcolonial theorists]]

Sadhana Naithani - Revision history

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