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The Body, Subjectivity, and Sociality

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The Body, Subjectivity, and Sociality THE BODY, SUBJECTIVITY, AND SOCIALITY: Fakir Lalon Shah and His Followers in Contemporary Bangladesh by Mohammad Golam Nabi Mozumder B.S.S in Sociology, University of Dhaka, 2002 M.A. in Sociology, University of Pittsburgh, 2011 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2017 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by Mohammad Golam Nabi Mozumder It was defended on April 26, 2017 and approved by Lisa D Brush, PhD, Professor, Sociology Joseph S Alter, PhD, Professor, Anthropology Waverly Duck, PhD, Associate Professor, Sociology Mark W D Paterson, PhD, Assistant Professor, Sociology Dissertation Advisor: Mohammed A Bamyeh, PhD, Professor, Sociology ii Copyright © by Mohammad Golam Nabi Mozumder 2017 iii THE BODY, SUBJECTIVITY, AND SOCIALITY: FAKIR LALON SHAH AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN CONTEMPORARY BANGLADESH Mohammad Golam Nabi Mozumder, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2017 I introduce the unorthodox conceptualization of the body maintained by the followers of Fakir Lalon Shah (1774-1890) in contemporary Bangladesh. This study is an exploratory attempt to put the wisdom of the Fakirs in conversation with established social theorists of the body, arguing that the Aristotelian conceptualization of habitus is more useful than Bourdieu’s in explaining the power of bodily practices of the initiates. My ethnographic research with the prominent Fakirs—participant observation, in-depth interview, and textual analysis of Lalon’s songs—shows how the body can be educated not only to defy, resist, or transgress dominant socio-political norms, but also to cultivate an alternative subjectivity and sociality. I explain how the corporal body acts as the means of both spiritual cultivation and socio-cultural transformations, and show how the Fakirs manage desire without indulgence or suppression, but by sanctifying it. Sanctifying desire serves as the Fakirs’ way of cultivating an ethical relationship to the self. Fakirs’ sanctified desire strives, often unsuccessfully, to annihilate egoism and cherish the indivisibility of human beings, practices that together constitute the enduring fabric of a supposedly selfless subjectivity and ethical sociality. Finally, I discuss how in contemporary Bangladesh, public authorities, mass media, and civil society stakeholders have been gradually coopting the heterodox praxis of the Fakirs. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 2.0 HISTORICAL PERSPECIVE OF THE EMERGENCE OF FAKIR LALON SHAH 14 2.1 BUDDHIST SAHAJIYA PRAXIS ................................................................... 15 2.2 GAUDIYA VAISNAVISM IN BENGAL ........................................................ 16 2.3 FLOURISHING OF SMALL HETERODOX GROUPS .............................. 18 2.4 STRIKING THEMATIC SIMILARITY BETWEEN LALON AND IBN ARABI .................................................................................................................. 24 3.0 TRAINING THE EMBODIED SELF: HABITUS ................................................. 33 3.1 HABITUS BEFORE BOURDIEU ................................................................... 37 3.2 BODIES UNDER FIRE: BOURDIEU, DOUGLAS, AND FOUCAULT ..... 44 3.3 POWER OF EDUCATING THE BODY IN OUR TIMES ........................... 50 4.0 TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF EDUCATING THE BODY ......................... 59 4.1 HETERODOX BODILY PRACTICES .......................................................... 62 4.2 POWER OF THE BODY .................................................................................. 66 4.2.1 Somatic Divinity ............................................................................................. 67 4.2.2 Selfless Subjectivity ....................................................................................... 73 4.2.3 Ethical Sociality ............................................................................................. 78 5.0 MANAGEMENT OF DESIRE ................................................................................. 89 v 5.1 SELF AND THE BODY .................................................................................... 91 5.2 BEYOND THE “REPRESS OR PROLIFERATE” GRIDLOCK ................ 97 5.3 COMBATING EGOISM AND CULTIVATING AN ETHICO-POLITICAL SUBJECTIVITY ............................................................................................... 107 5.4 MANAGEMENT OF DESIRE AND SOCIO-POLITICAL CONDITIONS .. ........................................................................................................................... 114 6.0 COOPTATION OF THE HETERODOX LIFE-PRACTICES OF THE FAKIRS .................................................................................................................................... 120 6.1 FAKIRS APPEAR FOREIGN IN THEIR HOME ...................................... 121 6.2 POPULARITY ACCOMPANIES ANXIETY .............................................. 131 6.3 LIVING TRADITION TURNS INTO A CULTURAL HERITAGE ......... 132 6.4 THE FUTURE OF THE FAKIRS ................................................................. 135 7.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 146 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Legal document showing the transfer of private property to Anandadham .................. 82 Figure 2: The front side of Lalon Complex in Kustia, Bangladesh ............................................ 125 Figure 3: A few Fakirs in the middle surrounded by visitors inside Lalon Complex ................. 126 Figure 4: Performing Fakirs at Lalon’s dham ............................................................................. 127 Figure 5: State Sponsored Cultural Program in Cheuria, Kustia ................................................ 129 Figure 6: Thousands of Attendees at the State-Sponsored Parallel Cultural Program ............... 130 vii PREFACE I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the committee members for their support and cooperation throughout my PhD career at the University of Pittsburgh. I am particularly thankful to Dr. Bamyeh for encouraging me to explore the world beyond Sociology. From the first day of our meeting to the end of my graduate study at Pitt, I have benefitted enormously from Professor Bamyeh’s intellectual breadth and depth. As it has been for me, I think it will be a rare opportunity for graduate students in Sociology or Social Sciences to work with Dr. Bamyeh. I am also grateful to Dr. Lisa Brush for her extensive comments and helpful suggestions. She has been kind enough to closely read almost every word of all the drafts that I sent. I cannot thank her enough for that. As an anthropologist, Dr. Joseph Alter played a crucial role in introducing me with important scholarly works on marginal traditions in South Asia. I must admit, I often found the much-needed inspiration from Dr. Alter’s encouraging words. I am also fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Mark Paterson. Despite being extremely busy, he was kind enough to thoroughly read the draft and provide important suggestions. I would also like to thank Drs. Waverly Duck and Akiko Hashimoto for their contributions. Finally, for being such a great host of international students like myself, the city of Pittsburgh and its residents deserve great appreciation. I will be sure to convey the message to my friends in Bangladesh. viii 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the current era of postcolonialism, decoloniality, and subaltern studies, the reexamination of marginal cultures or indigenous traditions has gained a new momentum. This reexamination aims not to determine whether those marginal traditions are modern or progressive. Instead, scholars search for broader socio-political significance of the apparently mundane activities or beliefs of the marginalized people all around the world. The analyses of the praxis of heterodox groups require new concepts and new interpretations. One marginalized group, called Baul, to be specific Fakir, in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India has been practicing a heterodox culture for a long time. I reexamine the Fakirs’ antinomian praxis with a new perspective. This perspective allows scholarly conversations between the Fakirs’ wisdom and established academic scholarship, unlike area studies scholarship. The broader significance of this perspective includes a theorization of a radically different way (from majority traditions in Bengal and elsewhere) to view life, subjectivity, and sociality. Fakir Lalon Shah (1774-1890) is the most influential “mystic minstrel” in Bengal— Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Despite having no formal education, he composed around 1000 songs, which are simple but thought-provoking. Lalon’s songs are the most popular folk songs in Bengal. As did Lalon, his followers (most of whom are poor and village dwellers) sing songs typically accompanied by the one-stringed “Ektara,” live wandering lives, practice religious harmony, and preach universal humanism. Fakirs are known for their “esoteric and 1 ascetic” practices. They incorporate “bhakti” (selfless devotion and love) into the practices of combating the vices of the body. Fakirs
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