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Reflections of Bengali Subaltern Society and Cultural Identity Through the Bangali Bhadrolok’S Lenses: an Analysis

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Reflections of Bengali Subaltern Society and Cultural Identity Through the Bangali Bhadrolok’S Lenses: an Analysis Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 Reflections Of Bengali Subaltern Society And Cultural IdentIty through the BangalI Bhadrolok’s lenses: an Analysis -Mithun Majumder Phd Research scholar, Deptt of International Relations, Jadavpur University Abstract The Bengalis are identified as culture savvy race, at the national and international levels. But if one dwells deep into Bengali culture, one may identify an admixture of elite/ higher class culture with typical lower/subaltern class culture. Often, it has been witnessed that elite/upper class culture has influenced subaltern class culture. This essay attempts to analyze such issues like: How is the position of the subaltern class reflected in typical elite class mindset? How do they define the subaltern class? Is Bengali culture dominated by the elite class only or the subaltern class gets priority as the chief producer class? This essay strives to answer many such questions Key Words: Bhadralok, Subalterns, Culture, Class, Race, JanaJati By Bengali society and cultural identity, one does mean the construction of a typical Bhadralok cultural identity and Kolkata is identified as the epicentre of Bengali Bhadralok culture. But the educated middle class city residents, salaried people, intellectuals also represent this culture. Bengali art and literature and the ideas generated from the civil society in Kolkata and its cultural exchanges with typical Mofussil or rural subaltern culture can lead to the construction of new language or dialect and may even lead to deconstruction of the same. The unorganized rural women labourers(mostly working as domestic help) often use the phrase that “ we work in Baboo homes in Kolkata”. By the term, “Baboo”, one can refer to elite, good mannered, western educated, culturally oriented bhadralok. According to Jogesh Chandra Bagle, “the gentleman who organizes Durgapuja for festivities, arranges for Laxmipuja to comply with the request of his spouse, complies with the request of pro-spouse(upagrihini) in organizing Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:7752 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 Saraswati Puja and indulges in Ganga Puja for culinary mutton delight-he is deemed as Baboo” 1.These gentlemen with higher cultural orientation are Bhadraloks. One may embark upon discussion of a number of festivities in Kolkata, ranging from the Grand DurgaPuja, to KaliPuja or Saraswati Puja. The Grand themes of DurgaPuja designed by Bhadralok artisans in sync with popular culture, often represents the lower class north-Bengali janajati cultural ethos-banbibi puja, or the Basantipuja of the subaltern classes in Sundarban area; chou dance of Bankura-based tribals and even sometimes do showcase puja style organized by the bagdi-dules. The Bhadraloks in the course of re-construction of subaltern cultures within the arena of bhadralok elite culture, give rise to a kind of deconstruction and a type of Destruction Language is created. What the subaltern classes cannot use in Bhadralok society, gets deconstructed in the mainstream Bhadralok culture and often becomes an item of entertainment and humour. In this way, a new cultural theme of the subaltern janajatis is evolved. Whether one can call it a Humour or a Sketch is mired in controversy. Gayatri Spivak in her celebrated piece ‘Can Subaltern Speak?’, argues that the history and cultures of subalterns are redesigned by others. There is an inherent linkage between Bangali bhadralok culture and the festivities and the worshipped deities. The sacrifice offered to Goddess Kali in Kalighat is deemed as legitimate in Bhadralok culture , but the pottery art of subaltern janjatis is regarded as heinous(papachar). Besides in the Grand theme Pujas of Kolkata(Durga, Kali etc) the theme creators(artisans etc of Kumartuli) showcase the subaltern culture only as a theme, thereby commodifying it but the bhadraloks never identify with this subaltern culture. Hereby bhadraloks tend to potray a popular Bangali culture, but they never attempt to construct the indegeneous cultural and literary identity of the subalterns. Bhadraloks have never attempted to incorporate subaltern cultures within their own culture rather have endeavoured to divide the same. The people migrating from the rural areas and settling in the city fringes have given rise to a new rural subaltern culture in the city fringes. Kobigaan, Halfkhorai, Tarja, Hop Kirtan, Pakhir Dal, are names which can be heard and found in city fringes-it is a pointer to the fact that rural culture (loksanskriti) has acclimatised itself in the urban civic space. 2 There are a lot of space devoted to ancient rural cultures in Panchalis and Loksamskriti. Mention has been made therein about jokes, tamasha, other pseudo cultural affairs dating back to ancient rural Bengal. Evolution of various professions, Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:7753 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 steady rural-urban migration has led to the formation of a mixed subaltern culture that is not acceptable amongst the urban bhadralok elite.3 Sibnath Shastri in his celebrated piece: ‘Ramtanu Lahiri O Totkalin Bongosomaj’ writes in the context of the popularity of Dasarathi Roy’s Panchali, ‘This panchali is so full of slangs, perverse language and inappropriate comparisons, that we wonder that how can this keep the readers entertained’.4 But, at that time, the subaltern classes were also attracted to the panchalis. Many like Sibnath Shastri has denounced the Panchalis as ‘trash’ , yet in the general urban civic space, the acceptance of kobigan, tarja, kheu was intact indeed. The construction of subaltern identity by the elite bhadralok writers have never reached the level of respectability and have always been bent bupon maintaining the elite authority and dominant identity, intact. This can be echoed in Sahitya Samrat BankimChandra Chattopadhyya’s Devi Chaudhurani (1864) novel: ‘When the fish has been fished out of water , a severe footfall can be witnessed across the ponds-the black fisherman are all over the place to our utter disgust and the fisherwomen with their clay-laden feet are making the pond waters black”.5 The elite bhadralok Brahmins of Bengal possessed such misdeamening notions about the subaltern classes then. Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyyay in his celebrated piece, Pather Panchali, writes: ‘Durga, after entering the house looked at her mother with guilt on her face. Sarbojaya alerted that rice was ready, please have it and then roam around wherever you want. During the Baisakh month, all other girls are doing sibpuja or Senjuti, but look at my grown up girl-she is only roaming around. She has left home in the morning and could manage to come back only during afternoon to have meals- look at her hair, neither it has been combed , nor there is any oil applied in it – who will tell that she is a Brahmin girl? She looks like a subaltern Dule-Bagdi girl and if it continues in this way, one day she will have to be married of therein only’6 After the Renaissance in Bengal, the society has been reformed-it was Raja Rammohan Roy who pioneered the process of social reforms. Iswarchandra Vidyasagar propounded womens’ education and widow remarriage processes. But all these were ethnically Western .These great people could virtually do little to revive indigeneous culture. In British India non-agricultural professions have proliferated. The need of industry, workers and factories were felt. The rural subaltern classes have acted to serve this need. They have acclimatised to the shoddy, foul-smelling roadside Kolkata mills and thereby the Western Volume IX, Issue III, March/2020 Page No:7754 Parishodh Journal ISSN NO:2347-6648 capitalist model has been planted by elite Kolkatan Bhadaloks.7 The godfather of Bengali Renaissance and new Bengali society, Derozio and his fellow intellectuals have created a educated, intellectual Bengali culture that represents the elite Bhadralok .The rationalist culture that was inspired by the new Bengali society, manifested itself in intellectual discussions at the College Street Coffee House. Its impact was never felt in the addas at factories, discussions among clerks during tiffin break , nor in the addas under the Banyan tree. Hence the gatherings and discussions in new Bengali society has witnessed a great elite- subaltern divide. Divide can be witnessed in the sphere of family life between the educated and sophisticated wives of elite bhadraloks and the subaltern class prostitutes in brothels. It can be illustrated in another way; many women from subaltern classes commute to Kolkata from areas like Canning, Kakdwip, Baruipur, Bongaon to work as domestic help and Ayas-the Bhadraloks term them as ‘masis’in order to pronounce the cultural divide . The elite Bhadralok of Kolkata have even utilised the downtrodden subaltern cultures for commercial and entertainment purposes. In popular Bengali films like “Beder Meye Jyotsna” or “Bostir Meye Radha”,had created a stir among the subaltern populace but for the elite bhadraloks, it meant a cultural decay and a division with the bhadralok dialect and culture. But, in the film, the lead cast was from the Bhadralok class. Gradually the antarmahal subaltern culture started penetrating in the urban civic space. Casteism and caste-based discrimination and caste divisions were also a part and parcel of Bengali life. There is a reflection of these in various short poems(Choras in Bengali) in Kolkata Keshab Chandra Sen’s Brahmo Samaj 8 There is an inherent linkage between sports and Bengali culture, and the emotions associated with the same has in turn united the Bengalis. The bare- footed football matches against British teams could stir up Bengali nationalist sentiments. These nationalist sentiments were echoed even before the Partition of Bengal and reached its peak with the anti-Partition movement. As representatives of Bengali sports culture, several clubs were established- Shovabazar Club(1885), National(1885), Mohunbagan(1889), Ariana(1890)-the Bengali nationalist sentiments are associated with them. In these clubs, the Pals, Goswamis got importance but not the Kotals, Doluis(belonging to subaltern classes).
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