The Defining Moments in Bengal
The Defining Moments in Bengal

Author: Sabyasachi Bhattacharya

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-05-27

Total Pages: 553

ISBN-13: 0199089345

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This work explores some of the constitutive elements in the life and mind of Bengal in the twentieth century. The author addresses some frequently unasked questions about the history of modern Bengal. In what way was twentieth-century Bengal different from 'Renaissance' Bengal of the late-nineteenth century? How was a regional identity consciousness redefined? Did the lineaments of politics in Bengal differ from the pattern in the rest of India? What social experiences drove the Muslim community's identity perception? How did Bengal cope with such crises as the impact of World War II, the famine of 1943 and the communal clashes that climaxed with the Calcutta riots of 1946? The author has chosen a significant period in the history of the region and draws on a wealth of sources archival and published documents, mainstream dailies, a host of rare Bengali magazines, memoirs and the literature of the time to tell his story. Looking closely at the momentous changes taking place in the region's economy, politics and socio-cultural milieu in the historically transformative years 1920-47, this book highlights myriad issues that cast a shadow on the decades that followed, arguably till our times.

Let there be Light
Let there be Light

Author: Suvobrata Sarkar

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-12-03

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 110890114X

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Social and economic history of science and technology has emerged as a major theme of interdisciplinary research in South Asian history since the late 1990s. This book studies the correlation between technological knowledge and industrial performance, with the focus on electricity, an emerging technology during 1880 and 1945. The arrival of electricity necessitated the introduction of new institutional facilities, and with the growth of technological system, a new business culture grew - there was demand for trained manpower to handle machines and better educational facilities. Taking a broad view of the subject, the narrative of this book is built around the historical experiences of the local Bengali-speaking population. Adopting the social constructionist model, Let There Be Light presents an amalgamation of archival and Indian language source materials to delineate the diverse nature of the appropriation of technological ideas into Indian culture.

Periodicals, Readers and the Making of a Modern Literary Culture: Bengal at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Periodicals, Readers and the Making of a Modern Literary Culture: Bengal at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Author: Samarpita Mitra

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-06-15

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 9004427082

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Periodicals, Readers and the Making of a Modern Literary Culture is a study of literary periodicals and the Bengali public sphere at the turn of the twentieth century, the variety of interests and concerns that animated this domain and how literary relations were seen to constitute new social solidarities.

Gentlemanly Terrorists
Gentlemanly Terrorists

Author: Durba Ghosh

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1316949656

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In Gentlemanly Terrorists, Durba Ghosh uncovers the critical place of revolutionary terrorism in the colonial and postcolonial history of modern India. She reveals how so-called 'Bhadralok dacoits' used assassinations, bomb attacks, and armed robberies to accelerate the departure of the British from India and how, in response, the colonial government effectively declared a state of emergency, suspending the rule of law and detaining hundreds of suspected terrorists. She charts how each measure of constitutional reform to expand Indian representation in 1919 and 1935 was accompanied by emergency legislation to suppress political activism by those considered a threat to the security of the state. Repressive legislation became increasingly seen as a necessary condition to British attempts to promote civic society and liberal governance in India. By placing political violence at the center of India's campaigns to win independence, this book reveals how terrorism shaped the modern nation-state in India.

Urbanisation in Bengal
Urbanisation in Bengal

Author: Pallavi Chakravarty

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-08-16

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1040085830

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This volume presents a comprehensive study of the urbanization of Bengal from ancient to postcolonial times. It analyses the notion of urban space, examines the institutions which constitute the ‘urban’, and explores the crises brought about by the Partition. The book highlights the key features of urbanization in colonial Bengal––the print culture, institutions of Western education and Western medicine, and the census as a ‘modern form of knowledge’. It also looks at the refugee movement and discusses the contribution of Partition refugees in urbanizing Bengal. Rich in archival sources, this book will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of urban history, urban studies, Indian history, colonial history, postcolonial studies, partition studies, and South Asian history, particularly those interested in Bengal.

Critical Coalitions
Critical Coalitions

Author: Rimika Singhvi

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2024-09-13

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 1036407659

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Step into a thought-provoking world to explore the dynamic interplay of literary aesthetics and some of the key contemporary themes of postcoloniality, posthumanism, the female body, gendered geographies, myth and new media, cinema, and literature. While the first three sections of the book foster a dialogue amongst scholars and practitioners to examine how literature engages with and shapes our understanding of these multifaceted themes, the next two extend the discussion through no-holds barred interviews and poignant poetry-contributions that add depth and texture, offering fresh perspectives on culture, identity, and representation. With each turn of the page, discover the transformative power of literature in today’s globalized landscape.

Travel Culture, Travel Writing and Bengali Women, 1870–1940
Travel Culture, Travel Writing and Bengali Women, 1870–1940

Author: Jayati Gupta

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2020-07-23

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1000088227

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This book chronicles travel writings of Bengali women in colonial India and explores the intersections of power, indigeneity, and the representations of the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ in these writings. It documents the transgressive histories of these women who stepped out to create emancipatory identities for themselves. The book brings together a selection of travelogues from various Bengali women and their journeys to the West, the Aryavarta, and Japan. These writings challenge stereotypes of the 'circumscribed native woman’ and explore the complex personal and socio-political histories of women in colonial India. Reading these from a feminist, postcolonial perspective, the volume highlights how these women from different castes, class and ages confront the changing realities of their lives in colonial India in the backdrop of the independence movement and the second world war. The author draws attention to the personal histories of these women, which informed their views on education, womanhood, marriage, female autonomy, family, and politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Engaging and insightful, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of literature and history, gender and culture studies, and for general readers interested in women and travel writing.

Knowing Asia, Being Asian
Knowing Asia, Being Asian

Author: Sarvani Gooptu

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2021-12-09

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1000489485

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This book studies the various representations of Asia in Bengali literary periodicals between the 1860s and 1940s. It looks at how these periodicals tried to analyse the political situation in Asia in the context of world politics and how Indian nationalistic ideas and associations impacted their vision. The volume highlights the influences of cosmopolitanism, universalism and nationalism which contributed towards a common vision of a united and powerful Asia and how these ideas were put into practice. It analyses travel accounts by men and women and examines how women became the focus of the didactic efforts of all writers for a horizontal dissemination of Asian consciousness. The author also provides a discussion on Asian art and culture, past and present connections between Asian countries and the resurgence of 19th-century Buddhism in the consciousness of the Bengalis. Rich in archival material, Knowing Asia, Being Asian will be useful for scholars and researchers of history, Asian studies, modern India, cultural studies, media studies, journalism, publishing, post-colonial studies, travel writings, women and gender studies, political studies and social anthropology.

Making World English
Making World English

Author: Michael G. Malouf

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-01-27

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1350243876

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Uncovering the role of literature, late imperialism, and the rise of new models of internationalism as integral to the invention of Global English, this book focuses on three key figures from the “Vocabulary Control Movement” - C.K. Ogden, Harold Palmer, and Michael West - who competed for market share for their respective language teaching systems - Basic English, the Palmer Method, and the New Method - through battles over word lists and teaching methods in the 1920s and 30s. Drawing on archives from the Carnegie Corporation and considering language teaching in eight global sites, this book analyzes how a series of conferences in New York and London resolved their conflicts and produced a consolidated, international standard form of English. As a postcolonial approach to the development of the field of English Language Teaching, it reveals how these language debates were proxy battles over an idealized global subject: an urban, secular, consumer moving seamlessly between the tribal and global, speaking both mother tongues and an international lingua franca, Global English. Featuring analysis of the primary texts of each of the three key figures in this book as well as close readings of their readers, which featured adaptations of well-known literary texts from writers like Poe, Dickens, Wordsworth, Milton and Wells, it recovers a neglected history of English as it was redefined as an international language through anti-colonial resistance in the peripheries and transatlantic power struggles in the metropole during the interwar period.