Key research themes
1. How have colonial and postcolonial contexts shaped feminist discourse and women’s agency in Bengali literature?
This theme investigates the critical engagements of Bengali women writers during the colonial period and their complex negotiations of patriarchy, nationalism, and cultural traditions. It focuses on how women’s autobiographies, non-fiction, and literary works challenged dominant gender ideologies, interrogated Hindu domesticity, and sought alternative imaginaries of feminist politics within restrictive socio-religious structures. The studies emphasize the significance of recalibrating feminist discourse beyond Eurocentric frames to account for the double colonization faced by Indian women and the intersections of class, caste, gender, and religion.
2. What are the unique linguistic processes and influences underpinning Bengali language development and literature?
This theme explores the morphological processes in Bengali word formation, the historical and ongoing impact of Persian on Bengali language and literature, and the socio-linguistic hierarchies emerging from colonial and postcolonial educational reforms. It focuses on how compounding strategies shape lexical richness, how Persian vocabulary and literary paradigms were assimilated during Sultanate and Mughal periods, and how language standardization and colonial educational policies reconstructed linguistic hierarchies affecting community identities.
3. How do spatial, cultural, and historical memories mediate Bengali identity and literary culture?
This theme centers on the role of place, collective memory, and cultural heritage in shaping Bengali literary and social identities, particularly through spaces like Beauty Boarding in Dhaka and the regional architectural expressions in Bengal’s Sultanate era. It considers how historical traumas, political legitimization, performance practices, and folklore intertwine to produce dynamic narratives of belonging and cultural resistance in Bengali literature and society.