Keywords
Bengali Folk
French Clandestine
Literature
British India
Resistance
How to Cite
Abstract
The paper highlights how the "popular" folk performance tradition in 19th century colonial Bengal and clandestine writing in 18th century France both served as vehicles for social critique and subversion. Clandestine literature developed as a critique of absolutist rule and ecclesiastical authority in pre-revolutionary France, while popular folk performances of Bengal addressed the socio-economic and cultural disparities that were sustained under British colonial rule. These two genres of culture emerged within different but comparable contexts of political and cultural upheaval. In order to reach underprivileged and disenfranchised audiences, both mediums strategically used humor, allegory, and easily accessible distribution channels to get over censorship and repression mechanisms. The study examines the form and content of these practices using performative and textual analysis. Selected libelles, philosophical, and satirical pamphlet examples are examined for their subjects, language, and use of satire to criticize the king and clergy in order to determine clandestine literature. To learn how comedy, allegory, and vernacular traditions criticize British colonial power and local elites (babu); folk performances, scripts, lyrics, and performance descriptions are analyzed. The paper also looks at how audiences absorbed and understood these cultural manifestations, highlighting how they promoted group resistance. This will be done on the basis of secondary literature available through travel reports of the period. In case of clandestine literature, the focus is on reading, covert distribution networks, and the texts' impact on revolutionary ideas. In colonial Bengal, the popular folk performative qualities, ability to connect with rural and semi-urban inhabitants, and function in fostering community awareness and solidarity are highlighted.
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