Kajori Patra | Jadavpur University (original) (raw)

Papers by Kajori Patra

The Literary Herald, 2021

Folktales have been a dynamic part of society, in the sense that social movements and political s... more Folktales have been a dynamic part of society, in the sense that social movements and political structures have found simultaneous representation in the contemporary folktales. This paper tries to read a specific aspect of Thakurma'r Jhuli, one of the most prominent texts of Bengali folklore written in pre-independent India: the aspect of travel as the frame narrative of many stories. Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar"s Thakurma'r Jhuli, in spite of being one of the most well-documented collection of Bengali folktales, has very little research space to suffice for the vast and dynamic tradition of folklore that forms the spine of Bengali literary context. Arnold van Gennep"s "Rites of Passage" and contemporary concepts of Grand Tour have been used to study this text from a post-colonial perspective, in order to identify this text within the contemporary research genres of tourism, pilgrimage and travel studies.

RJOE, 2021

This paper attempts to analyze Daksinaranjan Mitra Mazumdar’s Thakurma’r Jhuli: Banglar Rupkatha ... more This paper attempts to analyze Daksinaranjan Mitra Mazumdar’s Thakurma’r Jhuli: Banglar Rupkatha (1907) and Lal Behari Day’s Folktales of Bengal (1883), trying to locate the structuralist pattern to enforce nationhood.

The Criterion, 2021

Bengali folktales are an extremely dynamic part of the Bengali culture, children grow up reading,... more Bengali folktales are an extremely dynamic part of the Bengali culture, children grow up reading, listening to and watching television adaptations of the particularly important text of Bengali folklore, Thakurma'r Jhuli, which is compiled, edited and rewritten from the preexisting oral versions by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar. Thakurma'r Jhuli, in spite of being one of the most well-known and well-documented text of Bengali folklores, still has insufficient research space. In this paper tries to show that Thakurma'r Jhuli, literally 'Grandmother's Bag of Tales', can be examined under the lens of feminism, because rediscovery of folktales under current research topics such as Queer studies and Gender studies only ensures the longevity of Bengali folklores.

Saratchandra Chattopadhyay often wrote about extremely mundane, everyday lives, but the charisma ... more Saratchandra Chattopadhyay often wrote about extremely mundane, everyday lives, but the charisma of his works is the subtle link between the ordinary lives, painstakingly detailed characters and the contemporary politics all inter-mixed to appear like a linear plot. Saratchandra’s women are the life-force of his works, often taking part in the contemporary political situation, although in ways subtler than men.
One of his most celebrated women-characterizations is that of the mother. In the wake of fervent nationalism, Saratchandra, along with his political and literary contemporaries, engaged in an inclusive act of finally giving women a visible position in the country’s politics, a privilege that women were excluded from, for quite a few centuries. This position was the position of maternity, since the country is the mother, a woman; every woman is, by that logic, the country, or Deshomatrika.
The paper attempts to examine some of his works to single out the maternal characters of a male author desperately trying to carve out a niche for the women in the politico-social narratives of Indian freedom movement.
We will try to understand how successful were Saratchandra’s maternal characters and what might have been their significance in their current political situation. The question of whether maternity excluded a mass of women, and whether the concept of maternity forced women to remain bound to specific roles, will also be raised. Ultimately, we will try to understand the types of mother he had created and the relation of their maternity to the world, nation, nationality and, closer at home, sexuality.
Keywords: Maternity, Saratchandra, Nationality, Feminism, Maternal Politics.

Jadavpur University Women's Conclave (JUWC), 2020

The Hindu women have two categories of piety: The popular Sita/Savitri, the married woman; beaut... more The Hindu women have two categories of piety: The popular Sita/Savitri, the married woman;
beautiful, bashful and conventional; and the Other type of pious women, the saints: the
indifferent, outcaste women. What made these women conform to alienation?
Notably, these women saints; married off to wealthy families, denounced their social destiny as
the wife and biological destiny as mothers; and repudiated marriages (marriages of convenience,
not willingness), being ubiquitous in their acceptance of another man, albeit spiritually, as their
husbands or lover. They either declared their already-sanctioned marriage with God (like
Meerabai), which automatically nullified any other marriage; or served as consorts or prostitutes
of God (social disgrace, like Janabai) or repented their dual lives as the housewife and the God’s
lover (like Akka Mahadevi).

The Literary Herald, 2021

Folktales have been a dynamic part of society, in the sense that social movements and political s... more Folktales have been a dynamic part of society, in the sense that social movements and political structures have found simultaneous representation in the contemporary folktales. This paper tries to read a specific aspect of Thakurma'r Jhuli, one of the most prominent texts of Bengali folklore written in pre-independent India: the aspect of travel as the frame narrative of many stories. Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar"s Thakurma'r Jhuli, in spite of being one of the most well-documented collection of Bengali folktales, has very little research space to suffice for the vast and dynamic tradition of folklore that forms the spine of Bengali literary context. Arnold van Gennep"s "Rites of Passage" and contemporary concepts of Grand Tour have been used to study this text from a post-colonial perspective, in order to identify this text within the contemporary research genres of tourism, pilgrimage and travel studies.

RJOE, 2021

This paper attempts to analyze Daksinaranjan Mitra Mazumdar’s Thakurma’r Jhuli: Banglar Rupkatha ... more This paper attempts to analyze Daksinaranjan Mitra Mazumdar’s Thakurma’r Jhuli: Banglar Rupkatha (1907) and Lal Behari Day’s Folktales of Bengal (1883), trying to locate the structuralist pattern to enforce nationhood.

The Criterion, 2021

Bengali folktales are an extremely dynamic part of the Bengali culture, children grow up reading,... more Bengali folktales are an extremely dynamic part of the Bengali culture, children grow up reading, listening to and watching television adaptations of the particularly important text of Bengali folklore, Thakurma'r Jhuli, which is compiled, edited and rewritten from the preexisting oral versions by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar. Thakurma'r Jhuli, in spite of being one of the most well-known and well-documented text of Bengali folklores, still has insufficient research space. In this paper tries to show that Thakurma'r Jhuli, literally 'Grandmother's Bag of Tales', can be examined under the lens of feminism, because rediscovery of folktales under current research topics such as Queer studies and Gender studies only ensures the longevity of Bengali folklores.

Saratchandra Chattopadhyay often wrote about extremely mundane, everyday lives, but the charisma ... more Saratchandra Chattopadhyay often wrote about extremely mundane, everyday lives, but the charisma of his works is the subtle link between the ordinary lives, painstakingly detailed characters and the contemporary politics all inter-mixed to appear like a linear plot. Saratchandra’s women are the life-force of his works, often taking part in the contemporary political situation, although in ways subtler than men.
One of his most celebrated women-characterizations is that of the mother. In the wake of fervent nationalism, Saratchandra, along with his political and literary contemporaries, engaged in an inclusive act of finally giving women a visible position in the country’s politics, a privilege that women were excluded from, for quite a few centuries. This position was the position of maternity, since the country is the mother, a woman; every woman is, by that logic, the country, or Deshomatrika.
The paper attempts to examine some of his works to single out the maternal characters of a male author desperately trying to carve out a niche for the women in the politico-social narratives of Indian freedom movement.
We will try to understand how successful were Saratchandra’s maternal characters and what might have been their significance in their current political situation. The question of whether maternity excluded a mass of women, and whether the concept of maternity forced women to remain bound to specific roles, will also be raised. Ultimately, we will try to understand the types of mother he had created and the relation of their maternity to the world, nation, nationality and, closer at home, sexuality.
Keywords: Maternity, Saratchandra, Nationality, Feminism, Maternal Politics.

Jadavpur University Women's Conclave (JUWC), 2020

The Hindu women have two categories of piety: The popular Sita/Savitri, the married woman; beaut... more The Hindu women have two categories of piety: The popular Sita/Savitri, the married woman;
beautiful, bashful and conventional; and the Other type of pious women, the saints: the
indifferent, outcaste women. What made these women conform to alienation?
Notably, these women saints; married off to wealthy families, denounced their social destiny as
the wife and biological destiny as mothers; and repudiated marriages (marriages of convenience,
not willingness), being ubiquitous in their acceptance of another man, albeit spiritually, as their
husbands or lover. They either declared their already-sanctioned marriage with God (like
Meerabai), which automatically nullified any other marriage; or served as consorts or prostitutes
of God (social disgrace, like Janabai) or repented their dual lives as the housewife and the God’s
lover (like Akka Mahadevi).