Bengali Cultural Identity in Post-Colonial Era: An Analysis of Bengali Cultural Re-presentations (original) (raw)

This research brings out the historical presences, hybridity and fluidity inherent in Bengali cultural identity. Every culture sits in the domain of third space and there is no culture free from foreign influences. Bengali culture has multiple foreign presences historically gained through its evolution of centuries. In cultural representations, people of one culture are commonly shown as one united true self. In 21st Century, the idea of Bengali entity as 'one true self' is a questionable concept since the generations are more hybrid in technological world. Any kind of generalization or national unity in terms of opinions have been become myth as there are multiple intersectional aspects exist in one culture like different religions, languages, communities and historical practices. From such ground, this research aims to find out the foreign presences in Bengali culture, its 'one true self', and the connection of the Bengali community to the past. This research will evaluate the approaches of representing Bengali culture as well. It is a qualitative research. The text, "Cultural Identity and Diaspora" written by Stuart Hall, is used as the central instrument for this research and it follow the approach of S. Hall, the way he evaluated the 'Caribbean identity and its presences'