Bengali culture over a thousand years

Originally published in the Bengali language Hajaar Bochhorer Bangla Sanskriti

Table of Contents

The Beginning
Cultural Transformation in the Indo-Muslim Era
Society and Religion
Bengali Culture under Western Impact
Bengali Culture in the Twentieth Century
Love, Marriage and Family
Bengali Women and their Culture
Bengali Language and Literature
Traditions of Music in Bengal
Theatre and Cinema
Architecture, Art and Craft
Attire
Bengali Food
The Distinctiveness of Bengali Culture.

Art, literature, music and other intellectual expressions of a particular society are together regarded as the culture of that society. Ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular people or society are also its ‘culture’. Contrary to what we think, it is not easy to describe ‘culture’, nor is it easy to write the cultural history. Writing the history of Bengali culture is even more difficult because Bengali society is truly plural in its nature, made even more so by its political division. The two main religious communities that share this culture are often more aware of the differences between them than the similarities. Nonetheless, the people remain bound by history and a shared language and literature. Ghulam Murshid’s Bengali Culture over a Thousand Years is the first non-partisan and holistic discussion of Bengali culture. Written for the general reader, the language is simple and the style lucid. It shows how the individual ingredients of Bengali culture have evolved and found expression, in the context of political developments and how certain individuals have moulded culture. Above all, the book presents the identity and special qualities of Bengali culture. The book was originally published in Bengali in Dhaka in 2006. This is the first English translation.

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