Politics and Social Consciousness in Bankim Literature in the context of Lokrahasya : A Post-Colonial Reading of a ‘Colonial’ Text

The literary contribution of novelist and essayist Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay is acclaimed by one and all. Couched in his elegant prose are the most inventive political and social satires and polemics that present to the reader his unique way of interpreting history. Through this article, an attempt is made to understand the socio-political thought process of the educated Bengali of nineteenth-century Bengal. In order to fulfil that objective, I have tried to make an analysis of certain articles collected under the title Lokrahasya by Bankimchandra.

Bankimchandra was born during the first half of the nineteenth century, a period when the ideas of Bengali renaissance were on their nascent stage. The main thrust was emancipation from the superstitions and prejudices of the medieval period, and acquisition of a new scientific-rational outlook in the western mould. By the second half of the nineteenth century, when Bankim was already an established writer, these ideas were crystallizing. However, a clear conception regarding the nature, progress and effects of colonialism were yet to emerge though in the opinion of Alok Ray (2019, p. 21) Rammohan Roy, Akshay Kumar Datta, the Young Bengal group, Vidyasagar, etc. were all aware that a transformation was occurring. In such scenario, we see Bankimchandra, rather than becoming a part of social reform movements of the prevalent types, was expending his energies on issues much more profound. Educated Bengalis, under colonial situation, were concerned with social reforms for eradication of overt social maladies, progress of western education, and so on. The predecessors of Bankim like Ramgopal Ghosh, Peary Chand Mitra, Dakshina Ranjan Mukherjee of Bengal Spectator fame were more interested in social reform and less in advancing the cause of history-philosophy-literature (Ray, 2019, p. 300). For Bankim, the primary focus was dissemination of education and knowledge to one and sundry, rather than participation in social reform movements. One probable reason was that being an official under colonial administration, it was not possible for him to participate in the latter; the pen was definitely preferable to him. As will become obvious, Bankim though not immune from it, seems to be far ahead of his times in his understanding and analysis of colonialism, not merely at political or administrative levels, but at the realm of ideology, consciousness, orientation, morality and conscience. Through his writings, he wanted historical and scientific knowledge to reach ‘…sadharon bangali pathok, Bangala bidyalayer uchchotoro srenir balokera ebong adhunik shikkhita bangali stree…’ [the common Bengali readers, students of higher classes in Bengali schools and modern educated Bengali women] (Ray, 2019, pp. 301–307). Through his various works, it becomes evident that Bankim wanted the people of his country to inculcate knowledge from various fields in order to effect a radical change in their thinking and orientation; only then they will become better equipped to understand the phenomenon of colonialism and deal with the same. For him, politico-administrative interaction with a foreign power was inevitably bringing in not only economic changes but a far more profound transformation in the value-system and inclinations of the people. This would have a far-reaching effect where the fundamental character of society will undergo a qualitative transformation, never to revert back to its prevalent stage. Thus, according to Bankim-researcher Bhabatosh Datta (2016, p. 50), such changes in the cultural realm of society was more important to Bankimchandra rather than the issues of current social reform programmes—issues like polygamy, widow-remarriage, and so on were undeniably part of society and would undergo transformation with societal change.

Datta and Mukherjee (2016, p. 38), furthermore, is of the opinion that for Bankim, the presence of a few English-educated people cannot accomplish this task—knowledge in the vernacular language will have to percolate deep and wide in order to bear fruit. For this, his response, like many of his contemporary indigenous intellectuals, had been the medium of Bengali language and literature. For the educated Bengali middle class, the path was from religious reforms to political emancipation and building up of, in the process, a nationalist-patriotic character. The common dilemma of the period was understanding the distance on the one hand, and reconciliation between the two, on the other, between orient and the occident, past and present, patriotism and progress under British rule. He was conspicuous in his criticism of colonialism on the one hand, and understanding of the inculcation of the evils of colonialism by his countrymen, on the other, as manifest through his repertory of writings in many forms. These include stand-alone articles, collections like Kamalakanter Daptar, long expositions like Krishnacharitra, editorials of Bangadarshan, novels to satires filled with wit and irony. However, it should be borne in mind that ‘satire’ in Bengali prose literature was neither unique to Bankim nor begun by him. Earlier instances can be found in Kaliprasanna Singha’s ‘Hutom Pyanchar Naksha’ or Tekchand Thakur’s ‘Alaler Ghorer Dulal’. But Bankim was trying to usher in a different type of literature with a more refined language suited to the urban culture of Calcutta. His form of satire was substantially influenced by English literature, most notably ‘Pickwick Papers’ by Charles Dickens and his whole endeavour was to whip up the consciousness of his people regarding politico-cultural subjection under British colonialism. Datta and Mukherjee (2016, pp. 44–45) was of the opinion that Bankim had taken the responsibility of creating ‘…notuntoro drishti, notuntoro bhabnake gore deoar. Europeo gyan, bigyan, darshan, sahityer songe prothom jog ghotche, sei sutre biswa o samaj somporkeo kotoguli bhabnapoth toiri kore dite hochche’ [newer orientation, newer thinking. People were coming into first contact with European knowledge, science, philosophy, literature; hence, he also had to create some new ways of thinking regarding the world and society]. This was said in reference to Bangadarshan but is applicable in case of his other writings, especially the satirical works.

Lokrahasya is one such collection of satirical works, in which, keeping in mind the stated objective, I have made a selective analysis of a few articles. Before embarking on the journey to discover the ‘rahasya’ or mystery of the stated text it is important to keep in mind that to make any critique of the colonial system, Bankim had to take recourse to satire and banter as he was an official under the colonial administration. ‘Lokrahasya’ can be taken as a ‘Text’ where I, as reader, am endeavouring to recover the thoughts of the author and relocate the same to the present society, which is post-colonial as well as postcolonial. The former indicates the period in time after colonialism as a consequence of political freedom of the society under consideration, signifying technical transfer of power and government. Literally, it comes after colonialism after the demise of the former in its ‘colonial’ state. ‘Postcolonial’, on the other hand, refers to a process of uninterrupted interaction from the colonial period to the post-independence era. Pradip Basu supports the view that postcolonialism refers to, ‘…the complex interaction between imperial culture and indigenous cultural practices … the postcolonial condition set in motion with the inception rather than the conclusion of formal colonial occupation … the uninterrupted term “postcolonialism” is more sensitive to the long-lasting history of colonial consequences’ (Basu, 2010, p. 213). Ania Loomba is of the opinion that postcolonialism can be seen ‘…as the contestation of colonial domination and the legacies of colonialism’ (Loomba, 2016, p. 32). It can also be seen as a process of disengagement from the entire phenomena of colonialism. Furthermore, a postcolonial society also incorporates elements of its ‘precolonial’ past which had survived the onslaught of colonialism. Hence, the present society is both post-colonial in political terms while being postcolonial at the same time in terms of culture, consciousness, ideas, ideology, and so on. The article tries to understand certain issues of the author’s society and how they can be analysed today.

The very title of the article, thus, suggests a journey back in not only time but culture and politico-social situation as well. ‘Postcolonial’ is a term denoted for not only an era after a colonial period in time. In the political sphere, the two denote the difference between being under the political control of ‘another’ and establishment of the right to self-determination, becoming a sovereign entity in its own right. Socio-culturally the distinctions are not so clear and are often overlapping or merging into one another. The ‘text’ in question was written at the second half of the nineteenth century when the end of colonialism was nowhere in sight; however, the issues raised can be attempted to be explained or analyzed from a postcolonial orientation. Postcolonialism as a discourse developed much later though the seeds of such thought were present in Bankim; however, it seems improbable that he was aware of it—the concept was yet to develop in nineteenth-century Bengal. At an apparent level, the author highlights issues and happenings taking place in his own society, a part of British colony in India. However, at a deeper layer, the same may be found in a society which is ‘postcolonial’ in both time and space. So far as time is considered India threw back the yoke of colonialism with political independence seven decades back. Culturally, this society may be said to be a continuation of its nineteenth-century predecessor not only in terms of time, but more in terms of ideas, concepts, behaviour, and so on. Hence, it is trying to comprehend the colonial period with all its nuances while also endeavouring to transcend the colonial hangover and build a qualitatively different society. In the process, while challenging the language of the colonial power, it is endeavouring to unlearn the Eurocentric world view on the one hand, and producing new modes of representation, on the other (Basu, 2010, p. 215). Thus, postcolonialism is used to denote a position against Euro-centrism—however, ‘…this “Europe” is no longer merely the geographical territory bearing this name, rather the very name of an epistemological and cultural power called “Europe”’ (Basu, 2010, p. 217). A re-reading of Bankim texts gives one the tool to address the issue.

Apparently, Lokrahasya is a simple, fun-filled collection of articles, written in a lighter vein by the author. However, behind the jestful manner are other layers—one, which highlights the humiliation and censuring faced by a ‘native’ of a colonized society by his ‘racially superior’ masters; at another plane, Bankim tries to awaken the conscience of the enslaved people. The essays began to be published in the paper Bangadarshan edited by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay from the year 1874. Here, he has tried to portray the vices, blemishes and sicknesses of not only a colonial society, but of human nature, in general, through light, humorous language but actually depicting tremendous satire. Not only so, but Bankim also brings out the perceived ‘inferiority’ of the colonized people, an inferiority created through continuous projection of the ‘superiority’ of the colonizer. This dichotomy between Europe and its ‘others’ was portrayed much later by Edward Said in his book Orientalism, in whose opinion the binary was central to the creation, maintenance and expansion of European hegemony, both in the politico-economic as well as the cultural spheres. The rationality of Europeans was offset by the irrationality of the colonized people, European civilization was based on hard work and discipline while the colonized were ‘…barbaric, sensual and lazy…’ (Loomba, 2016, p. 63). As Basu reiterates, ‘The legitimacy of colonial rule was secured through constructed and ill-motivated notions like “inferiority of the native”, “lack of intelligence” of the black; “white man’s burden” etc.’ (Basu, 2010, p. 215). Through jest and banter, the author has projected the mental poverty of humanity and tried to find the reasons for the same. The language used is extremely humorous and actually portrays the opposite of what is said. This piece of literature can be said to directly challenge the colonial centre from the colonized margins, thereby giving ‘voice and expression to colonized and once-colonized Peoples’ (Basu, 2010, p. 215). Partha Chatterjee (2006, p. 69.2) feels that the ‘self-ridicule’ and ‘self-irony’ felt by the colonized intellectual against the ‘hypermasculinity’ of imperialist ideology made the former react with tremendous rage and indignation—‘No one was more unsparing in this than Bankimchandra’.

In the first article, ‘Byagrhacharya Brihallangu’, Bankim has severely criticized the human animal. The human is shown as a species which is at the end of its civilizational limits and through various examples has highlighted the poverty of humanism. For example, the article begins with a fundamental change of character of the protagonist—the ‘tiger’. Traditionally, the ‘tiger’ is a solitary animal, hence, not fit to be included in civilized society. The tiger can also indicate a primitive, totemic society, not fit to be included within a ‘modern’, hence, racially superior society. Totemism is a belief about the relationship between people and nature. Generally, a totem is a symbol that is common to a group of people. The term comes from an Ojibwe word meaning ‘a relative of mine’. It was first written about in 1791 by a trader, James Long. The concept of ‘totem’ was portrayed by Freud in psychoanalysis in his book Totem and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics, published in 1913. This tradition is found in what he called ‘primitive’ society, as well as to some extent in his contemporary world. A family or clan is identified by a common totemic object, like a plant or animal or force of nature. In the former, the ‘tiger’ is a totem situated as the ‘other’ of the ‘human’—the latter being the colonialist, capitalist, ‘white’ European’. Here Bankim tries to find the ‘humane’ in the non-capitalist ‘other’ while predicting the doom of humanity; in the case of the latter, the advancement of technology will ultimately threaten humanism. The stage is set for a meeting of the tigers who, upon being united, are becoming social, and therefore, civilized. This fundamental change of character is to be contraposed against the human society where the human individual, through knowledge and technology, is becoming more and more self-centred and isolated from each other; thereby moving away from civilization. It can also be seen as a postcolonial situation where a primitive society, represented by ‘tigers’, i.e. a tribe or clan which has adopted the totem of a tiger, is adopting the practices of a culturally ‘superior’ society, human to be precise, to attain the level of the latter. In the process, the superior society—which is on the wane due to the dominance of all-pervading technology—is getting absorbed within the so-called ‘inferior’ society. In other words, human society, due to overemphasis on technology, is becoming a technocratic society where the human is losing its humanness. Reflection of this idea is found in Bankimchandra, who, writing in an age when the Bengali society was acquiring new types of education and knowledge, and progressing forward, could visualize the time when all these would move the human individual away from his fellow-man, his society, and make him an isolated, alienated being. Maybe what Bankim had foreseen then is probably what can be seen today as the future of mankind—a technocratic society where the human loses his humanness and becomes increasingly dependent on machines and consequently, mechanical.

Bankim mocks the meeting of the tigers as this, just like the human’s meetings, is reduced to the reading of a number of proposals and long speeches, without any idea of the process through which the proposals can see the light of the day. One can see at least two purposes behind this projection. The ‘human’ can also be seen as the colonizer, but whose power is on the ebb. The ‘tiger’ clan represents the colonized ‘other’ who is adopting the means of human civilization to establish their superiority over the latter. As Maidul Islam (2016, p. 18) suggests the ‘age-old colonial policy of educating the indigenous to reap benefits out of the entire process of imparting colonial education to the colonized’ is portrayed here as well. The indigenous colonized is educated to carry forward the cause of colonialism—however, Bankim in the nineteenth century foresees the colonized adopting the ‘…strategy of survival by resisting the enemy by absorbing the knowledge and technology of the enemy’ (Islam, 2016, p. 19). As Islam observes, ‘This is the precise limit of colonialism’ (Islam, 2016, p. 19). Bankim and Islam have both taken literature and film, respectively, as ‘Texts’ to show the process of subversion of the colonizer by the colonized. Here the colonized—the tiger—is not only aware of the motives of the colonizer or absorbs the knowledge and culture of the latter, but is moving to that position, dethroning the colonizer in the process and relegating them to a lower civilizational level. The victim of colonialism subverts the entire process to become the eventual victor over the colonizing ‘human’. An interesting anecdote, on a lighter note, may be mentioned here—a recent event published in the media reports that a Sunderban tiger, for the last decade, has been parading as a tourist attraction on the river banks, being captured not by the weapons of destruction but by the lens of the camera. Can it be taken as an instance of domestication of one of the wildest animals on earth by the crafty human? The editorial of the Anandabazar Patrika (ABP, 2019, p. 4) questions the reason for such behaviour by the tiger, whether it is aware of being at the centre of human attraction and consequently, by such sighting has come under ultimate control of the human. The last paragraph makes one think of Bankimchandra as the editor writes,

Bonyo prani manusher odhin hoiache bote, kintu swechchae nijo aabdal bhangia porjotokder tushti sadhoner dinota, morjadachyuti tahake sporsho kore nai. Jodi ekti byaghro sei kaj kore, tobe byaghro samaje tahar jat jaoa swabhabik. Jodi na bohu byaghro miliya poramorsho koriyaei byaghrotike nijukto koriya thake. Murkhogulike ghuria firia tui dekha dibi, taha hoilei uhara bhabibe bohu bagh aasiteche, tai ei porjoton jogyo sthantir odhik unnayan aaboshyok. Unnito sthane aamra asocheton jatri ba madhu-shikari odhik paibo o gopagop khaibo [It is undeniable that wildlife has come under human control, but the wretchedness or loss of dignity to become the object of pleasure of the tourists by self-will had not touched it. If any tiger behaves thus, he is bound to become outcast in his society, unless many tigers, upon consultation, had appointed this tiger to perform this function. You will parade yourself in front of the fools, so that they think there are many tigers and hence development of this tourist-spot is necessary. Then we will be better able to prey on unmindful tourists and honey-thieves].

The point here is again subversion of the ‘superior’ by the ‘inferior’. The colonizer human, with a self-perception as being superior, has ‘colonized’ the animal world, but the latter can fight back.

The meeting tries to categorize the humans into a type of animal, albeit two-legged, but having the features of a four-legged creature and over time, through evolution, will reach the ‘qualitatively’ superior stage of the monkey, ‘…amadiger bhorsa ache je, monushyo-poshuo kalprobhabe languladi bisishtho hoiya krome banor hoiya uthibe’ [We are confident that the human animal over time will become a monkey with a tail] (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 2). Here it is not a question of the human body appearing ridiculous to the other animals, but a question of socio-cultural degeneration. For Bankim, the Bengalis are ‘weak people’ (Chatterjee, 2006, p. 1.57). However, it is my contention that he had regarded the weakness of the Bengalis as not primarily physical; on the contrary, as this text highlights it was more socio-cultural weakness as a result of lack of ‘…four elements: enterprise, solidarity, courage and perseverance. The Bengalis as a people have always lacked these elements, which is why they are a powerless people’ (Chatterjee, 2006, p. 57).

The speaker Brihallangul identifies various facets of human character. For him, search for food is the most important activity. This, when undertaken by the privileged human is ‘worldly affairs’ while for the less or underprivileged it is ‘swindling’, ‘roguery’ or ‘begging’. For the sly, it is ‘theft’, while for the strong it is ‘robbery’. However, the author clarifies that it is ‘robbery’ for those who are under the command of the law, while ‘valour’ or ‘heroism’ for those who are above law or by-pass it, little knowing that it would become a reality within a couple of centuries. The superficial grandeur and vanity of human civilization is portrayed here. Contrary to the law of nature, where no species destroys its own kind, the Homo sapiens are continuously creating weapons to destroy their fellows. They capture property for their own, barring others from enjoying or using it. Hence, the author rightly points out that it is probably only the humans who create artificial barriers among themselves and continuously strive to destroy each other. Colonialism, at the time of its dismantling, had drawn arbitrary and hence, artificial barriers between people—international boundaries of nation-state—and condemned the people to eternal rivalry across these borders.

Bankimchandra makes a passing reference to the human urge of controlling nature. On the one hand, he mentions the instance of caging the tiger by uprooting it from its natural habitat. The caged tiger also personifies the chained colonized, with the ‘human’, i.e. white European being the colonizer. The tiger is paraded as something exotic in the same way as the tribal, aboriginal, native is perceived by the Europeans. On the other hand, he mentions that humans, being omnivorous, have stamped their ownership over plots of land and use the same for cultivation, gardening, and so on. At the same time, they have staked their ownership over animals which they use for various purposes. Here the author refers to the fact that it is only the humans who have domesticated both flora and fauna for their personal needs. The adverse effect of such domestication is borne by the future generations through natural calamities and hazards. Mention may be made of the fact of possible extinction of certain species of fish like chital, bhetki, tyangra, etc., due to pollution of their habitat and resulting disinterest on their part in reproduction (Dutta, 2018). Again the Batagur turtle is on the verge of extinction due to incessant commercial activities by mankind (Chattopadhyay, 2018). The point here to note is that we are aware of these hazards today and trying to find out means to reverse the same; but Bankimchandra had already cautioned against these almost 150 years ago. The author foresees a future, about a century and half earlier than twenty-first-century pre-eminent writer Ruskin Bond, where the tables will be turned and the human will be kept in the stables, ‘domesticated’ by some other species. The latter writes in the context of the influx of insects during monsoon, ‘…and I foresee the time when we’ll be the ones in cages, and they’ll be on the outside, grinning at us’ (Bond, 2018). In spite of our technological and scientific innovations and developments, ‘Nature always has the last laugh’ (Bond, 2018).

The author, through the speaker Brihallangul, has also ridiculed the impractical conceptions about India and the Indians on part of the foreign scholars. Just as the speaker has not seen the construction of a skyscraper building by any human, so believes that the same are products of nature and the humans only occupy them, Bankim refers to Max Mueller, the renowned German scholar, who had, in the same way, decided that ancient Indians were bereft of the skill of writing; as James Mill, the English utilitarian scholar, had been of the opinion that ancient Indians were uncivilized and Sanskrit was an uncivilized language (Chattopadhyay, 1976, pp. 3–4). If the critique of any nation is done through disrespect, it becomes twisted, distorted and terrible as reflected in the article ‘Ramayaner Samalochona’. Here the speaker is a foreign critic. Contempt or disdain for one nation by another is portrayed in every utterance. The author reiterates the point that this is probably not possible within any other species than the humans. Colonization took up the task of distorting the culture of the colonized thus. In the article ‘Subarnogolok’ the author has made fun of the various behavioural traits of humanity. This article is a reflection of the resulting crisis of failing to do one’s duty towards society and family properly. In the marriage rituals of humans, the Brahmin priest has been ridiculed and compared to the oxen of Varanasi. Through describing the procedure of marriage, the author highlights the corruption and immorality practiced by certain groups of humans—Brahmins—over other fellow humans, something not found among other species. Humans also penalize their fellows for the same type of crimes committed by them. The society of the eighteenth century did not condone temporary, casual relationships between women and men, yet, the author had the foresight to realize that over time such relationships would be accepted, which, in turn, would undermine the very foundations of the family structure.

The author ridicules the human greed for wealth, addressing it as ‘Mudradevi’ and giving it an omnipotent status. The common urge of man is to flock to the house of the wealthy and remain there undeterred even after abuses. Wealth, thus, determines not only social status but the presence or absence of virtue and flaw or weakness as well. The wealthy is virtuous and righteous. Non-possession of wealth is equated to non-possession of virtues and being unrighteous. ‘Bigness’ denotes not size but possession of wealth, denoting power and prestige. Wealth is the source of conflict among its possessors. It creates differences and divergences in human society. It is for wealth that humans abuse other humans or use violence against them.

The author finishes the article by a convergence of monkeys whose only purpose is to criticize and verbally abuse the tigers. Against this metaphor, the ‘monkeys’ signify the Bengali upper- and/or middle-class ‘Bhadralok’ society, engrossed in criticizing others and deeming themselves to be superior to all. They are proud of their language, education, oratory—all following from foreign education. Whatever is beyond the scope of their education and intellect has no value to them—they are experts in slandering others, without doing anything to alleviate the maladies of society. Bankimchandra had identified this class, showing their true colours, little knowing that they would spread and enlarge themselves over time. Here one paradox is noticed. For the middle class in India, English ‘is a language that is now but was not its own language. These are genres which are now but were not their own genres’ (Basu, 2010, p. 221). It is clear that in the process of confronting the European colonizer, as Basu (2010, p. 221) continues, with their beliefs, ideas, value, ideals, habits, notions, customs and traditions, the colonized had appropriated all and made it their own, to interact and react with their indigenous cultural traits. Here mention may be made of language in another sense—this text challenges the language of the colonizer by ‘unlearning’ its world view and ‘producing’ new modes of representation. As Ashcroft is of the opinion, language functions as a medium of power whereby the colonized has seized the language of the centre and replaced it in a discourse fully adapted to the colonized space (cited in Basu, 2010, p. 215).

In his article, ‘Borsho Samalochon’ Bankimchandra mocked the power of the victorious nationality. At the beginning of the article, he has whipped the tendency to imitate the foreigners. The author has portrayed the way in which the members of the defeated nation assume the elevated status of ‘servants’ of the victors. In this context, he has mockingly brought in the concept of ‘Order of the Broomstick’ to ridicule the British ‘Order of the Star of India’ (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 30). The author has also mocked the tendency of the colonized to believe in the power of the colonizer to make possible the ‘impossible’, even by appealing to British Parliament, if necessary. However, to show that to be impossible he says that the civil servants have not been able to change the days of the year, the hours of the day or the minutes of the hour (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 29). The inner significance of this article is to portray the blind faith in British laws by the Indians working under the colonial government and the belief that the ‘master race’ possesses the power to accomplish the impossible. Hence, his ridicule, ‘…aamra kortripokkhogonke anurodh koritechi, baro mash.i sheetkal thake, emon ekti aayin procharer chesta dekhun’ [We are requesting the authority to make a law that will permit the winter season to stay for all the twelve months] (Chattopadhyay, 1976). He ridicules the universality of the British justice system, saying it is neither as efficient nor as impartial as the natural system. Just as the sun shines equally overall, the clouds bring rain, so the judge should deliver justice to all, in cases of both complaints and non-complaints, as well. He has also highlighted the maladies of the educational system, little knowing the relevance of his arguments after more than one and a half centuries. The theme recurs in ‘Gordhob’ as well. Members of the defeated nation become representatives of the colonizing master after acquiring foreign education. Yet Bankim equates them with ‘gordhob’ or the donkey. This is so as the latter are servants of the colonial master and their education is of no use to their native land. The author has found similarities, on the one hand, with Dasaratha and Yuddishthira of the mythological world, and the judge or the teacher of the colonial world, on the other hand, with the characteristics of the donkey. To him, the foolish individual in society can be identified with the donkey—both these mythological figures had behaved without wisdom and brought sufferings in their societies. In the modern age, the judge and the teacher are low on knowledge and wisdom and high on being servile; hence, equated to a donkey. In his words, ‘Bidhata tomar tej dyan nai, ejonno tumi shanto, beg dyan nai, ejonno sudhir, buddhi dyan nai, ejonno tumi bidyan; ebong mote na bohile khaite paona, ejonno tumi poropokari. Ami tomar jashogan koritechi; ghash khaiya sukhi koro’ [You are gentle because god has not given you spirit, you are forbearing because god has not given you force, you are wise because you have no intellect, and you will not eat unless you carry load, hence you are benevolent. I am singing your praise, feel blessed by consuming grass] (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 13). In the guise of apparent praise, the author is verbally berating the imitation-loving, subjugated people to rise from their mentality of servitude to the foreign master.

In the article, ‘Kono “Speciialer” Potro’ the author has projected the endeavour of the fair-skinned Bengali to portray himself as descending from the English on the one hand, and the disgust felt by white-skinned people against the dark or black-skinned people, on the other. Furthermore, he has also condemned the fashion of giving up the practice of wearing clothes pertaining to one’s own culture in favour of foreign-made clothes, signifying the preference of foreign culture over one’s own culture. In his words, ‘Keho keho amadiger moto pentooloon pore, keho keho turkodiger moto pajama pore, ebong keho keho kahar anukoron koribe, tahar kichui sthir korite na pariya, bostroguli kebol komore joraiya rakhe’ [Some wear pantaloon like us, some wear pajamas like the Turks, and some who are undecided about whom to imitate, just keep the clothes wrapped around their middle] (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 31). He comments that though British rule in Bengal is only about 100 years old, yet the English, within that period has been able to ‘…asobhyo ulongo jatike bostro poridhan korite shikhaiache’ […teach the uncivilized, naked nation to wear clothes] (Bandyopadhyay & Das, 1953, p. 57). This feature highlights how the colonizer projects the greatness of Britain and how India is prospering from it; unfortunately, this is realized only by the British, as the Indians lack sufficient intelligence to understand the same.

The inclination to imitate others has also been portrayed in the article ‘Hanumodbabusanbad’. Here the author observes the newly English-educated gentleman whose level of imitation in dressing, walking, appearance, etc., is simply impossible elsewhere (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 37ff). Not only in terms of dressing, but such people are also more comfortable in foreign tongue forgetting their own language. By this observation, the author has established the instance of cultural colonialism in this country. In this type of colonial domination, no external physical force is necessary; through spread of education in the colonizer’s language and other cultural exchanges, the defeated can be inspired to accept and imitate the attitude, orientation, conventions and therefore, culture of the colonizer. Through hanuman, the author compelled such a person to come out of imitating the foreigner and divulge his own identity, on the one hand, and to preserve his existence, he was forced to desist from using the foreign language in favour of his mother tongue, on the other. Bankim as a colonized subject had been ‘schooled in the colonizer’s language’ but he asserted his claim over his mother tongue and began to disseminate and modernize it (Loomba, 2016, p. 187). As Partha Chatterjee (2006, p. 7.2) observes, Bankim as part of the bilingual elite of Bengal made ‘it a cultural project to provide its mother tongue with the necessary linguistic equipment to enable it to become an adequate language for “modern” culture’. For him, his own language belonged ‘to that inner domain of cultural identity, from which the colonial intruder had to be kept out’, while the misguided colonized native had to be brought back within its fold (Chatterjee, 2006, p. 7.2). The same theme occurs in the essay ‘Kono “Speciialer” Potro’. The author is sure that imitation emanates from ignorance. Hence, the so-called educated Bengali professional looks at freedom, individualism, utilitarianism from the lens of the West, feels satisfied in attaining favour of the foreign ruler. By portraying this freedom in the colonial world with that of the liberty of the forest-dwelling monkey, the author highlights the colonized nation’s inferiority-induced foolishness/ignorance. In Ramayaner Samalochona, the author observes that imitation of even a third-grade European was thought to be an achievement by the colonized natives. As Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay observes (Bandyopadhyay, 1995, p. 73), no one else other than Bankimchandra, had dealt such a hard blow to the imitation-loving, servile Bengali, unconfident in their own values, culture and capabilities, as strongly. As Bandyopadhyay continues (ibid.), Bankimchandra had not summarily dismissed the act of imitation—to him imitation by the untalented or ignorant was dangerous. This is so as ignorant Bengali youth, in the process of imitating the British, was cultivating the vices rather than the virtues. Thus, ‘Akkhom byaktir krito anukoron opekkha ghrinakar aar kichui nai’ [Nothing is as abhorrent or disgusting as imitation by an unfit person] (Bandyopadhyay, 1995, p. 73). Uncritical imitation, in the opinion of social reformers of the period like Rajnarayan Basu followed in the same vein in his work Se Kal r E Kal (Chatterjee, 2006, p. 265.3). Partha Chatterjee observes (Chatterjee, 2006, p. 269.3) that Rajnarayan Basu had given many instances of the adverse effects of uncritical imitation of the English manners and ways of life. Based on the opinion of Basu, the former suggests (Chatterjee, 2006,p. 269.3) that ‘…by imitating uncritically the forms of English modernity, we are bringing upon us environmental degradation, food shortages, illnesses caused by excessive labour and an uncoordinated and undisciplined way of life’. Bankimchandra’s project, thus, was a call to become enlightened and consequently, adult, matured, to stop being dependent on and imitating others, and become a rational and free individual who can assume responsibility for one’s own actions (see Chatterjee, 2006, p. 270.3).

Bankim felt the Bengali has been thus conditioned to be servile. Partha Chatterjee observes (2006, p. 55.1) that for Bankim ‘the cultural failure of the Indian people to face up to the realities of power as a whole series of conquests dating from the first Muslim invasions of India and culminating in the establishment of British rule’ is the reason for their servile attitude. ‘To Bankim’, continues Chatterjee (56.1) ‘India has been a subject nation for seven centuries’. Chatterjee (55.1) has further clarified that for Bankim the Bengali, the Hindu and the Indian were all coterminous and he was talking of the subjection and servility of the entire people of the nation. As I had mentioned elsewhere (Mukherji, 2019), as the Bengali people had remained servile for centuries so they felt proud to serve their white masters and remain in the chains of servitude for some small privileges. Bankim is thoroughly contemptuous of this servile class and denotes them as ‘rootless’ (in his another piece of literature named Muchiram Gurer Jibonchorit) who alienated themselves from the people to imitate and join the ranks of the white masters, albeit in relation of inferiority. The essay ‘Ingrajstotro’ is devoted wholly to this theme. In this satirical piece, the reference to widow-remarriage and Brahmin preaching is extremely sarcastic. He highlighted the problems of the period by forwarding proposals to forsake his paternal religion and adopt Brahmoism, and thereby project progressive elements within him. ‘Similarly, he would encourage widow-marriage, outcaste the kulins, disown differences in castes as that would make it easy to gain the favour of the master’ (Datta, 2000, p. 75). Here Datta raises the question as to whether this indicated Bankim’s real attitude towards the problems of the day. Datta himself answers ‘One cannot be sure. This sarcasm is being hurled at those pseudo-progressive elements of the society who are much more interested in gaining favour by adulating the ruling class’ (Datta, 2000, p. 75).

Cultural colonialism and racial discrimination are also reinforced by distortion of native names by the foreigner. Hence ‘Bangla’ has been changed to ‘Bengal’, ‘Kolikata’ to ‘Calcutta’—the author jokes that probably some Englishman named Benjamin Gall, shortened to Ben Gal, had discovered this place and named it ‘Bengal’ to publicize his name. Similarly ‘Calcutta’ originates from two Bengali words ‘Kal’ meaning ‘time’ and ‘Kata’ meaning ‘spending’, together meaning that Calcutta is a city where it is not a problem to spend time. This shows that the author feels that the people should feel insulted with the Anglicization of their names by outsiders. Over time, the extensive use of foreign words makes one feel that ‘…Bangala bhasha Ingrajir ekti shakha matro’ (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 32) with the consequence that today it has become a hybrid language. [The Bengali language has become a branch of English]. However, Bankimchandra observes that the Bengalis, in place of feeling insulted were actually elated by such distortion of their names because, ‘…Bangalidiger ekti bisesh gun ei je, tahara otyonto rajbhokto’ [The Bengalis possess a special virtue, they are extremely loyal] (Chattopadhyay, 1976, p. 32). This is further proved by the lakhs of people who had gone to see the British prince when he had come to visit India.

Bankim’s satires, in the opinion of Bhabatosh Datta (Datta, 1973, p. 136) was motivated by a profound sense of social and moral values of life. His humour and wit were combined with intellect and sense of the prevailing situation; his ridicule had an objective while sometimes being directed against hatred, injustice and discrimination. However, being a government official under colonial rule, he was compelled to take refuge behind banter and humour, making his works multi-layered presentations of ridicule and mockery. According to Srishchandra Das (Chattopadhyay, 1976, Sahityo Prosong (Introduction), p. 16), Lokrahasya gave Bankimchandra akshoy kirti or everlasting fame. The attack on human character through apparently light-hearted banter ‘…Swift’er tikto-madhur byanger katha smoron koraiya dey’ [Makes one think of Swift’s bitter-sweet mockery] (Chattopadhyay, 1976, Sahityo Prosongo (Introduction), 16). Kishanchand Bhakat (1995, p. 153) is of the opinion that instances of humiliation of the indigenous people by the British, of which Bankimchandra himself had been at the receiving end, had prompted him to sharpen his pen. As the latter had not been able to revolt openly due to his official position, so ‘Ei apoman, lanchonar jwala, ei bedona, sunyota o khob kalboisakhir jhorer moto uddam bege t(n)ar se samayer bibhinno lekhate .bhenge pore. “Bongodarshane” prokashito eirup rachana “Lokrahasya” 1874 salei prokashito hoe’ [The torment of such insults and abuses, grief and emptiness fell down like the uncontrolled nor’wester upon his writings of that period. Such work Lokrahasya was published in Bangadarshan in 1874].

Rakhalchandra Nath in his essay (1995, p. 117) was of the opinion that to Bankimchandra social advancement emanated not from scriptures but from comprehension of the values and judgement of the rules of life. Social welfare can be initiated by thinking and acting logically and rationally. Hence, he did not propagate any theory of social advancement, but through his satires tried to make the people aware of the values to follow and the pitfalls to avoid. Thus, he had not been a part of any social reform movement but had tried to reform the minds of the people so that society might move forward. As Nath says (Nath, 1995, p. 118), in order to situate Bankimchandra in the Bengali renaissance of the nineteenth century, it is undeniable that whether in religion or society or civilization, the latter’s contribution is no less than others. Rather, none other, in the tradition of Bengali renaissance of the nineteenth century, can demand such wide application of independent thinking as Bankimchandra. Shaktisadhan Mukhopadhyay (2013, p. 210) in his article compares Bankimchandra to Desiderius Erasmus who lived between 1469 and 1536, and was known as the proponent of Christian humanism while Bankim was held as the Erasmus of Bengal renaissance. At the time of Bankim, says Mukhopadhyay (Mukhopadhyay, 2013, p. 213), the Derozio-Vidyasagar era was already on the web and like Erasmus, the former may have felt that ‘I see everything change, I stand on a different stage, I see a different theatre, a different world’. Hence, Bankim’s treatment of the maladies of his society took on the form of mockery while trying to awaken the conscience of his period. However, feels the essayist that while Erasmus could not move beyond being a Christian humanist, Bankim was a humanist and an artist—ultimately overcoming the boundaries of literary exploits he becomes the voice of humanist conscience of nineteenth-century Bengal. Through his literary work, he not only encodes the ‘tensions, complexities and nuances within colonial culture…’ but also ‘…absorbs, appropriates and inscribes aspects of the “other” culture, creating new genres, ideas and identities in the process’ (Loomba, 2016, p. 82), thereby leaving scope for a postcolonial reading of his work.

It seems that the maladies of late nineteenth-century colonial society were inherited not only by the ‘post-colonial’ state, but by the ‘postcolonial’ society as well. The ills continued over time—the idea at the time of independence was that the new Indian society would be born anew with the maladies of its predecessor eradicated automatically. However, social psyche does not change with political transformation. Pre-colonial social maladies, combined with many others acquired from colonialism, burdened the postcolonial society with the entire plethora of the discriminations and cleavages becoming wider and deeper.

This piece of literature was locally situated, yet transcends the boundaries of time and space. Like ‘postcolonial’ literature it poses direct challenges to the colonial centre from the colonized margins, thereby supplementing the marginalization by giving voice and expression to the once-colonized of the colonial period and the colonized of today (Basu, 2010, p. 215). This text challenges the world view of the colonial power and produces new modes of representation to accommodate the experiences which are valid even today. Bankim himself was a colonial subject; here we find recognition of ‘alienation’ and ‘injustice’ to wage ‘resistance’ and ‘revolution’ to determine the historical and moral principles that governed life and culture of a nation. The exposition by Ania Loomba (2016, pp. 182–183) helps one to understand that Bankim’s endeavour was ‘to create new and powerful identities for colonised peoples and to challenge colonialism … the idea of the nation was a powerful vehicle for harnessing anti-colonial energies….’ His struggle, however, was not at the political level, but at the intellectual and emotional levels.

As Partha Chatterjee (2006, p. 65.1) very rightly observes, Bankim’s ‘project is to initiate “progress” by transforming the backward culture of his nation’. To do this, one had to first accept the better elements of western culture, while retaining at the same time, the superior elements of his own culture.

Here then was a cultural ideal which retained what was thought to be distinctively Indian, while subsuming what was valuable in the culture of the West. The aim was to produce the complete and perfect man—learned, wise, agile, religious and refined—a better man than the merely efficient and prosperous Westerner. (ibid., p. 67)

Chatterjee continues (2006, p. 73) that Bankim wanted the creation of a cultural ideal which would combine the sciences, reason and industries of the west on the one hand, with the spiritual greatness of eastern culture, on the other. To achieve this, a cultural regeneration was necessary, not merely reforms, but ‘an unrivalled combination of material and spiritual values’ (Chatterjee, 2006, p. 74). Through the ‘text’ under consideration, Bankim was trying to awaken the conscience of the educated middle classes to enable them to take up the mantle of moral-intellectual leadership to initiate a total socio-cultural regeneration of a colonized society. Bankim probably dreamt of a situation where the display of power by the minority would be completely overcome by the true majority—the people—through their collective consciousness and conscience—something that is felt again in the current situation, in a society colonized by religio-cultural fundamentalist colonialism. The purpose of this essay is to highlight how Bankim, through his writings in the colonial period, had tried to infuse patriotism within the people on the one hand, and laid the foundations for nation-building, on the other. For that, he had taken recourse to both the glory of our ancient civilization and western philosophy and history—all for the purpose of ushering in a modern outlook among the people. One can say after Partha Chatterjee (2006, p. 79) that this ‘intellectual-moral leadership of the nation was based not on an elitism of birth or caste or privilege or wealth, but of excellence’—an encounter between the patriotic forces on the one hand, and a framework of knowledge imposed by colonialism, on the other, would lead to the emergence of the leadership which would implant a rational-scientific temper necessary for postcolonial nation-building. The exemplary unity of knowledge and duty would create the exemplary leaders—the necessity which transcends time and space. Continuation of the same agenda might be beneficial to the postcolonial society as well as the logic and reason applied by Bankimchandra may be applied for solution of the problems confronting contemporary society.