The Plough and The Pen : Peasantry, Agriculture, and the Literati in
Colonial Bengal
By- Bipasha Raha
Since the 1830s
Bengal witnessed a vast outpouring of creative writing. Their authors came from
diverse social background. In some cases their portrayal of the peasantry was a
manifestation of their coherent agrarian thinking. The interest centred on the
legal and social status of peasants; types of tenures and their obligations;
organization of agrarian production; impact of world economic forces on agrarian
economy and; existing land legislations.
This book brings forward hitherto unexplored aspects
of literati perception of peasants and agriculture in colonial Bengal. It
focuses on representation of the peasant in different literary genres, on
issues related to agriculture and rural resuscitation at a time when there was
intensification of the nationalist movement and the necessity of acquiring a
mass base becomes crucial for some members of the literati. Analysis of
vernacular literature, including tract literature and those authored by men not
well known socially, much of it still untapped, makes this book a pioneering
one.
This book will be of interest to
students, researchers and scholars of history, sociology, literature and South
Asian studies.
Bipasha Raha is Associate Professor of
History at Visva-Bharati (a central University), Santiniketan. She was awarded
the Charles Wallace Fellowship by the Charles Wallace India Trust.
ISBN 978-81-7304-941-5 2003 318p.
Rs.975/Pounds 50
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