Recasting the region : language, culture, and Islam in colonial Bengal

__Recasting the Region__studies the trajectories of Muslim Bengali politics and examines the literary and cultural history of Bengali Muslims from the early twentieth century until the 1952 Language Movement. It argues that Muslim political mobilization in late colonial Bengal did not emanate from north Indian calls for a separatist 'Muslim' state of Pakistan, but rather emerged out of a sustained engagement with local Bengali intellectual and literary traditions.In six chapters, the book features meticulous research on topics like the pursuit of folklore, literary modernism, and intellectual movements in both Dhaka and Kolkata in the late colonial period. Examining language literary texts, the social histories of newspaper and magazine offices, and the writings of Bengali Muslim politicians and intellectuals, the book delves into the meaning of nationalism and decolonization for the Bengali Muslims.Focusing on the cultural history of the largest Muslim population of the colonial era, the Bengali Muslims, this work utilizes heretofore unexplored Bengali sources as well as offers a new interpretation of the emergence of the state of Pakistan. Recasting the Region studies the trajectories of Muslim Bengali politics and examines the literary and cultural history of Bengali Muslims from the early twentieth century until the 1952 Language Movement. It argues that Muslim political mobilization in late colonial Bengal did not emanate from north Indian calls for a separatist 'Muslim' state of Pakistan, but rather emerged out of a sustained engagement with local Bengali intellectual and literary traditions. In six chapters, the book features meticulous research on topics like the pursuit of folklore, literary modernism, and intellectual movements in both Dhaka and Kolkata in the late colonial period. Examining language literary texts, the social histories of newspaper and magazine offices, and the writings of Bengali Muslim politicians and intellectuals, the book delves into the meaning of nationalism and decolonization for the Bengali Muslims. Focusing on the cultural history of the largest Muslim population of the colonial era, the Bengali Muslims, this work utilizes heretofore unexplored Bengali sources as well as offers a new interpretation of the emergence of the state of Pakistan. Presents An Analysis Of Muslim Political Mobilization In The Late 20th Century, Arguing That It Emerged Out Of A Sustained Engagement With Bengali Intellectual And Literary Traditions Rather Than From North Indian Calls For A Separatist Muslim State. Modern Bengali Muslim Literary Culture -- Ideological Traffic In Calcutta -- Literary Publics In Dacca -- Regional Confidence And The Rise Of Folklore -- Ideas Of Pakistan And The End Of Empire -- Language And Religion In The Post-colonial State. By Neilesh Bose. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [299]-318) And Index.