Bengali drama bore witness to gradual modernisation over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Contemporary and social themes were set aside to give way to mythological, historical and romantic drama. Though the ride to modernisation was difficult, it was felt necessary to follow Manmohan Basu's philosophy of respecting and incorporating what had already existed into modern day themes.
The author after her post-graduation in philosophy left Kolkata and settled in London. She has been serving the British Library for over 27 years gaining exposure to various world publications. This is her second publication. She has already published a bibliography on Bangladesh movement.
Lowe to Mr. G. M. Shaw for his advice and support for this project I wish to thank Mrs. Dipali Ghosh for her constant support and encouragement throughout the project. My thanks also goes to Mr. Burkhard Quessel for his help when it was needed. I am indebted to all members of staff involved in this publication for their much appreciated help. Special mention must also be made of Mrs. Ruth Rowan for her typing with such efficiency and to Mr. Ben Plouviez and Samina Ferojzedean for their help in expediting the completion of the project providing indexes in such 2 speed. Thanks also, of course, to my husband Samaresh, my daughter Runa and my son Sumit for all their support.
The birth of Modem Bengali literature in the nineteenth century marked an exciting transitional period that witnessed the confrontation of the traditional with the new and of the domestic with the foreign. It was during this time that Bengali drama experienced its debut. Plays were originally written in Sanskrit but by the mid-eighteenth century drama productions began to incorporate Bengali, Persian, Prakrit and Sanskrit, Chandi, written by Bharat Chandra Gunakar, was the first piece of literature to include all four languages. The period also encountered the arrival of English influences.
In 1775 a talented Russia musician named Gersim Levedeff opened a Bengali theatre in Calcutta and staged a musical play called "Chadmabesa" - an adaptation of an English farce "The Disguise". He realised that the public mood at the time preferred comedy to a serious theme interlude with music. In order to comply with the taste of that time he selected the most popular songs from Bharat Chandra Rays "Bidyasundar" introducing the play with a low comic interlude with music such as the contemporary yatra play. It was highly entertaining and popular as expected, but it failed to contribute towards literary progression as the domain of folklore, with its firm traditional structure, did not appear to leave any room for more radical modernisation. In effect, he had given birth to a lower type of contemporary yatra play. Consequently "Bidyasundar" became the most popular theme of the yatra whose influence became deeply rooted in the next century.
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