“Orality, Literacy, and Innovation in a Bengali Bardic Tradition”
Frank Korom, Boston University, Department of Religion
This presentation explores the changing worlds of the Patuas of West Bengal, an itinerant caste of scroll painters and singers who converted en masse from Hinduism to Islam in the thirteenth century. Originally working in a solely oral medium, they have gradually come to rely on other forms of media for inspiration, due to a declining system of patronage in the age of mechanical reproduction. Using examples from their extensive repertoires, the intersections of sacred and secular, oral and literate will be examined in the context of a dynamic tension between tradition and modernity.
Follow the links below t o see BUToday articles on Professor Korom’s work on this community of Bengali scroll painters, including two separate short videos:
Scrolling through Time: Bengali Scroll Painters Sing from Myth to 9/11 (March 3, 2006)
Click here for the event flyer.