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Hello, I am Sudeb Sarkar from India. I am teaching English at Samsi College under the University of Gour Banga. I am doing a Ph.D. in Folk Theatre and Performance Studies with special reference to ‘Khon Palagan’ of Dinajpur District at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. I did my project work as a research assistant at RUSA, Jadavpur University, in 2019. I have published two edited volumes entitled ‘Samaj O Loksanskriti’ (Society and Folk culture) by Books Heaven Publication, Kolkata in 2018 and ‘Pandemic Covid-19: Life, Society and Culture’ by Authorspress, New Delhi in 2021. I have published many research articles in national and international journals and a book chapter. My areas of interest are Folklore, Cultural Studies, Post-colonialism, Gender Studies, Film Studies and post-humanism. I worked as a Visiting Research Fellow at Rajshahi University, Bangladesh, in 2021. I have set up a folk performance Academy named “Khon Academy and Research Centre” and a regional museum named “Rajbanshi Traditional Museum” for the first time in the Dakshin Dinajpur district. I am Editor-in-Chief of KHON, A Journal of Folk Culture and Performance Studies. I was invited to deliver my talk at King’s College London on “the Folk Drama Khon Palagan of the Rajbanshi Community of Dinajpur District of Undivided Bengal” in September 2024. I can be reached at [email protected].
Narratives of Faith: Devotional Songs and Poetry of Diverse Tradition of Eastern Regions of India
In 2019, I joined a 14-month project as a research assistant in the Department of English, Jadavpur University, under the RUSA project. The project included a field survey, interviews, audio-visual recording of folk performances, and project work. The Department of English, Jadavpur University, decided to organise a two-day workshop on the Folk Drama of Dinajpur under the departmental project RUSA. The project's title was ‘Narratives of Faith: Devotional Songs and Poetry of Diverse Traditions of Eastern Regions of India’. The workshop was held at Vivekananda Hall of Jadavpur University on 13th and 14th February, 2020. I was the convener of this workshop. I contacted four folk theatre groups from the Dakshin Dinajpur district for this two-day workshop. The total number of folk artists in the four groups was 70. On the first day, i.e. 13th February, the two theatre groups performed their folk drama (Khon Palagan), ‘Satyapeer’ and ‘Mayabandhaki’. And on the second day, ‘Brahma Shori’ and ‘Shisho Shori’ were performed by another two theatre groups. The allotted time for each performance was two hours. The audio-visual recordings of four different palas have been archived in the departmental computer. These four palas perform four distinct themes, which reflect the socio-cultural picture of the Rajbanshi Community of Dinajpur district.
