Synopsis: Myths of
Karttik as poetic motifs in Bengali Poetry
Aminur Rahman, Assistant Professor
Department of Bengali
Language and Literature
University of Dhaka
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Scope:
In Bengal agriculture is the predominant occupation.
People, especially the farmers, celebrate harvest festival right after the
harvest. As a part of the harvest festival, Karttik
is worshiped as he is considered as a fertility god. So, in Bengal Karttik is one of the influential gods
that remains as social archetypes. This research deals with the myth of Karttik and how they have been used as poetic
motifs in the works of major Bengali poets from the ancient times to the present.
This paper will incorporate the following aspects:
1.
Why
myth is used in poetry
2.
Diachronic
history of using myth in Bengali poetry;
3.
Karttik as a mythical character and
its use in the mediaeval poetry;
4.
Karttik as a mythical character and
its use in the modern poetry;
5.
Evolving
process of Karttik myth in Bengali
poetry; and
6.
How
Karttik myth embellishes the form and
content of Bengali poetry.
Sources:
Bengali poetry started its journey from the
seventh/eighth century and a huge number of poets have devoted themselves to
it. But for a logical manageable shape, this paper concentrates on only major
writers and their writings to find how the Karttik
character and its creation-recreation recurs as a poetic motif.
Methodology
The historical method is followed in general
scientific approach. Critical analysis is made wherever possible. Moreover, a
comparative study also has been done among the poet’s notion about the myth of Karttik.
Problems:
This study has not been attempted so far. It also
utilizes sources, which have so far not been tapped.
Current address:
Dr. Aminur Rahman
Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures
University of Virginia
PO Box 400781
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4781 USA
E-mail: ar3by@eservices.virginia.edu
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