The History of Practice of Folklore in Bangladesh

Assalamu Alaikum

Here is my new article about new topic.

It is about the history of practice of our own culture and tradition. Here is the brief about this-

The overall lifestyle and cultural structure of a nation largely depends on its folk lifestyle, especially on its basic or folk culture, tradition or various regulators of the aboriginal folk civilization. Folklore is basically a discipline exploring the roots of a nation that can easily identify its cultural or ethnic identity. In addition to the primitive identity, folklore assimilates the issues related to its flowing lifestyle.When the practice of folklore in the name of popular antiquity began in Britain or Europe from the sixteenth century onwards, their living traditions were recognized as its main constituents. Many countries like Finland have used folklore in their nation building. The epic ballad they used as a key force in nation-building is said to be older in folklore than in Finland. More examples can be given in this way. Such an idea can be easily understood in the practice of folklore in Bangladesh.We could be enriched in many ways if we could combine the practice of folklore with the history and heritage of our national culture.The practice of folklore in Bengal began in the hands of missionaries; They come in contact with the native language and culture for the convenience of governing the country. Some of them were attracted to the folk life and literature of Bengal and started collecting folk literature. Sir William Jones founded the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 184 and this initiative is considered to be the first step in the practice of Indology. Later, folk culture was deeply associated with it.Inspired by European scholars, the Bengalis later came to practice folklore. The importance of the practice of folk literature increased through the initiative taken by Rabindranath Tagore to collect and publish folk rhymes. Later, Dinesh Chandra Sen, Ashutosh Bhattacharya, Muhammad Mansur Uddin and others made important contributions in this regard. To be honest, they are The ancient Bengal brought before us an invaluable treasure of endangered folklore. It must be called collection. Yet it is very important. The systematic improvement in the collection of folklore or antiquities in Britain was not in our country, but we were quite successful.The practice of folklore at the institutional level in Bangladesh began in the sixties with the opening of the Department of Folklore at the Bangla Academy. However, we did not notice the continuity of the interest with which it started. Virtually it was a passive section. In the late eighties, this department started its journey again with vigor.The Bangla Academy organized a folklore workshop with local and foreign scholars under the supervision of the then director Mr. Shamsuzzaman Khan. Experts from America, Germany, Finland, India and other countries give their advice, work plan and training. This workshop is done in several episodes. The instructions given by the folklorists Although not implemented properly, it has created interest among many. Although Bangladesh is not a rich country, it is rich in folklore, they said. At the same time, they wonder why folklore is not taught at the university level. They strongly recommend teaching folklore at university level in Sylhet and Chittagong for diverse communities and diverse folk cultures.It is to be noted that even before this workshop, high level research on this subject was started in our country at individual level. Dr. Ashraf Siddiqui and Dr. Mozharul Islam holds a PhD in Folklore from Indiana University in the United States.Although there was no department of folklore in the universities of Bangladesh, folklore was practiced at the individual level and folklore was taught in the Bangla department of different universities, although it cannot be called a modern academic practice of folklore. That is, there were systemic flaws in the practice of folklore.The desire to practice folklore in a truly high quality academic range has been around for a long time. The opportunity to conduct systematic research and practice on our overall folk life, art, heritage and lifestyle was created in 1996. In that year the Department of Folklore was fully established in Rajshahi University. Now two more universities have introduced folklore departments.We sincerely hope that the field of folklore will gradually expand in this country and the people involved in the practice of folklore will come forward to fulfill our dream of independence, inspired by the national consciousness.

As the main subject of sociology and culture, folklore can play an important role in the social development and cultural awakening of Bangladesh. The immense resources of our oral literature can be easily used for our development and awakening work. Extensive initiatives can be taken in the field of food, agriculture, health, environment and tourism by using indigenous or folk knowledge.


The practice of folklore is not new in Bangladesh. However, the expansion and enrichment that it needed as an academic discipline has not been done properly so far. Now we have the opportunity to work deeply on its theoretical and practical aspects. The common people of this country came forward in our liberation war. We need united nationalism to build a secular, secular and prosperous nation. Folklore can do that very easily.

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