Transformations within Bānglā-gān : Dylan consciousness since the 1960s – by Arka Chakraborty
In 1967, Bāul musicians from Bengal Purna Das and Laxman Das developed a friendship with American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan during their travels in the United States. Dylan’s collaborations with the Bāuls of Bengal marked the beginning of an era of Dylan consciousness within Bengali popular music and was transformative for the global reception of South Asian popular music.
This paper explores the transformations within Bānglā-gān or Bengali music since the 1960s and how Dylan’s music has inspired experimental Bengali musical genres. The socio-musical resonances between the Anglo-American and Bengali urban folk music scenes are also assessed.
Arka Chakraborty is a second-year MPhil/PhD student in the Department of Music at SOAS, University of London. He completed his MA and MPhil in English Literature from Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India. His MPhil dissertation studied the themes of protest in the lyrics of American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan.
His PhD research focuses on transnational music scenes in South Asia in the context of the cultural and socio-musical reception of American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan. During this academic session, he has been conducting fieldwork in Kolkata in West Bengal, Shillong in Meghalaya and Bangladesh.
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