Abstract

The emergence of the bhadralok in the nineteenth century, typified by ‘genteel’ qualities and Western education, reflected changes in the nature of Bengali identity and subjectivity. The colonial experience resulted in an anxiety among elite Bengalis to define a social class for themselves that would delineate their gentility and shape a new code of ‘acceptability’. The ‘Babu’ came to be associated with this new class of Bengalis eager to adopt Western manners and learning who formed the greater part of the white-collar workers required in the cosmopolitan enclave of Calcutta. They were satirised, particularly in colonial discourse, for their imitation of English manners, attire and language. This article explores the shifting markers of gentility and the satiric representation of the Bengali Babu (and his Bibi) in the British satirical magazine, Punch, and its contemporary vernacular counterparts in colonial Bengal.

摘要

bhadralok的出现在 19 世纪，以“文雅”品质和西方教育为代表的文化反映了孟加拉人身份和主体性本质的变化。殖民经历导致了孟加拉精英阶层的焦虑，他们为自己定义一个社会阶级，以描绘他们的绅士风度并塑造新的“可接受性”准则。“巴布”开始与这个渴望采用西方礼仪和学习的新孟加拉阶级联系在一起，他们构成了加尔各答这个国际化飞地所需的大部分白领工人。他们因模仿英国的举止、服装和语言而受到讽刺，尤其是在殖民话语中。本文探讨了英国讽刺杂志Punch 中孟加拉巴布（和他的比比）的绅士风度的变化标志和讽刺表现，以及它在殖民地孟加拉的当代白话同行。