Vanishing Waters

Cultural Histories of the Rivers of West Bengal
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-07671-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 204 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

This book explores the complex socio-cultural histories of the rivers of West Bengal in India. It goes beyond the ‘seeing’ of a river geo-spatially, to unearth its ‘signifying’ presence in the making of a regional culture.

The volume analyses myths, rituals, cultural practices, metaphysical and mystical symbolisms in folktales, oral literature and other literary representations generated by the interactions between the rivers and the communities that have lived alongside them. It explores how water histories are embedded in the collective cultural/racial memory and underscores the importance of viewing rivers as the indices of cultural transformations symptomatic of a livelihood developed from/ due to the rivers. The book archives, analyses and offers narratives on a vital ecosystem to provide a holistic take on ‘river futures’. It creates an authentic framework of socio-cultural narratives to supplement the current ecological strategies towards the survival and sustenance of rivers and their communities.

This book will be of immense interest to scholars and researchers of cultural studies, human geography, river and water studies, environmental and ecological studies, cultural anthropology, comparative literary studies, race and ethnic studies, and South Asia studies.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mukhopadhyay, Arpita

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Limnologie (Süßwasser)
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Geographie: Allgemeines, Karten & Atlanten
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften, Biologie: Sachbuch, Naturführer
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Geographie: Sachbuch, Reise

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements  Glossary  1.  Introduction  2. The Rivers of West Bengal: Spaces and Contexts  3. The Mythical and Mystical Waters: Rivers of West Bengal in Myth, Rituals and Folk Culture  4. Rivers of Life, Rivers of Imagination: Literary Representation of the rivers of West Bengal  5. The ‘lived’ Experience: Communities and Livelihoods related to the rivers of West Bengal  6. Chars: The River Islands  7. Rivers under Threat: Crises, Resistance Movements, the ‘river warriors’  8. Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Arpita Chattaraj (Mukhopadhyay) is Professor in the Department of English and Culture Studies at the University of Burdwan, India.  Her areas of interest are Gender Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Environmental Humanities, American Literature, and Culture Studies. Her publications include a critical edition of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse in the Orient Blackswan Critical Texts series (2021) and Feminisms published by the Orient Blackswan Literary / Cultural Theory series (2016). She has also published a monograph titled Childhood in Toni Morrison’s Fiction.