Writing the Self: The Life and Philosophy of a Dissenting Bengali Baul Guru

Renowned as wandering minstrels and mystics from India and Bangladesh, Bauls have attained iconic status as representatives of the ‘spiritual East. Studies on their beautiful and enigmatic songs, however, rarely relate to their social and historical contexts, or to the lives of individual composers. Focusing on the early twentieth-century autobiography of a guru and composer, Raj Krishna, this book brings forth his ‘many selves as well as Baul contributions to sub-continental debates on the nature of the self.

Situating Baul songs in a larger socio-historical perspective, this book examines the life, ‘lineage, and legacy of Raj Krishna in the context of colonial Bengal. Combining autobiography with detailed field work and oral historical research concerning Raj and his disciples, Jeanne Openshaw challenges the stereotypical portrayal of the Bauls and orientalist notions of the ‘mythical East. She argues that Raj ‘wrote the self in a variety of ways as his status and notions of self changed.