EXPLORING THE MANGALKAVYA: A NARRATIVE OF THE PRETEXT OF THE TEXTUAL UNIVERSE

Abstract:
Individualism, holism, and post-structuralism fail to analyze human society from all respects that drives the scholars to analyze the mode of social change through considering the role of the agency or institution. Depending on the relational structuralism, the present study has made an effort to present the internal structure and process of the current society. Literature, being an intrinsic part of the society, conveys some important messages by which scholars are able to reconstruct the social history of the medieval Bengal. Though the Mangal texts are religious texts with the typical form of poetries, they represent the material aspects of society. Along with the general statement of social dynamics, these poetries also present a stable social order. Without the divine aspects of these poetries, the significant portion carries socio-economic and political scenario. However, when a scholar studies the Manashamangal, Chandimangal, Shivayan, and Dharmamangal, s/he could notice the changing economic condition of eastern India during the middle ages. The other incidents like the dialectics between the two communities, the establishment of an urban centre by Kalketu and his return to previous life later, can be taken under sharp scrutiny. Therefore a thorough study is relevant in this respect to reconstruct the socio-economic history of the concerned period in which the role of literature is indispensable by all means.

Keywords: conflict, culture, metropolitanism, mytheme, regional, structuralism, trade

https://doi.org/10.37948/ensemble-2020-0201-a014