Commodifying Baul Spirituality: Changing Baul Literature and Music in Bangladesh

Abstract

The Bauls, itinerant minstrels of rural areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, follow a practice that combines elements from both monotheistic and polytheistic beliefs centered around spiritual experiences that prioritize humanism and nature-centered philosophy over all other endeavors. This interdisciplinary project is a unique attempt to study heterogeneous Baul traditions by investigating the changes in Baul music, literature, and Baul communities. My study examines whether, in Bangladesh, commodification impacts the supposed devaluation of Baul spiritual philosophy and whether the concept of agency for Bauls provided by the music industry detracts from the spiritual impact of Baul music. As a study that brings together literature, spirituality, cultural theory and ethnomusicology, this research aims to document and disseminate a comprehensive representation of the spiritual philosophy of Baul music and poetry, while critically analyzing the changes in Baul cultural production in the context of popular and consumer culture in Bangladesh. I begin by exploring the aspects of Baul philosophy and rituals. Then, this study investigates the issues of cultural change impacting the concepts of Baul tradition and authenticity. Afterwards, I examine the changes in the evidence collected from contemporary Baul music in Bangladesh and discuss how such changes devalue the Baul beliefs, literature, and music. I then turn to the question of agency; whether commoditized Baul literature and music offers Bauls agency and whether, in fact, the concept of agency in this context is illusory. And finally, I investigate the intersection of Baul spirituality with these changes and discuss how the changed cultural productions threaten Baul spirituality, literature, and music.