A POETIC CONSCIOUSNESS OF DUAL LANGUAGE AND POLYPHONY : A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MODERN BENGALI AND INDIAN ENGLISH POETRY

Abstract:
This research explores the duality of language and the emergence of polyphonic voices through a comparative analysis of the thematic essence of modern Bengali and Indian English poetry. While Bengali poetry directly reflects social struggle, class consciousness, and political protest, Indian English poetry articulates concerns of selfhood, cultural conflict, and gendered identity. The works of A. K. Ramanujan and Meena Kandasamy foreground the intricacies of personal and cultural inquiry, whereas Subhash Mukhopadhyay and Shakti Chattopadhyay emerge as urban voices of lived experience and social reality. Despite linguistic and stylistic differences, both poetic traditions remain united through the shared core of human experience.
This study interprets language not merely as a literary medium but as a process of cultural negotiation and self-definition. It demonstrates how, in spite of linguistic distinctions, Bengali and Indian English poetry coexist in constructing a polyphonic poetic reality. The analysis institutionalizes the concept of “dual language and polyphonic consciousness” and opens up new possibilities for multidimensional readings of modern poetry.
Keywords: Bengali Poetry, Indian English Poetry, Poetic Language, Polyphonic Consciousness, Symbolism, Feminism, Social Reality, Inner World, Cultural Duality, Comparative Poetics
Introduction:
Poetry represents the deepest manifestation of human experience, where language becomes the multi-voiced resonance of society, culture, and self-inquiry. Although modern Bengali and Indian English poetry have emerged from distinct linguistic and cultural realities, their underlying human impulses and differing modes of expression converge to suggest a parallel poetic consciousness. While Bengali poetry often mirrors the immediacy of social struggle, class conflict, and political resistance, Indian English poetry foregrounds issues of selfhood, cultural dissonance, and gender awareness.
The poetic rendering of this dual experience lies at the center of the present research. Here, language is not merely a medium of expression but a site of cultural oscillation and existential inquiry. As Rabindranath Tagore once remarked, “The poems I wrote at the age of thirty cannot be recreated now,” this self-reflexive realization points to the ever-transformative nature of modern poetry and its evolving consciousness.
Through a comparative exploration of modern Bengali and Indian English poetic texts, this study investigates how duality of language and multiplicity of voice open new dimensions of reading and interpretation within contemporary poetic discourse.