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UID:pretalx-wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026-FGSLJ3@pretalx.com
DTSTART;TZID=KST:20260627T131500
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DESCRIPTION:This proposal engages with one of the least-studied areas: the 
 concept of ‘Bengal’\, its borders\, changing historical geography\, co
 nnected histories\, and the politics of space\, identity\, and the region 
 as it has been formed and imagined. The proposed research examines these c
 hallenging issues from an interdisciplinary perspective through the lens o
 f geographical factors and the constantly evolving political boundaries an
 d identities. This study asks why it was essential to create a sense of id
 entity around the term ‘Bengal’. The mainstream nationalist historians
  from Bangladesh envision an eternal\, unchanging\, territorially bounded 
 spatial identity\, ‘Bengal’\, to legitimize the modern nation-state 
 ‘Bangladesh’. They trace the process of constructing national identity
  over a millennium through syndicated historiography. How do conventional 
 popular narratives promote or hinder the historical past of society\, cult
 ure\, and religion of Bengal in a particular form? This study challenges i
 magined and generalized statements about the past and the colonial and ant
 i-colonial projections that divided ‘Bengal’ into ‘West Bengal’ an
 d ‘East Bengal’ on the basis of majoritarian religious identities\, wh
 ile ignoring sectarian concepts and the idea of multidimensional borderlan
 ds. Bengal\, as a ‘region’ and a ‘concept’\, became an example of 
 (dis)connected histories in the making\, unmaking\, and remaking of region
 al and national identities within the South Asian territorial space. Becau
 se the time-and-space-scaler investigation is a significant methodological
  tool\, a critical inquiry into this issue using it can yield new insights
  and logical conclusions. This proposed research aims to achieve this goal
  without glorifying the territory or its settlers.
DTSTAMP:20260412T140124Z
LOCATION:Room 208 (Seats 40)
SUMMARY:The Concept of ‘Bengal’ and Its Borders: (Dis)connected Histori
 es and the Politics of Space and Identity - Aksadul Alam
URL:https://pretalx.com/wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026/talk/FGSLJ3/
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