Troublesome Keywords: Drama Books and Subversive Acts in Bengal 1905–1911

Abstract

Vernacular word assumed a subversive role in early twentieth-century Bengal. The emergence of Bengali public sphere and the agitation against the partition of Bengal created a detrimental situation in which vernacular words became dangerous, and threatening, to the stability of the British Raj. Subversive vernacular words formed a sub-text in various media that garnered public support against the Raj and in favour of the acts of opposition against the Raj. The present research article evaluates a few of the dramatic texts in print to analyse how the sub-text vernacular word was circulated and how it affected the public mind against the British Raj.