Bengali travel writings on Soviet Russia in the Cold War era

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the perception of the Soviet Union in Indian travelogues written in the Bengali language during the Cold War era. The distinctive feature of these travel accounts is a strong focus on various aspects of Soviet social and economic life, from the education system, conditions in factories, and public housing to gender equality. The article argues that the travellers’ fascination with the Soviet system is a postcolonial phenomenon. For Indians, and especially Bengalis heavily influenced by western education, England was for decades the reference point to judge their country’s modernity and advancement. With the fall of colonialism many sought a new ideal to look up to and, as the travelogues demonstrate, some Indians found it in Russia and the Soviet system which became a new synonym of modernity.