Completion of a major critical edition of hybrid Hindu-Muslim Baul songs of Bengal, with annotation, commentaries and discussion.

保罗从西孟加拉邦（印度）和孟加拉国的印度教和穆斯林社区招募。在上个世纪，他们作为“东方灵性”的代表获得了标志性的地位，无论是在他们自己的国家，还是最近在全球范围内。他们的流行是基于他们美丽而神秘的歌曲。我的建议是为学者和普通读者制作一本保罗歌曲的评论版，包括英文翻译、注释、评论和讨论。理论上，任何宗教、阶级或性别的人都可能成为保罗，但大多数人都是从农村贫困社区招募的。因此，他们的歌曲通常是口头传播的，尽管许多歌曲被学者和其他作家转录。这些文集以孟加拉语原文出版，或被翻译成各种语言。然而，这些出版物有许多缺点。例如，它们通常缺乏任何背景细节，无论是关于作曲家（他的生活，血统等），还是收集歌曲的人。翻译版本通常省略了原始的孟加拉语版本的歌曲，甚至没有提及这些歌曲的来源。从学术的角度来看，所有这些使得它们实际上毫无用处。拟议的批评版旨在纠正这些缺陷，保留这些歌曲的原始孟加拉语版本，并提供其社会、历史和文化背景的细节。因此，它将作为一种学术工具而具有价值。该卷将主要基于两个独特的手稿来源。与其他材料一起，这些作品包括两位作曲家的歌曲，Raj Khyapa（他自己写的）和Lalan Sai（由一个有文化的门徒写的）。由各自血统的弟子（分别以印度教和穆斯林为主）创作的歌曲也将包括在内。我和我的合著者，穆斯林保罗及其歌曲的专家S.N.杰哈博士早先的工作在逻辑上是一致的。我即将出版的专著《书写自我……》这本书考察了拉杰·基亚帕的生活和哲学，使用了他手稿的自传部分。Jha博士根据上面提到的第二份手稿，写了一本关于拉兰·赛的生活、哲学和歌曲的孟加拉语专著。我们在这一领域拥有无与伦比的专业知识。保罗歌曲的早期版本倾向于优先考虑编辑或收藏家对歌曲的选择和解释，而不是作曲家或歌手。因此，对这些歌曲的精粹、“精神化”解读得到了强调。在印度和孟加拉国，越来越多的人按照“印度教”和“穆斯林”的界限来解释。此外，许多歌曲中包含的对宗教当局和意识形态、宗派主义和传统性别关系的批评也被掩盖了。正是这种歌曲和诠释将在拟议的评论版中得到强调。无论他们来自穆斯林还是印度教徒社区，保罗都倾向于分享共同的价值观。他们强调人的重要性，而不是一个人自己的宗教或社会团体，强调个人经验的重要性，而不是宗教文本或权威的教义。他们声称，这些是人与人之间的区别。同样，她们也挑战了轻视女性的传统。当代的“文明冲突”实际上在全球范围内复制了南亚宗教“社区”分裂的长期问题。如今，伊斯兰教尤其被广泛认为是一个单一的“原教旨主义”信仰。强调伊斯兰教和印度教内部的另类、人道主义和性别平等的传统在这个时候是必不可少的，以抵消这种价值观是“西方”文化特有的宣传，因此受到穆斯林、印度教徒等的抵制。拟议的出版物旨在向孟加拉以外的地区传播这些另类的传统价值观。

Bauls are recruited from both Hindu and Muslim communities of West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh. In the course of the last century, they attained iconic status as representatives of 'Eastern spirituality', both within their own countries and more recently on a global level. Their popularity is based on their beautiful and often enigmatic songs. My proposal is to produce a critical edition of Baul songs, with English translation, annotations, commentaries and discussion, for scholars and general readers. In theory, people of any religion, class or gender may become Baul, but most are recruited from rural, poor communities. As a result, their songs are typically transmitted orally, although many have been transcribed by scholars and other writers. In turn, collections have been published in their original Bengali or translated into various languages. However these publications have many failings. For example, they usually lack any background details, either about the composer (his life, lineage etc.), or the person from whom the song was collected. Translated versions normally omit the original Bengali version of the songs, or even any reference to a source for these. All this renders them virtually useless from a scholarly point of view. The proposed critical edition is intended to rectify these deficiencies, by retaining the original Bengali versions of the songs, and by providing details of their social, historical and cultural context. It will therefore be of value as a scholarly tool.. The volume will largely be based on two unique manuscript sources. Along with other materials, these feature the songs of two composers, Raj Khyapa (written in his own hand) and Lalan Sai (written by a literate disciple). Songs composed by disciples in their lineages, predominantly Hindu and Muslim respectively, will also be included. The proposed volume follows logically from earlier work by myself and my co-author, Dr S.N. Jha, a specialist on Muslim Bauls and their songs. My forthcoming monograph, 'Writing the self...' examines the life and philosophy of Raj Khyapa, using the autobiographical portion of his manuscript. Dr Jha has written a Bengali monograph on Lalan Sai's life, philosophy and songs, based on the second manuscript mentioned above. Together we possess an unparalleled expertise in this field. Earlier editions of Baul songs tended to privilege the selection and interpretation of songs of the editor or collector, over that of the composer or singer. As a result, elite, 'spiritualised' readings of the songs have been emphasised. Interpretations have been made along increasingly separate 'Hindu' and 'Muslim' lines, in India and Bangladesh respectively. Moreover, the critique of religious authorities and ideologies, of sectarianism and traditional gender relations, contained in many songs, has been obscured. It is this kind of song and interpretation which will be highlighted in the proposed critical edition. Whether they come from Muslim or Hindu communities, Bauls tend to share common values. They emphasise the importance of the human being, rather than one's own religious or social group, and of individual experience over the teachings of religious texts or authorities. These, they claim, divide person from person. Similarly, they also challenge the traditional devaluation of women. The contemporary 'clash of civilisations' in effect replicates on a global level long-term problems of religious 'communal' division in South Asia. Nowadays Islam in particular is widely thought to be a monolithic, 'fundamentalist' faith. Highlighting alternative, humanistic and gender-equal traditions from within Islam and Hinduism is essential at this time, in order to counteract propaganda that such values are peculiar to 'Western' culture, and therefore to be resisted by Muslims, Hindus etc. The proposed publication aims to disseminate these alternative, yet traditional values outside Bengal.