Bengali and Japanese Folk Rhymes A Comparative Study
Although they are thousands of kilometers away from each other, Bengal and Japan, the two prominent Asiatic lands, have a glorious heritage. The population of these two lands comes from two different races, yet they have similarities as well as specialties in their history and culture. Folk Literature lies at the heart of traditional culture. One of its integral parts is Folk Rhyme, mostly recited by children, women and peasants. Traditional society of Bengal and Japan nurtured these rhymes for thousands of years. This research, done in Nagoya, Japan in 1990s, is an attempt to compare between Bengali and Japanese Folk Rhymes. It analyzed and compared the history of the collections in the socio-political context; also, a theory was developed centering round the discussion, major characteristics, origin and development and the main trend of the classification. This work is the first attempt to compare exclusively between Bengali and Japanese Folk Literature as well as between folk rhymes of any two cultures.
Syed Mohammad Shahed is currently Professor of Bengali at the University of Dhaka. He was awarded Ph.D. in 1986 by the same university for his thesis Chadai Bangali Samaj O Samscrity (1988). He was post-doctoral visiting research scholar (1990-93) at the Nagoya National University, Japan and has done research on Comparative Study of Bengali and Japanese Folk Rhymes (1993). His other publications include history of Modern Bengali Rhymes (Chadar Ishkul); life of Ramesh Sheel and his works (Agrathita Gitiguccha, Aprakasthita Kabitabali & Ramesh Sheel Rachanabali); life and works of Fani Barua etc. Dr. Shahed was Director-General, Bangla Academy (2007-09); Trustee, Bangladesh National Museum and Member, National Commission for UNESCO. He has been actively associated with a number of reputed orgaizations including Khelaghar, Bangladesh Council for Child Welfare, UN Association of Bangladesh and World Federation of UNAs (Geneva). Dr. Shahed has participated in a number of seminars in South Asia, North America, Europe, South-East Asia and China.