Psychogeography, the Poetics of Jibanananda Das, & the Postcolonial Witness
School: School of English
Supervisors: Dr Anindya Raychaudhuri (University of St Andrews) & Dr Peter Mackay (University of St Andrews)
Keywords: Psychogeography, Poetry of Witness, Translation Studies, Creative Critical Research, Decolonial Research, Comparative Modernities
About Adrija’s Research:
My research situates the eminent Bengali poet Jibanananda Das (1899–1954) within global modernism and postcolonial discourse. Born in undivided Bengal and displaced by Partition, Das’s life and work embody the turbulence of decolonization, migration, and modern alienation. Through his poetry, colloquial and introspective, Das reimagines the lyric form as a site where geography and memory converge. His Lyric-I becomes a psychogeographic witness, mapping the fragmented landscapes of Calcutta and Bengal through corporeal and spatial metaphors.
Through close readings and new translations, my project will place Das as a precursor to contemporary postcolonial poets, highlighting his relevance to current discourses on identity, ecology, and belonging. Ultimately, this creative-critical research seeks to recontextualize Jibanananda Das as a global modernist whose lyric voice testifies to the enduring intersections of landscape, history, and selfhood.
