Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story collection, An Interpreter of Maladies, is a collection of nine stories dealing with the lives of Bengalis. Bengalis are a group of people native to Bengal region in South Asia. The majority of Bengalis live in Bangladesh, with a large population in India as well. Bengalis speak the Bengali language, which is also the most spoken language in Bangladesh and seventh most spoken language in the world. Bengalis tend to follow one of two religions: Islam or Hinduism, depending on where they live; those living in Bangladesh tend to be Muslim, while those living in India tend to be Hindu.
The Bengal region has been effected by colonialism, more specifically British colonialism. The British East India Company, a massive trading organization, took control of the Bengal region, as well as other regions of India in 1757. This resulted in de-industrialization (removal of industrial production) in the region. Many Indian revolutionary groups made their home in Bengal, and India finally achieved independence in 1947. However, during this process, the former British India formed two dominions: India and Pakistan (the dominion of Pakistan later broke up into the current nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971). This split affected Bengal as well, as can still be seen today with the region split between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Because of the religious differences between India and Pakistan, many people were left displaced in regards to religion, and a refugee crisis emerged, leading to violence and straining relations between the two nations which continues today.
The United States has the second largest population of Bengalis outside of Asia (over 213,000), with the United Kingdom having the highest. Most live in New York or New Jersey. Most of these immigrants come from the Bangladesh portion of Bengal. Many immigrants struggle with poverty, with 26% of the population living below, a percentage similar to the rates of poverty in African-American communities.
Sources:
"South Asia :: Bangladesh." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, www.cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.
"South Asia :: India." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, www.cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.
Wu, Huizhong. "The 'model minority' myth: Why Asian-American poverty goes unseen".
Mashable.com. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
Hi Logan,
I liked this presentation; I think you did a good job giving context to the culture that’s being talked about this week. A point you made that was particularly interesting to me was the large population of Bengalis in the Unites States. I did not know the population was so high here, specifically in New York and New Jersey, but it is heartbreaking to hear about the high levels of poverty these people are experiencing. I think it is important to put those statistics out there, though, so people can be informed. Good post, Logan!
Hi Logan,
I too liked this presentation as it gives a background to what is going on in Bangladesh and its surrounding regions at earlier times and today. I also found it interesting that they are a large part of the population in the United States, and that most like in New York and New Jersey. Unfortunately it seems to be common for immigrants to struggle with poverty, so hopefully in our life time we can figure out a way to better integrate them into our society and culture, to combat the issue! Thanks for sharing.