During the swadeshi agitation in Bengal the books presented in the performative space of Bengal became a source of instructing the public and for putting their mind and their imagination in order. The intellectual world of the Bengalis was in an uproar during this period due to the presence of a well-developed public sphere in Bengal. To legitimise these ideas as the social, moral and cultural authority of the popular bonding (the non-intellectuals of Gramscian analysis) attempts were made to create a homogeneous body of literature for the people. In this connection, the texts of popular performances like that of theatre, jatra and songs gained heightened importance. Texts of these popular media did not remain the mere framework of performance; they assumed the role of collecting and putting together of the stories and experiences of the people, establishing a degree of uniformity in it. In this article, I will look closely at the texts of the popular performative media of the age like theatre, jatra and song to gauge the process in which such media ordered the imagination of the people of Bengal in a homogeneous and seamless network of memory, laying the first step towards imagining a national community.
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