Exhibiting masculine identity through circus in colonial Bengal

Abstract

The stereotype of the ‘effeminate’ Bengali babu, much promoted by the colonial official and semi-official discourse, provoked a reaction among middle-class Bengalis to prove the falseness of this perception by promoting physical culture among Bengali youth. The circus was one arena in which physical and acrobatic feats could be displayed. So first there came akharas, and then the modern circus, in which Bengalis collaborated with, as well as challenged European practitioners. Circus thus attained an eminent position as a medium of entertainment in late colonial Bengal, which later on it ceased to hold.