Connecting to the Motherland:

Authors

• Grace Truett

Keywords

Bengali traditions, anti-capitalism, cultural identity, British colonialism

Abstract

India was the crown jewel of the British Empire and, despite the oppressive colonialism between 1857 and 1947, it produced citizens who cared for the future of their nation. Jamini Roy is one such citizen who envisioned his rich cultural Motherland untouched by Western forces. Although India had been dominated by Britain economically, socially, and even artistically, Roy was an anti-capitalist artist who used materials native to India to perpetuate Bengali artistic traditions and reinvent Christian folklore; his work aims towards unification of Hindu, Muslim, and Christian Indian viewers through nationalism and connection of Indian citizens to their land, as evidenced in his piece Mother and Child (c. 1931). To understand Roy’s full impact, India’s tangled past with British authority and Bengali culture must be contextualized.

Recommended Citation

Truett, Grace (2026) "Connecting to the Motherland:," BYU Asian Studies Student Journal: Vol. 11, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/asj/vol11/iss1/4