Golam Rabbani
Areas of Interest
As a transnational scholar, I am invested in postsecondary research and teaching for more than fourteen years in Canada, Bangladesh, and Belgium. My creative and musical experience integrates into interdisciplinary and community-based research. I practice holistic research approaches that address various disciplines in humanities and social sciences. My research, therefore, intersects the disciplines of literature, ethnomusicology, religion, and cultural studies. I am more dedicated to investigating societal issues through literature, music, and spirituality and celebrate diversity, inclusion, and decolonization in academic endeavors.
My SSHRC-funded PhD project examines the literature and music of Bauls, the heterogeneous group of itinerant minstrels in Bangladesh. The study investigates the influence of commodification, consumer capitalism, and agency in the changes of Baul literature, music, and spiritual beliefs in urban and rural areas of the country. I am trained in Baul and Bengali folk music and Indian classical music and have been involved in experiential learning with Baul communities since my childhood. I also received the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Action II scholarship to study in Belgium, where my literary research involved the studies in race, class, and gender.
Looking into the issues of diversity and decolonization, my upcoming book chapter titled “Spiritual Lyrics and Folklore: From Bhakti to Bauls,” discusses the importance of subaltern and marginalized communities in the mainstream artistic traditions in Bangladesh. Also, examining the nature-centered philosophy in South Asia, another forthcoming book chapter, “Ecocriticism and Bauls: Lalon and Radharaman’s Meditative Activism,” investigates the environmental activism and eco-centric philosophy of subaltern communities that challenge the colonial and anthropocentric environmental discourses and practices. The greater scope of my research includes hemispheric trajectories of political and intercultural traditions, including asymmetrical exchanges between the Canadian contexts and their “others.” My upcoming project brings musical spirituality in Canadian contexts, investigating how the music of various belief systems play a role in first-generation migrants’ adaptation to Canadian society.
Research Interests
Music, Spirituality, and Society
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
South Asia and Popular Culture
Representation in Film and Media
Postcolonial Studies and Decolonization
Western and non-Western Literature
English Language Teaching
Courses at Carleton University
ANTH 3215A/MUSI 3301A Music and Religion
Selected Publications
“Discrimination in ‘the City’: Race, Class, and Gender in Toni Morrison’s Jazz .“ Advances in Language and Literary Studies , Volume 10, Issue 05, 2019. Australian International Academic Centre, Australia.
“Heterogeneity and Baul Spirituality: The Songs of Baul Taskir Ali in Bangladesh .” Contemporary Media Arts Journal , Issue 6, 2019. Simon Fraser University, Canada.
“When the Subaltern Screams: Pedophilia and Patriarchy in Humayun Ahmed’s Pleasure Boy Kômola .” Reconstruction Vol. 16, No: 02 (2016): Regionalism, Regional Identity and Queer Asian Cinema .
“In the Light of What We Know’: A Novel of Its Time.” Crossings: ULAB Journal of English Studies . Volume 6. 2015. 263-265. ISSN 2071-1107 (book review).
“Darwin, Cognition and Literary Evocations of the Mind: The Case of Requiem for a Nun .” Crossings ULAB Journal of English Studies . Volume 3 and 4. 2014. 21-28. ISSN 2071-1107.
“Media and Peeping Tom Culture: Violating Familial Privacy and Communal Responsibility in the Evolution of Voyeurism”. Journalism and Mass Communication: David Publishing Company . Volume 3, Number 5, May 2013. 304-312. ISSN 2160-6579.
“Gender Hegemony in Feminist Film: ‘Woman-hero’ and Identity Politics in Rudaali ”. Harvest. Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature . Volume 27, 2011-12. ISSN 1729-8326.
“Decentering the Hegemonic ‘Centre’: ‘Palabras Liminares’ and Ruben Dario’s Poetic Identity”. Harvest. Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature . Volume 26, 2010-11. ISSN 1729-8326
“Reality TV or Voyeur TV: Television Shows Instigating Voyeurism.” Nrvijnana Patrika . Journal of Anthropology: Jahangirnagar University. Volume 16, 2011. ISSN 1680-0621
“The Quest for Wording the Word: Communication Crisis and Alienation of Language in Wole Soyinka’s The Road ”. Harvest. Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature . Volume 25, 2009-10. ISSN 1729-8326.
“Stage within Stage: Naturalism and Spatial Dimensions in August Strindberg’s Miss Julie." Harvest. Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature . Volume 24, 2008-09. ISSN 1729-8326.
“Staging the Stage: The Expressionist Manifestation of Spatial Discourse and Colour in August Strindberg’s Ett Dromspel (A Dream Play ).” Eastern University Journal . Volume 01, No: 02, July 2009. ISSN 1998-7889.