Bhupen Hazarika's Brahmaputra and the Poetics of a People

<p><span>For the people of Assam in Northeast India, the Brahmaputra is not merely a geographical entity or a line on the map but a powerful cultural presence that shapes collective memory, historical consciousness, and everyday life. This paper examines how the songs of Bhupen Hazarika on the Brahmaputra transforms the river into a central metaphor of what may be termed “poetics of a people.” Through close engagement with 13 songs on the Brahmaputra composed between 1947 and 1984, referred to as the Brahmaputra corpus of songs, the paper argues that the river functions as a cultural archive through which the experiences, aspirations, and struggles of the people living along its banks are articulated. Drawing on theories of oral tradition and secondary orality, river as folk symbol, and traditional referentiality the study situates Hazarika’s musical poetics within the performative and folk traditions of Assam while also highlighting the humanist vision that allows his work to transcend regional boundaries to lend them universality. In doing so, the paper demonstrates how the river Brahmaputra emerges in Hazarika’s songs as a symbol of local cultural identity and a medium through which the voices of marginalized communities enter broader conversations about history, belonging, and humanity.</span></p>