“I pictured you only as an adventurous explorer”: Deben Bhattacharya, Ella K. Maillart, friendship and polygraphic influence

Ella K. Maillart (1903–97), the Swiss travel writer-adventuress, and Deben Bhattacharya (1921–2001), the Bengali field recordist and media producer, first corresponded in July 1949 and remained friends their whole lives. This article traces the evolution of their personal and professional relationship. I begin by discussing development of Bhattacharya’s career in the early 1950s. I then outline how Maillart offered Bhattacharya a model for using material collected in the field to produce multiple works. Reading Maillart’s work alongside Bhattacharya’s, it is possible to trace affinities, and sometimes tensions, between their practices. I then turn to the many records Bhattacharya produced. Through engaging with para-texts – liner notes, maps, and photographs – and the records themselves, I suggest these works can be read as forms of popular travel literature, written in sound. Overall, this article contributes to ongoing work to establish the profile of Bhattacharya, while highlighting the cultural influence of Maillart.