Rabindranath Tagore’s 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature helped renew interest in modern Indian literature and in particular Bengali Literature However by the mid nineteenth century Bengali literature had already come into its own distinguished itself in the genres of poetry short story novel and essays of intellection and reminiscence It grew through diverse and varied channels in the twentieth century a period of social change and upheaval
The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature celebrates the richness and diversity of the literature spread across 130 years The two volume anthology represents around 100 writers and includes nearly 250 selection form poetry, short fiction and non fiction The chronological dividing lone of 1941 between the two volumes represents not just the end of an era with Tagor’s death but the beginning of a new period marked by traumatic changes in both Bengals amply reflected in the literature
Beginning with Michael Madhusudan Datta and the constantly evolving Rabindranath Tagore this volume moves on to other celebrate poets like Sukumar Ray Jibanananda Das Akzi Nazrul Islam, Jasim Uddin, Bishnu Dey, Buddhadeva Bose, Sudhindtanath Datta, and Samar Sen Similarly the short fiction and non fiction sections are characterized by chronological and varied selections many of them translated especially for this volume Extraordinary in literature merit the 100 odd selections stand out as important social documents affording rare glimpses of the age the social ethos and the writer’s perspective
Carefully selected and introduced the chronological listing of works by authors helps readers get a sense of the evolution of various literary genres and sub genres across one and a half centuries of literary creation Placing the writings in their historical context the introduction affords a broad conceptual understanding of the social political and cultural more of the times
One of the most representative collections of Bengali writings to come out in recent times, The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature will appeal to anybody who enjoys good writing as well as students and scholars of comparative literature translation studies and Indian Literature in translation especially Bengali Literature
Kalpana Bardhan a Ph D I economics has been involved in translating Bengali literature for the last two decades her era liter background in socio economic studies providing particular sensitivity to aspects of literature as social commentary She has produces six books including three collections of stories tow novels and Tagore song lyrics in translation one of their books received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for best English translation in 1998
The Subcontinent’s many living vermicular literatures have thrived and evolved engaging readers in rising million despite mss illiteracy as regional populations grew and education spread They have cross fertilized to an extent through direct translation and re translation of English translation though not to the extent needed In the past country with greater command of the English language native translations into English into the reader have grown in quantity and quality to turn English literatures in the regional bhasas or modern Indian languages helped the regional literature through translations and made them available to readers in English without access to the source languages This in a way helped produce English language writers of the Subcontinent The vernacular literature rich and varied thriving on large regional readership nut lacking in good translation suffered obscurity relative to not only the English reading world but also languages scholars English translations from the vernacular literature have been done in great numbers if no consistently well since Independence mainly for internal use through the officially decided curricula for school and college level English These translations usually have sponsorship funding and eager publishers/ outside of school and college curricula English translation of bhasa literature has depended aside form market and author cooperation on translator’s talent urge and willingness to put a lot of time in low paid mental labor
Coming to Bengali literature the exceptional success in braking our in the worlds was Tagor’s self translated Gitanjali winning the 1913 Nobel having London Macmillan as publisher and being re translated form English into Spanish, Portuguese Chinese, Japanese, Korean and the Subcontinents’ other vernacular The private and public condition that combined to produce this exception were not easily replicable The inter wart generation of Bangla writers trying to come out of Tagor’s shadow produced and sheltered new kinds of writing focused on the stark realties of social crises and inner turmoil’s and consciously worked in a world at once opening up and tearing apart Some of them college teachers of English translated their writings into English this time published inside for internal appreciation and critical review and electively translated European writings into Bengali One of them Buddhadeva Bose started a university department of comparative literature to employ and turn our bilingual writers critics and translators Independence in 1947 coming on the heels of the 1943 famine and subsequent peasant brought with it the devastating partition its killings and uprooting In the 1950s while Hindu refuges speaking different dialects and accent struggled to reroot on the west of the Padma and Muslim Bengali East Pakistan started protesting the imposition of Urdu as national language
Disruptions of life to this extent was bound to change the course of literature make new channels and divergent streams the way Bengal’s rivers do in nature’s turmoil The strums evolved in the next tow decades reflecting yet other related convulsions and crisis and then came the varied influence of globalization The last three decades of the twentieth century saw major spurts in the English translation of Bengali literature old and new multiform multi stream multi perspective The nineteenth century bias against translators with first languages not being the target language grew less and less as understanding of the regional culture of source language was considered at least as important as readability in target language idioms and as the source language translator command of English improved
The postcolonial flood of translation of bhasa texts into English came form a variety of factors including the active support of national literary academies UNESCO series of representative texts and cultural exchange aid in the form of both US and USSR hiring vernacular language writers to co-produce translations A weightier sustained boost came from the proliferation of academic fields like comparative literature translation studies literary criticism study of texts in social context non western language departments in Western universities and English translation of vernacular literature There is also the growing interest of general readers of literature in other social cultures as reflected in vernacular language writings originally meant for regional readers and writers This editor is a special case in the last set Formally trained in socio economic history not in literature but well read in both languages and believing in the embeddedness of a region’s literature in its social history I formally turned into a Bangala to English translator in wanted to offer the less bilingual next generation of Bengalis and the non Bengali readers in English within Indian and outside selections from Bengali literature that I have loved the most learned the most from and truly enjoyed translating
The first volume of this anthology covered 1860s through 1930s a period starting with the so called Bengal renaissance in Literary culture among other things and winding with the nationalist struggle stepping up as world war Ii crept up British India’s eastern flank. The literary and cultural awakening was triggered by the social impact of colonial trade and land policy and the clash between tradition bound social mores and the liberal values of post enlightenment Europe. The process worked through leadership in social and religious reforms and through spread of English education. And the process worked for developing the language and literature in ways ranging form prosodic changes the forging of prose styles for novels stories and essays the use of secular themes and the questioning of entrenched social and religious customs to the introduction of subjectivity the first person singular especially in poetry.
The surge of literary creativity with simultaneous enrichment and simplification of vocabulary and syntax equals joined by rethinking of social values (women’s education, social, equity and rationalism) along with exploring of aesthetics subjective emotion and intellection. These would soon be reinforced by the nationalist spirit variously ranging form concern for self reform and social uplift to armed resistance.
The main achievement of the awakening process was of course in art and literature but or an extent also in the surge were important as readers especially of serialized novels and then increasingly as writers and journal editors.
A serious limitation of the nineteenth century reawakening was that it stayed confined to a small, educated mostly urban elite leaving out Bengal’s Muslim and low caste people in villages. The articles by Sibnanrayan Ray and by Abdul Wadud dwell on this issue.
Introduction | ix | |
|
||
Michael Madhusudan Datta (1824-1873) | 3 | |
Bangabhasha | ||
The Slaying of Meghananda (Excerpts) | ||
Rabindranath Tagore/Thakur (1961-1941) | 17 | |
An Ordinary Person | ||
Big Sister | ||
The Mediatrix | ||
A Stressful Time | ||
The Old House | ||
The Apprehension | ||
The Skeleton | ||
Impossible | ||
Palm tree | ||
Flute music | ||
Brief Poems | ||
Lekhan | ||
Sphulinga | ||
This Side and That | ||
Priyambada Devi (1871-1935) | 34 | |
from letters to Okatua Kakuzo | ||
The unsatisfied Longing | ||
An Enigma | ||
Surrender | ||
Dream foundling | ||
In the Rain | ||
After the Storm | ||
The Dream Journey | ||
Irrevocable | ||
Untitled | ||
A Query | ||
Reveillez… | ||
Awakening | ||
Sukumar Ray (1887-1923) | 38 | |
Odour in the Court | ||
Baburam the Snakecharmer | ||
The Old Woodman | ||
Shadow Play | ||
Spook Sports | ||
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) | 43 | |
Tangerine | ||
If I Were | ||
Grass | ||
Windy Night | ||
A Day Eight Years Ago | ||
Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) | 49 | |
Song of Destruction: Those Iron Gates of Prison | ||
In The Restless wheels of Change | ||
The Ecstasy of Creation | ||
Victoress | ||
Ink on my Face Ink on My Hands | ||
Sudhindranath Datta (1901-1960) | 54 | |
A Farewell | ||
Conflict | ||
Camel Bird | ||
The Fool | ||
The End | ||
Jasim Uddin (1903-1976) | 60 | |
First Love | ||
Come to the Garden by Night | ||
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) | 62 | |
Love and Life | ||
This is all | ||
There isn’t Time | ||
Rain and Storm | ||
New Leaves | ||
Hilsa | ||
Bishnu Dev (1909-1982) | 69 | |
Aspiration | ||
Fear No More the Darkness | ||
Summer in Calcutta | ||
Sonnet | ||
Quicksand | ||
A Kafi | ||
Samar Sen (1916-1987) | 75 | |
Aftermath | ||
Land of the Mohuas | ||
The March of Time | ||
Wherever You Go | ||
A Girl | ||
1900 | ||
|
||
Bankimchandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) | 81 | |
Life Story of Muchiram Gurh | ||
Rabindranath Tagore/ Thakur (1861-1941) | 102 | |
A Single Night | ||
Sharatkumari Chaudhurani (1861-1920) | 107 | |
Loved or Unloved? | ||
Upendrakishore Rayshudhuri (1863-1915) | 112 | |
The Wicked Tiger | ||
Pramatha Chaudhuri (1868-1948) | 115 | |
Tales of Four Friends (excerpts) | ||
Abanindranath Thakur (1871-1951) | 128 | |
Caramel Doll | ||
Prabhatkumar Mukhopadhay (1873-1932) | 151 | |
The Goddess | ||
Sharatchandra Chatterjee(1876-1939) | 162 | |
Mahesh | ||
Parashuram (Rajeshekhar Bose) (1880-1960) | 172 | |
On Bhushandi’s Plain | ||
Jagadish Gupta (1886-1957) | 182 | |
At the Day’s End | ||
Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay (1894-1950) | 188 | |
Bama | ||
Jyotimoyee Devi (Sen) (1894-1988) | 195 | |
Market Values | ||
Tarashankar Bandyopadhay (1898-1971) | 203 | |
The Gypsy Woman | ||
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) | 213 | |
Together Alone | ||
Manik Bandyopadhyay (1908-1956) | 223 | |
Primeval | ||
|
||
Rashsundari Devi (1809-1899) | 239 | |
My Life (excerpts) | ||
Debendranath Thakur (1817-1905) | 251 | |
Autobiography (excerpts) | ||
Bhudeb Mukhopadhay (1827-1894) | 260 | |
Sense of National Identify and Western Influence | ||
Banakimchnadra Chatterjee (1838-1894) | 269 | |
A Bengalee’s Humanity | ||
The Cat | ||
Kaliprasanna Sinha (1840-1870) | 276 | |
The Observant Owl (excerpts) | ||
Shubnath Shastri (Sivanath sastri) (1847-1919) | 300 | |
A History of the Renaissance in Bengal | ||
Ramtanu Lahiri a Reformer (excerpts) | ||
Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) | 307 | |
The Literary in the Scientific | ||
Rabindranath Tagore/ Thakur (1861-1941) | 315 | |
Gora Sense of National Identify (Excerpts) | ||
From Autobiography Pieces | ||
Jibansmriti ( Remembering Life) | ||
Japan-Jatree (traveler to Japan) | ||
Atmaparichory (About Myself) | ||
Chelbela (Boyhood Days) | ||
Gitacharchna (Cultivating Music) | ||
Narrative in Personal letter | ||
Letters from Russia | ||
Crisis in Civilization | ||
Pramatha chaudhuri (1868-948) | 347 | |
The Story of Bengali Literature | ||
Binodini Dasi (1863-1941) | 357 | |
Memoirs of (Actress) Binodini | ||
My story My Life as an Actress (excerpts) | ||
Indira Devi Chaudhurani (1873-1960) | 373 | |
Relationships | ||
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) | 380 | |
The Secluded Ones (excerpts) | ||
S. Wajed Ali (1890-1951) | 385 | |
Bharatbarsha | ||
Jibananada das (1899-1954) | 387 | |
On Poetry (excerpts) | ||
Sudhindranath data (1901-1960) | 392 | |
An Introduction to Rabindranath’s Genius | ||
Copyright Statement | 398 | |
Portraits of Authors | 405 |
Introduction | xiii |
|
|
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) | 3 |
On the Sidewalks | |
The Cat | |
Amiya Chakravarty (1901-1986) | 4 |
The Traveler | |
Petition to the Boss | |
1604 University Drive | |
Calcutta | |
Sudhindranath Datta (1901-1960) | 7 |
Antinomies | |
The Vagrant | |
1945 | |
Cyclone | |
Jasim Uddin (1903-1976) | 15 |
The Chariot of Dhamrai | |
Premendra Mitra (1904-1988) | 16 |
The Crow Caws | |
The Soul of Birds | |
Annada Sankar Ray (1904-2002) | 18 |
Difference | |
Remembrance | |
Ajit Data (1907-1979) | 20 |
The Relative | |
The Black Mountain | |
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) | 21 |
To My Unwritten Poems | |
Sonnet of 3 a.m : 1 | |
Sonnet of 3 a.m : 2 | |
Sunday Afternoon | |
The Moment of Liberation | |
Bishnu Dey (1909-1982) | 25 |
My Dreams too are Endless | |
The Alien | |
Water My Roots | |
Of Tagorean Beauty | |
Arun Mitra (1909-2000) | 31 |
These Few Lines | |
In the Stones of Calcutta | |
The March | |
Wayward | |
On the Breast of Nature | |
Ashokbijoy Raha (1910-1990) | 34 |
The Magic Tree | |
Dinesh Das (1913-1987) | 34 |
The Sickle | |
Samar Sen (1916-1985) | 35 |
The Storm | |
Scorched Earth | |
Self-Criticism | |
The Tides | |
Kamakshiprasad Chattopadhay (1917-1976) | 39 |
The Price | |
Subhash Mukhopadhaya (1919-2003) | 40 |
At Every Step | |
At Day’s End | |
Let me Never See | |
Deeper Still | |
Arun Kumar Sarkar (1921-1980) | 44 |
Endless | |
The Horse | |
Nirendranath Chakrabarti (b.1924) | 45 |
Taimur | |
Instead | |
You Fear when you Fear | |
It’s So at times | |
All kinds of Loving | |
Abdul Ghani Hazari (1925-1947) | 49 |
The Heart of the Sahib | |
21st February | |
Sukanta Bhattacharya (1926-1947) | 51 |
Passport | |
To My Dearest | |
Time To Come | |
Rajlakshmi Devi (1927-2006) | 54 |
Disaster | |
The House | |
Mountains | |
Lokenath Bhattaharya (1927-2001) | 56 |
Geometry at Twilight | |
False or True | |
The Absent Hero | |
Not Until | |
Latifi Hilali (b. 1928) | 59 |
On a Solitary Evening | |
Shamsur Rahman (1929-2006) | 60 |
Death Anniversary | |
Pain | |
There was a Door Here | |
Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhay (b.1931) | 63 |
The Cat under the Stairs | |
Friends | |
Gratitude | |
Sankha Ghosh (b.1932) | 65 |
At the Bend of the Road | |
Strom of Desire | |
The Sleep | |
Companion | |
Fallen | |
On that Endless Midnight | |
Oarbeats in the Ribs (excerpts ) | |
Alokernjan Dasgupta (b. 1933) | 71 |
The Meta query | |
Beside the Well | |
Shakti Chattopadhyay (1934-1995) | 73 |
Walks Behind Yet Stays Remote | |
Just Once Try | |
I Can Go But Why Should I | |
Old Grief and New Grief | |
The Darkness of many Centuries | |
Benoy Majumar (1934-2006) | 76 |
Untitled | |
Times Wins | |
Sunil Gangopadhyay (b. 1934) | 78 |
A Case History | |
Inheritance | |
On the Stairs | |
Suddenly for Neera | |
Tarapada Roy (1936-2007) | 82 |
Head Bent | |
That Green Passport | |
Utpal Kumar Basu (b. 1936) | 84 |
Puri Series- 4 | |
Puri Series- 8 | |
Untitled | |
Al Mahmud (b. 1936) | 85 |
In the dark one day | |
Poetry | |
Simple Accusation | |
Nature | |
Vijaya Mukhopadhyay (b. 1937) | 88 |
Ancestor Worship | |
Equation | |
Monday | |
The Ferry Ghat | |
Nabneeta Dev Sen (b. 1938) | 91 |
Memories of a Floral Clock | |
Jungle Story | |
Sometimes Love | |
So Many Crazy Blue Hills | |
Ketaki Kushari Dyson (b. 1940) | 93 |
Adam’s Apple | |
Caravan | |
Mohammad Rafiq (b.1943) | 95 |
Kirtinasha | |
Asad Chowdhury (b. 1943) | 99 |
Lamentation | |
Joy Goswami (b. 1954) | 99 |
In the Evening Sadness Comes | |
An Evening of Rain | |
Things Recalled at Night | |
Ballad of Last Rites | |
Mandakranta Sen (b. 1972) | 103 |
Bengal Seventeenth Century A piece of Family History | |
You | |
The Believer | |
|
|
Parashuram (Rajshekar Bose) (1880-1960) | 107 |
An immortal | |
Banaphul (Balaichand Mukhopadhyay) (1899-1979) | 114 |
In the Same Boat | |
Premendra Mitra (1904-1988) | 117 |
Juthika | |
Prabodh Kumar Sanyal (1905-1983) | 125 |
Deep | |
Satjnath Bhaduri (1906-1965) | 132 |
Patralekha’s Father | |
Manik Bandyopadhyay (1908-1956) | 141 |
Haran’s Grandson-in-law | |
Ahapurana Devi (1909-1994) | 151 |
Izzat | |
Subodh Ghose (1909-1980) | 158 |
Fossil | |
Jyotirindra Nandi (1912-1982) | 170 |
Game | |
Advata Mallabarman (1914-1951) | 174 |
The Boat | |
Kamal Kumar Majumdar (1915-1-79) | 183 |
Extinct Rituals | |
Narendranath Mitra (1916-1975) | 194 |
Truth and Untruth | |
Satyajit Ray (1921-1971) | 201 |
Load Shedding | |
Syed Waliullah (1922-1971) | 207 |
Tale of a Tulsi Plant | |
Samaresh Basu (1924-1988) | 215 |
Adaab | |
Mahasweta Devi (b. 1926) | 222 |
The Divorce | |
Syed Mustafa Siraj (b. 1930) | 227 |
Horse of Death | |
Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay (b.1931) | 237 |
Quick Run | |
Hasan Hafizur Rehman (1932-1983) | 238 |
Two More Deaths | |
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (b. 1935) | 244 |
Look at me | |
Syed Shamsul Haq (b. 1935) | 252 |
Secret Life Public Death | |
Hasan Azizul Huq (b. 1938) | 260 |
Homecoming | |
Dibyendu Palit (b. 1939) | 267 |
The National Flag | |
Bani Basu (b. 1939) | 278 |
She | |
Akhtaruzzaman Ilias (1943-1997) | 289 |
In the Rooftop Room | |
Selina Hossain (b. 1947) | 295 |
Izzat | |
Mabarun Bhattacharya (b. 1948) | 301 |
The Blind cat | |
Abul Bashar (b. 1951) | 307 |
Rebirth | |
Nasreen Jahan (b. 1964) | 312 |
Stranger | |
|
|
Kazi Abdul Wadud (1894-1970) | 325 |
Modern Bengali Literature (excerpts) | |
Mussalmanas of Bengal | |
Satyendrannath Bose (1894-1974) | 332 |
The Scientist’s Plea | |
Dhurjatiprasad Mukerji (1894-1961) | 337 |
Words and Melody | |
Nirmal Kumar Bose (1901-1972) | 341 |
The Structure of Hindu Society (excerpts) | |
Sudhindranth Datta (1901-1960) | 353 |
Utterance and Realization The Tradition of writing in Bengal | |
Syed Muztaba Ali (1904-1974) | 361 |
Chacha’s Story | |
Abu Sayeed Ayyub (1906-1982) | 369 |
Ethics and Aesthetics in Literature | |
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) | 378 |
The Last Journey | |
Samar Sen (1916-1987) | 384 |
A Babau’s Tale (excerpts) | |
Sibnarayan Ray (1921-2008) | 393 |
Bengalee Identity Problem inner Conflict and Tragedy | |
Ashok Mitra (b. 1928) | 398 |
Flavors of Freedom | |
Ashok Rudra (1931-1992) | |
Friendship in Rabindranath’s Love Songs | 403 |
Sankh Ghosh (b. 1932) | 407 |
The Poet’s Intention: The Writer the Writing | |
The Reader (excerpts) | |
Partha Charrerjee (b. 1947) | 415 |
Our Modernity | |
Gautam Bhadra (b. 1948) | 425 |
Bengal’s Dervishes in History’s Trap | |
Nrisinhaprasad Bhaduri (b. 1950) | 440 |
The Island Born Vyasa | |
Manoranjan Byapari (b. early 1950) | 455 |
Dalit Literature In Bangla | |
Taslima Nasrin (b. 1962) | 458 |
Selected Columns | |
Copyright Statement | 461 |
Portraits of Authors | 475 |
Rabindranath Tagore’s 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature helped renew interest in modern Indian literature and in particular Bengali Literature However by the mid nineteenth century Bengali literature had already come into its own distinguished itself in the genres of poetry short story novel and essays of intellection and reminiscence It grew through diverse and varied channels in the twentieth century a period of social change and upheaval
The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature celebrates the richness and diversity of the literature spread across 130 years The two volume anthology represents around 100 writers and includes nearly 250 selection form poetry, short fiction and non fiction The chronological dividing lone of 1941 between the two volumes represents not just the end of an era with Tagor’s death but the beginning of a new period marked by traumatic changes in both Bengals amply reflected in the literature
Beginning with Michael Madhusudan Datta and the constantly evolving Rabindranath Tagore this volume moves on to other celebrate poets like Sukumar Ray Jibanananda Das Akzi Nazrul Islam, Jasim Uddin, Bishnu Dey, Buddhadeva Bose, Sudhindtanath Datta, and Samar Sen Similarly the short fiction and non fiction sections are characterized by chronological and varied selections many of them translated especially for this volume Extraordinary in literature merit the 100 odd selections stand out as important social documents affording rare glimpses of the age the social ethos and the writer’s perspective
Carefully selected and introduced the chronological listing of works by authors helps readers get a sense of the evolution of various literary genres and sub genres across one and a half centuries of literary creation Placing the writings in their historical context the introduction affords a broad conceptual understanding of the social political and cultural more of the times
One of the most representative collections of Bengali writings to come out in recent times, The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature will appeal to anybody who enjoys good writing as well as students and scholars of comparative literature translation studies and Indian Literature in translation especially Bengali Literature
Kalpana Bardhan a Ph D I economics has been involved in translating Bengali literature for the last two decades her era liter background in socio economic studies providing particular sensitivity to aspects of literature as social commentary She has produces six books including three collections of stories tow novels and Tagore song lyrics in translation one of their books received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for best English translation in 1998
The Subcontinent’s many living vermicular literatures have thrived and evolved engaging readers in rising million despite mss illiteracy as regional populations grew and education spread They have cross fertilized to an extent through direct translation and re translation of English translation though not to the extent needed In the past country with greater command of the English language native translations into English into the reader have grown in quantity and quality to turn English literatures in the regional bhasas or modern Indian languages helped the regional literature through translations and made them available to readers in English without access to the source languages This in a way helped produce English language writers of the Subcontinent The vernacular literature rich and varied thriving on large regional readership nut lacking in good translation suffered obscurity relative to not only the English reading world but also languages scholars English translations from the vernacular literature have been done in great numbers if no consistently well since Independence mainly for internal use through the officially decided curricula for school and college level English These translations usually have sponsorship funding and eager publishers/ outside of school and college curricula English translation of bhasa literature has depended aside form market and author cooperation on translator’s talent urge and willingness to put a lot of time in low paid mental labor
Coming to Bengali literature the exceptional success in braking our in the worlds was Tagor’s self translated Gitanjali winning the 1913 Nobel having London Macmillan as publisher and being re translated form English into Spanish, Portuguese Chinese, Japanese, Korean and the Subcontinents’ other vernacular The private and public condition that combined to produce this exception were not easily replicable The inter wart generation of Bangla writers trying to come out of Tagor’s shadow produced and sheltered new kinds of writing focused on the stark realties of social crises and inner turmoil’s and consciously worked in a world at once opening up and tearing apart Some of them college teachers of English translated their writings into English this time published inside for internal appreciation and critical review and electively translated European writings into Bengali One of them Buddhadeva Bose started a university department of comparative literature to employ and turn our bilingual writers critics and translators Independence in 1947 coming on the heels of the 1943 famine and subsequent peasant brought with it the devastating partition its killings and uprooting In the 1950s while Hindu refuges speaking different dialects and accent struggled to reroot on the west of the Padma and Muslim Bengali East Pakistan started protesting the imposition of Urdu as national language
Disruptions of life to this extent was bound to change the course of literature make new channels and divergent streams the way Bengal’s rivers do in nature’s turmoil The strums evolved in the next tow decades reflecting yet other related convulsions and crisis and then came the varied influence of globalization The last three decades of the twentieth century saw major spurts in the English translation of Bengali literature old and new multiform multi stream multi perspective The nineteenth century bias against translators with first languages not being the target language grew less and less as understanding of the regional culture of source language was considered at least as important as readability in target language idioms and as the source language translator command of English improved
The postcolonial flood of translation of bhasa texts into English came form a variety of factors including the active support of national literary academies UNESCO series of representative texts and cultural exchange aid in the form of both US and USSR hiring vernacular language writers to co-produce translations A weightier sustained boost came from the proliferation of academic fields like comparative literature translation studies literary criticism study of texts in social context non western language departments in Western universities and English translation of vernacular literature There is also the growing interest of general readers of literature in other social cultures as reflected in vernacular language writings originally meant for regional readers and writers This editor is a special case in the last set Formally trained in socio economic history not in literature but well read in both languages and believing in the embeddedness of a region’s literature in its social history I formally turned into a Bangala to English translator in wanted to offer the less bilingual next generation of Bengalis and the non Bengali readers in English within Indian and outside selections from Bengali literature that I have loved the most learned the most from and truly enjoyed translating
The first volume of this anthology covered 1860s through 1930s a period starting with the so called Bengal renaissance in Literary culture among other things and winding with the nationalist struggle stepping up as world war Ii crept up British India’s eastern flank. The literary and cultural awakening was triggered by the social impact of colonial trade and land policy and the clash between tradition bound social mores and the liberal values of post enlightenment Europe. The process worked through leadership in social and religious reforms and through spread of English education. And the process worked for developing the language and literature in ways ranging form prosodic changes the forging of prose styles for novels stories and essays the use of secular themes and the questioning of entrenched social and religious customs to the introduction of subjectivity the first person singular especially in poetry.
The surge of literary creativity with simultaneous enrichment and simplification of vocabulary and syntax equals joined by rethinking of social values (women’s education, social, equity and rationalism) along with exploring of aesthetics subjective emotion and intellection. These would soon be reinforced by the nationalist spirit variously ranging form concern for self reform and social uplift to armed resistance.
The main achievement of the awakening process was of course in art and literature but or an extent also in the surge were important as readers especially of serialized novels and then increasingly as writers and journal editors.
A serious limitation of the nineteenth century reawakening was that it stayed confined to a small, educated mostly urban elite leaving out Bengal’s Muslim and low caste people in villages. The articles by Sibnanrayan Ray and by Abdul Wadud dwell on this issue.
Introduction | ix | |
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Michael Madhusudan Datta (1824-1873) | 3 | |
Bangabhasha | ||
The Slaying of Meghananda (Excerpts) | ||
Rabindranath Tagore/Thakur (1961-1941) | 17 | |
An Ordinary Person | ||
Big Sister | ||
The Mediatrix | ||
A Stressful Time | ||
The Old House | ||
The Apprehension | ||
The Skeleton | ||
Impossible | ||
Palm tree | ||
Flute music | ||
Brief Poems | ||
Lekhan | ||
Sphulinga | ||
This Side and That | ||
Priyambada Devi (1871-1935) | 34 | |
from letters to Okatua Kakuzo | ||
The unsatisfied Longing | ||
An Enigma | ||
Surrender | ||
Dream foundling | ||
In the Rain | ||
After the Storm | ||
The Dream Journey | ||
Irrevocable | ||
Untitled | ||
A Query | ||
Reveillez… | ||
Awakening | ||
Sukumar Ray (1887-1923) | 38 | |
Odour in the Court | ||
Baburam the Snakecharmer | ||
The Old Woodman | ||
Shadow Play | ||
Spook Sports | ||
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) | 43 | |
Tangerine | ||
If I Were | ||
Grass | ||
Windy Night | ||
A Day Eight Years Ago | ||
Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) | 49 | |
Song of Destruction: Those Iron Gates of Prison | ||
In The Restless wheels of Change | ||
The Ecstasy of Creation | ||
Victoress | ||
Ink on my Face Ink on My Hands | ||
Sudhindranath Datta (1901-1960) | 54 | |
A Farewell | ||
Conflict | ||
Camel Bird | ||
The Fool | ||
The End | ||
Jasim Uddin (1903-1976) | 60 | |
First Love | ||
Come to the Garden by Night | ||
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) | 62 | |
Love and Life | ||
This is all | ||
There isn’t Time | ||
Rain and Storm | ||
New Leaves | ||
Hilsa | ||
Bishnu Dev (1909-1982) | 69 | |
Aspiration | ||
Fear No More the Darkness | ||
Summer in Calcutta | ||
Sonnet | ||
Quicksand | ||
A Kafi | ||
Samar Sen (1916-1987) | 75 | |
Aftermath | ||
Land of the Mohuas | ||
The March of Time | ||
Wherever You Go | ||
A Girl | ||
1900 | ||
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||
Bankimchandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) | 81 | |
Life Story of Muchiram Gurh | ||
Rabindranath Tagore/ Thakur (1861-1941) | 102 | |
A Single Night | ||
Sharatkumari Chaudhurani (1861-1920) | 107 | |
Loved or Unloved? | ||
Upendrakishore Rayshudhuri (1863-1915) | 112 | |
The Wicked Tiger | ||
Pramatha Chaudhuri (1868-1948) | 115 | |
Tales of Four Friends (excerpts) | ||
Abanindranath Thakur (1871-1951) | 128 | |
Caramel Doll | ||
Prabhatkumar Mukhopadhay (1873-1932) | 151 | |
The Goddess | ||
Sharatchandra Chatterjee(1876-1939) | 162 | |
Mahesh | ||
Parashuram (Rajeshekhar Bose) (1880-1960) | 172 | |
On Bhushandi’s Plain | ||
Jagadish Gupta (1886-1957) | 182 | |
At the Day’s End | ||
Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay (1894-1950) | 188 | |
Bama | ||
Jyotimoyee Devi (Sen) (1894-1988) | 195 | |
Market Values | ||
Tarashankar Bandyopadhay (1898-1971) | 203 | |
The Gypsy Woman | ||
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) | 213 | |
Together Alone | ||
Manik Bandyopadhyay (1908-1956) | 223 | |
Primeval | ||
|
||
Rashsundari Devi (1809-1899) | 239 | |
My Life (excerpts) | ||
Debendranath Thakur (1817-1905) | 251 | |
Autobiography (excerpts) | ||
Bhudeb Mukhopadhay (1827-1894) | 260 | |
Sense of National Identify and Western Influence | ||
Banakimchnadra Chatterjee (1838-1894) | 269 | |
A Bengalee’s Humanity | ||
The Cat | ||
Kaliprasanna Sinha (1840-1870) | 276 | |
The Observant Owl (excerpts) | ||
Shubnath Shastri (Sivanath sastri) (1847-1919) | 300 | |
A History of the Renaissance in Bengal | ||
Ramtanu Lahiri a Reformer (excerpts) | ||
Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) | 307 | |
The Literary in the Scientific | ||
Rabindranath Tagore/ Thakur (1861-1941) | 315 | |
Gora Sense of National Identify (Excerpts) | ||
From Autobiography Pieces | ||
Jibansmriti ( Remembering Life) | ||
Japan-Jatree (traveler to Japan) | ||
Atmaparichory (About Myself) | ||
Chelbela (Boyhood Days) | ||
Gitacharchna (Cultivating Music) | ||
Narrative in Personal letter | ||
Letters from Russia | ||
Crisis in Civilization | ||
Pramatha chaudhuri (1868-948) | 347 | |
The Story of Bengali Literature | ||
Binodini Dasi (1863-1941) | 357 | |
Memoirs of (Actress) Binodini | ||
My story My Life as an Actress (excerpts) | ||
Indira Devi Chaudhurani (1873-1960) | 373 | |
Relationships | ||
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) | 380 | |
The Secluded Ones (excerpts) | ||
S. Wajed Ali (1890-1951) | 385 | |
Bharatbarsha | ||
Jibananada das (1899-1954) | 387 | |
On Poetry (excerpts) | ||
Sudhindranath data (1901-1960) | 392 | |
An Introduction to Rabindranath’s Genius | ||
Copyright Statement | 398 | |
Portraits of Authors | 405 |
Introduction | xiii |
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|
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) | 3 |
On the Sidewalks | |
The Cat | |
Amiya Chakravarty (1901-1986) | 4 |
The Traveler | |
Petition to the Boss | |
1604 University Drive | |
Calcutta | |
Sudhindranath Datta (1901-1960) | 7 |
Antinomies | |
The Vagrant | |
1945 | |
Cyclone | |
Jasim Uddin (1903-1976) | 15 |
The Chariot of Dhamrai | |
Premendra Mitra (1904-1988) | 16 |
The Crow Caws | |
The Soul of Birds | |
Annada Sankar Ray (1904-2002) | 18 |
Difference | |
Remembrance | |
Ajit Data (1907-1979) | 20 |
The Relative | |
The Black Mountain | |
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) | 21 |
To My Unwritten Poems | |
Sonnet of 3 a.m : 1 | |
Sonnet of 3 a.m : 2 | |
Sunday Afternoon | |
The Moment of Liberation | |
Bishnu Dey (1909-1982) | 25 |
My Dreams too are Endless | |
The Alien | |
Water My Roots | |
Of Tagorean Beauty | |
Arun Mitra (1909-2000) | 31 |
These Few Lines | |
In the Stones of Calcutta | |
The March | |
Wayward | |
On the Breast of Nature | |
Ashokbijoy Raha (1910-1990) | 34 |
The Magic Tree | |
Dinesh Das (1913-1987) | 34 |
The Sickle | |
Samar Sen (1916-1985) | 35 |
The Storm | |
Scorched Earth | |
Self-Criticism | |
The Tides | |
Kamakshiprasad Chattopadhay (1917-1976) | 39 |
The Price | |
Subhash Mukhopadhaya (1919-2003) | 40 |
At Every Step | |
At Day’s End | |
Let me Never See | |
Deeper Still | |
Arun Kumar Sarkar (1921-1980) | 44 |
Endless | |
The Horse | |
Nirendranath Chakrabarti (b.1924) | 45 |
Taimur | |
Instead | |
You Fear when you Fear | |
It’s So at times | |
All kinds of Loving | |
Abdul Ghani Hazari (1925-1947) | 49 |
The Heart of the Sahib | |
21st February | |
Sukanta Bhattacharya (1926-1947) | 51 |
Passport | |
To My Dearest | |
Time To Come | |
Rajlakshmi Devi (1927-2006) | 54 |
Disaster | |
The House | |
Mountains | |
Lokenath Bhattaharya (1927-2001) | 56 |
Geometry at Twilight | |
False or True | |
The Absent Hero | |
Not Until | |
Latifi Hilali (b. 1928) | 59 |
On a Solitary Evening | |
Shamsur Rahman (1929-2006) | 60 |
Death Anniversary | |
Pain | |
There was a Door Here | |
Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhay (b.1931) | 63 |
The Cat under the Stairs | |
Friends | |
Gratitude | |
Sankha Ghosh (b.1932) | 65 |
At the Bend of the Road | |
Strom of Desire | |
The Sleep | |
Companion | |
Fallen | |
On that Endless Midnight | |
Oarbeats in the Ribs (excerpts ) | |
Alokernjan Dasgupta (b. 1933) | 71 |
The Meta query | |
Beside the Well | |
Shakti Chattopadhyay (1934-1995) | 73 |
Walks Behind Yet Stays Remote | |
Just Once Try | |
I Can Go But Why Should I | |
Old Grief and New Grief | |
The Darkness of many Centuries | |
Benoy Majumar (1934-2006) | 76 |
Untitled | |
Times Wins | |
Sunil Gangopadhyay (b. 1934) | 78 |
A Case History | |
Inheritance | |
On the Stairs | |
Suddenly for Neera | |
Tarapada Roy (1936-2007) | 82 |
Head Bent | |
That Green Passport | |
Utpal Kumar Basu (b. 1936) | 84 |
Puri Series- 4 | |
Puri Series- 8 | |
Untitled | |
Al Mahmud (b. 1936) | 85 |
In the dark one day | |
Poetry | |
Simple Accusation | |
Nature | |
Vijaya Mukhopadhyay (b. 1937) | 88 |
Ancestor Worship | |
Equation | |
Monday | |
The Ferry Ghat | |
Nabneeta Dev Sen (b. 1938) | 91 |
Memories of a Floral Clock | |
Jungle Story | |
Sometimes Love | |
So Many Crazy Blue Hills | |
Ketaki Kushari Dyson (b. 1940) | 93 |
Adam’s Apple | |
Caravan | |
Mohammad Rafiq (b.1943) | 95 |
Kirtinasha | |
Asad Chowdhury (b. 1943) | 99 |
Lamentation | |
Joy Goswami (b. 1954) | 99 |
In the Evening Sadness Comes | |
An Evening of Rain | |
Things Recalled at Night | |
Ballad of Last Rites | |
Mandakranta Sen (b. 1972) | 103 |
Bengal Seventeenth Century A piece of Family History | |
You | |
The Believer | |
|
|
Parashuram (Rajshekar Bose) (1880-1960) | 107 |
An immortal | |
Banaphul (Balaichand Mukhopadhyay) (1899-1979) | 114 |
In the Same Boat | |
Premendra Mitra (1904-1988) | 117 |
Juthika | |
Prabodh Kumar Sanyal (1905-1983) | 125 |
Deep | |
Satjnath Bhaduri (1906-1965) | 132 |
Patralekha’s Father | |
Manik Bandyopadhyay (1908-1956) | 141 |
Haran’s Grandson-in-law | |
Ahapurana Devi (1909-1994) | 151 |
Izzat | |
Subodh Ghose (1909-1980) | 158 |
Fossil | |
Jyotirindra Nandi (1912-1982) | 170 |
Game | |
Advata Mallabarman (1914-1951) | 174 |
The Boat | |
Kamal Kumar Majumdar (1915-1-79) | 183 |
Extinct Rituals | |
Narendranath Mitra (1916-1975) | 194 |
Truth and Untruth | |
Satyajit Ray (1921-1971) | 201 |
Load Shedding | |
Syed Waliullah (1922-1971) | 207 |
Tale of a Tulsi Plant | |
Samaresh Basu (1924-1988) | 215 |
Adaab | |
Mahasweta Devi (b. 1926) | 222 |
The Divorce | |
Syed Mustafa Siraj (b. 1930) | 227 |
Horse of Death | |
Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay (b.1931) | 237 |
Quick Run | |
Hasan Hafizur Rehman (1932-1983) | 238 |
Two More Deaths | |
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (b. 1935) | 244 |
Look at me | |
Syed Shamsul Haq (b. 1935) | 252 |
Secret Life Public Death | |
Hasan Azizul Huq (b. 1938) | 260 |
Homecoming | |
Dibyendu Palit (b. 1939) | 267 |
The National Flag | |
Bani Basu (b. 1939) | 278 |
She | |
Akhtaruzzaman Ilias (1943-1997) | 289 |
In the Rooftop Room | |
Selina Hossain (b. 1947) | 295 |
Izzat | |
Mabarun Bhattacharya (b. 1948) | 301 |
The Blind cat | |
Abul Bashar (b. 1951) | 307 |
Rebirth | |
Nasreen Jahan (b. 1964) | 312 |
Stranger | |
|
|
Kazi Abdul Wadud (1894-1970) | 325 |
Modern Bengali Literature (excerpts) | |
Mussalmanas of Bengal | |
Satyendrannath Bose (1894-1974) | 332 |
The Scientist’s Plea | |
Dhurjatiprasad Mukerji (1894-1961) | 337 |
Words and Melody | |
Nirmal Kumar Bose (1901-1972) | 341 |
The Structure of Hindu Society (excerpts) | |
Sudhindranth Datta (1901-1960) | 353 |
Utterance and Realization The Tradition of writing in Bengal | |
Syed Muztaba Ali (1904-1974) | 361 |
Chacha’s Story | |
Abu Sayeed Ayyub (1906-1982) | 369 |
Ethics and Aesthetics in Literature | |
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) | 378 |
The Last Journey | |
Samar Sen (1916-1987) | 384 |
A Babau’s Tale (excerpts) | |
Sibnarayan Ray (1921-2008) | 393 |
Bengalee Identity Problem inner Conflict and Tragedy | |
Ashok Mitra (b. 1928) | 398 |
Flavors of Freedom | |
Ashok Rudra (1931-1992) | |
Friendship in Rabindranath’s Love Songs | 403 |
Sankh Ghosh (b. 1932) | 407 |
The Poet’s Intention: The Writer the Writing | |
The Reader (excerpts) | |
Partha Charrerjee (b. 1947) | 415 |
Our Modernity | |
Gautam Bhadra (b. 1948) | 425 |
Bengal’s Dervishes in History’s Trap | |
Nrisinhaprasad Bhaduri (b. 1950) | 440 |
The Island Born Vyasa | |
Manoranjan Byapari (b. early 1950) | 455 |
Dalit Literature In Bangla | |
Taslima Nasrin (b. 1962) | 458 |
Selected Columns | |
Copyright Statement | 461 |
Portraits of Authors | 475 |