Projecting The Ambiance Of The Liberation War Of Bangladesh Through
Select
Contemporary
Fiction: A Critical Study
PhD
Synopsis
Submitted
by
Javid
Ahmad Reshi
To
Department
of English
Aligarh
Muslim University
Aligarh
202002
Tentative Title:
Projecting Ambiance Of The Liberation War Of Bangladesh Through The
Select Contemporary Fiction: A Critical Study
Introduction:
Literature from antiquity till present day has been reflecting the
outside phenomenal world. From world across, if we see the history of the
tradition of literature, we won't fail to notice this fact that it has
always been deeply in sync with the human history. Literature, like a
shadow, has travelled the same roads as mankind has, touching deeply upon
its every aspect. There is no denial of the fact either that literature
since its inception has evolved as an interdisciplinary field of sudies.
Its indepth nexus with history, polity, philosophy etc has endowed it with
unparalleled dynamics.The perpetuity and remarkable bond literature has
always endowed, is with history. Be it Homer's Iliad or Vayasa's
Mahabarata, historical plays of the Elizabethan era or the Biblical
infexion during the 17th century, the heroic plays of 18th century or the broadening canvas of 20th century; history has been unremitingly manifsting itself in
the field of literary studies. Along the same lines do we see the picture
of Bangladeshi literature being portrayed.
The formation of Bangladesh is a very recent phenomenon in the modern day
history. As an indepent nation it was not spared with a peaceful epoch,
which couled have been manifested in its literature. Its wounds are still
green. Therefore what it has to narrate are the pangs of inhuman violence
following The Liberation War of 1971 which swallowed a major chunk of its
population. This war has become a dominant theme of Bangladeshi
literature, overshadowing other aspects. Writers have started engaging
with it actively in the litrary spaces, giving rise to a new body of
literature there.
Before becoming an independent nation, Bangladesh was a part of
British-India known as Bengal. With the partition of British-India and the
formation of Pakistan in 1947, Bengal was divided into East-Bengal and
West-Bengal on the basis of religion. East-Bengal, with its Muslim
majority was formed into East-Pakistan and West-Bengal with its Hindu
majority remained with India. It was only after the rise of Bengali
nationalist and free determination movement, due to the ehnic and
linguistic discrimination and the stepmotherly treatment of what was then
East-Pakistan by the more dominant West wing and the consequent Liberation
War of 1971 that the present day Independent People's Republic Of
Bangladesh came into existence. According to the Indian and Bangladeshi
sources this war devoured up to 3 million lives and displaced 30 million
people internally. However, the other side has denied the no's as a
hyperbolic statement. The war began due the Operation Searchlight launched
by the Pakistani Military Junta against the people of East-Pakistan on the
night of 25th March 1971, resulting into a nine-month long war which ended only
after “the Instrument Of Surrender” signed by Gen. A.A.K Niazi on 16th of Dec. 1971.
We Know that there
is no good-war, doesn't matter whatever the circumstances, a war can never
be justified. Every war is accompanied by the horrors, the loss of lives,
trauma, rape, bloodshed. In war everything is reduced either to an enemy
or to a target. Similarly The Liberation War of 1971 has left a scathing
memory, a good number of lives lost, a huge bloodshed, compelling
Bangladeshi writers to narrate the horrors of this unprecedented war in
the history of their nation. Bangladesh's literature has noted a deep
impression of this War of Independence.The best part of its narratives
have been written only in the in the regional language of
Bangladesh, that is why the world is yet to know the severity of its
trauma, the actual gain and loss through this war. Before the war took
place Bangladeshi litrature engaged with other socio-cultural and
religious themes.
The genesis of Bangladeshi novel lie deep in the Bengali novel, about
which Ananda Sanker and Lila Ray write, “When the novel was introduced in
Bengali in the middle of the 19th century, the form itself was new, the prose in which it was written
was new, the secular tone was new in a country hitherto wholly dominated
by religion, and the society in which and for which it was written was
new”.(P.168) But after the novelists like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay,
Rabindra Nath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, sarat
Chandra Chattopahyay leapt on the stage, the newly introduced genre was
developed with such dexterity that soon it became ‘mature'. But all these
literary activities took place in Calcutta. The literature of Bangladesh
fell almost 50 years behind the Bengali novels. It flourished only later
with notable success.
Initially Bangladeshi novels were dominated by the religious themes but
later on attention was paid to the real Bangali life. But with the advent
of Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, a great number of novels
depicting its horrors and the post-war disillusionment followed. Among
others, Anwar Pasha, Shaukat Osman, Selina Hossain, Mahmudul Haq, Anisul
Haque, Syed shamsul Haq, Humayun Ahmad, Rashid Haider, Harun Habib, Rabiya
khatun etc are the notable names with this theme.
The aim of the present work is to deal with such (select) contemporary
novels written or translated into English, and to analyze the effects of
Liberatiion War on the people of Bangladesh and its literature. How
has it shaped the present Bangladeshi literature. What experience have
Bangladeshi women and children lived. What differences does fiction
narrate between pre-war and post-war Bangladesh. What role does Nation and
fiction play for each other during the time of crisis?
One such novelist whose works have actively engaged with the Liberation
war is Anisul hoque. Born on 4th of March 1965 in Rangpur, this Bangladeshi author, screenwriter,
novelist, dramatist and journalist has witnessed so beautifully the pain
and trauma of Liberation war in his writings in general and in his novel
Maa,2003 in particular. An English translation of this novel titled
‘Freedom's Mother' was published by Palimpsest from New Delhi in 2012.
Magfar Ahmed Chowdhury aka Azad and his mother Shafia Begum mirror the
brutality of this war. He is caught up by Pakistan army on 29th Aug 1971, and tortured brutally and martyred. His mother Shafia
carries on searching for him, but his dead body is not found. The Indian
Express noted the release of its English translation and described the
book as, “Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh war, it is a
compelling story of love and betrayal and the human cost of
conflict.”
Another novel ‘A Golden Age, 2007' is a debut novel by a Bangladeshi born
British writer Tahmima Anam (born 08 Oct 1975). It tells the story of same
war through the eyes of one family. Rehana haque, the protagonist of the
novel, loses the custody of her children and their involvement in the war
after her husband's death. Her son joins the Mukti Bahini and her daughter
reports from the Calcutta. This is the story of a mother who is pulverized
between the love of her children and her allegiance to the freedom
struggle of her nation.
‘Rashed, My Friend' is the English translation of ‘Amer Bondhu Rashed' by
Mohammad Zafar Iqbal translated by his daughter Yeshim Iqbal. The book
covers the story of a boy named Ibu in the Liberation War. The main
character (Rashed) who initially calls himself Laddu, after many
complications is named by his teacher. Compared to his school friends he
is very conscious about the Liberation movement. One day, after the
Pakistani army attacks the town, Rashed witnesses the battle. He and his
friends help the Mukti Bahini and he gradually gets involved with the war
and is consequently martyred.
‘The Mercenary' is an English translation of ‘Kobej Lethel' (1993) by
Moinul Ahsan Saber, translated by Shabnam Nadiya. Born on 26th of May 1958, Saber is a Bangladeshi fiction writer. His book ‘The
Mercenary' revolves around the story of an eponymous character named Kobej
Lethel and his witnessing of the killing and the deadly violence which
shapes him and which he can not escape.
One more novel which draws on the same lines is ‘The Search', an English
translation of Shaheen Akhtar's second novel ‘Talaash', by Illa Dutta.
This story is a vivid depiction of the impact of war on women. It displays
through Mariam, the helplessness, pain, hurt, trauma which women undergo
during the time of crisis. It is a heart wrenching story set against the
backdrop of the Liberation War of 1971.
Objectives:
The
aim of this research is to study the select works of Bangladeshi writers,
set against the backdrop of the Liberation War of 1971. And to tackle the
following research questions:
How has the Liberation War of 1971 been depicted in the contemporary
Bangladeshi fiction?
How has the Liberation War of 1971 contributed into the post-war
disillusionment and trauma?
What role did women play in Freedom struggle of Bangladesh?
How does the contemporary fiction witness this war as a grand celebration
on the body of Bangladeshi women?
Methodology:
The
methodology to be followed in this proposed research will be qualitative
in nature. A deep critical study of the primary and the relevant secondary
material available on the writers and their select works will be done in
order to serve the purpose of this work.
Tentaive Chapterization:
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