Caught in turbulence

LOVERS OF literature in West Bengal do not profess any notable interest for what is written in Bangladesh. A popular novelist like Humayun Ahmed has some readers on the Indian side but serious writers are generally ignored. In this indifferent setup, the only exception is perhaps Akhtaruzzaman Elias who has won recognition bordering on reverence in West Bengal. Hence this English monograph on this remarkable writer - the first to be published - is important because it would draw the attention of those who do not limit themselves to Bengali. Moreover, Elias deserves such a monograph because many regard him as the most powerful novelist to have emerged in the Bengali literary world after Manik Bandyopadyay.

Yet, he did not live long and did not write much. His creative journey began in 1976 with the publication of a slim volume of short stories Another Voice in Another Room and ended in 1997 with the publication of another volume False Dream. His oeuvre is really small - two novels, six collections of short stories and one book of critical essays. But all these capture the turbulent history of his country in imaginative terms with unerring accuracy.

Bangladesh attained freedom on December 16, 1971, but this was not followed by political stability. In fact, since the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman in 1975 it has passed from one political crisis to another. The result is severe economic downside. Economist Abu Mahmud, who teaches at Dhaka University, confirms that 80 per cent of the agriculturists in Bangladesh survive as sharecroppers or landless labourers. Moreover, the entire economic power in the countryside is in the hands of one per cent who are all-too-eager to exploit. Add to this the crushing impact of foreign capital and the social control exercised by the Ulemas and you have a country mired in hopeless chaos. Elias recreated this atmosphere of stagnant and sterile reality in his texts. But at the same time he did not remain a slave to this scenario. He dreamt of a classless redemption which he thought would emerge from this reality.

Dasgupta has examined this admirable tension between dream and reality in Elias' creativity and shown how it acts as the inspiring leitmotif. Interestingly, the critic has begun his evaluation by analysing the poems of Elias which have not brought him fame. But, after posing the question, "Is there an intrinsic link between these four poems which occupy no more than four pages and prose which crosses a thousand?" he has convincingly described how the seeds of Elias' brilliant creativity were embedded in his verse.

In the next chapter, the critic has focussed on the short stories which unravel with merciless despair the apathy and sloth of post-liberation Bangladesh. One can well-nigh use the word history in this context because these stories recreate the actual elegy that negated the aspiration roused by the liberation - the bitter souring of the dream. Dasgupta has analysed the stories carefully to underline how the writer was swayed by contrary emotions while writing these. At one point he was frantically angry, at another he was agonisingly indifferent. These stories, above all, reveal that Elias followed the footsteps of Manik Bandyopadhyay and, like him, he was also stubbornly opposed to the cruel status quo. In the words of his critic, "A meticulous transcriber of the prevailing political reality, Elias, in his short stories as in his novels, underlined the semi-fascist nature of the state apparatus."

Elias aspired to capture five decades (1940s to 1990s) of his tormented homeland within a broad and multi-layered canvas and this he could do best in his two unforgettable novels - Chilekothat Sepai (Sentry of the Attic) and Khowabnama (Dream- Elegy). While the first portrays the political resurgence which led to the war of liberation in 1971, the second depicts the turmoil of Partition-politics in a village in East Bengal in the 1940s. Indeed, the second (Khowabnama) has already become a classic by invoking the revolts of the past - Sanyasi and Fakir uprisings in the 18th Century - and linking these with the historic Tebhaga movement of the 1940s. There is no doubt that Elias swore allegiance to the oppressed and that is why he condemned the Partition of Bengal as a ploy to deceive the exploited, both Hindu and Muslim. Both these novels attest to Elias' abiding faith in Marxism. Stressing the worth of this ideological core, Dasgupta correctly observes, "Elias' Marxism is much more rigorous than bourgeois Thomas Mann's socialism... he applies his own ideology to trace his own redemptive elegy which is different from primarily humanistic ends."

In two other chapters, the critic has analysed Elias' worldview and the reactions of readers and publishers to his wok. These are followed by four illuminating Appendices which include letters written by Elias, and heartfelt tributes penned by the two illustrious writers - Mahasweta Devi and Hasan Azizul Haque.

There is no doubt that Dasgupta has laboured a lot to produce this incisive and comprehensive monograph on a writer who deserves even more critical acclaim. Perhaps, Dasgupta could have devoted one more chapter on Elias the critic. Elias can also be approached from the historical perspective - that is, viewing his texts as running parallel to the history of Bangladesh or former East Bengal/ East Pakistan. Will Dasgupta attempt this later and pay his second homage to a great writer who left us four years ago?

SOUMITRA BASU

Elegy and Dream - Akhtaruzzaman Elias' Creative Commitment, Subhoranjan Dasgupta, Published on behalf of Maulana Abul Kalam Institute of Asian Studies by Shipra Publications, New Delhi, Rs. 295.

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