Book Review: ‘Bangladesh: A Literary Journey Through 50 Short Stories’ edited by Rifat Munim
The HinduPublished : Jul 27, 2023 11:00 IST - 4 MINS READ Bangladesh is a work of love. Bangladesh: A Literary Journey Through 50 Short Stories Edited by Rifat Munim Bee Books Pages: 608 Price: Rs.850 The book compiles the English-language translations of 50 short stories by authors ranging from older literary giants like Syed Waliullah, Syed Mujtaba Ali, Shawkat Ali, and Kayes Ahmed to contemporary writers like Shahaduz Zaman, Imtiar Shamim, Harishankar Jaladas, and Prashanta Mridha, who have their individual cult followings beyond the border. As a continuation of the excellent translation work once spearheaded by the Dhaka literary magazine Bengal Lights, Munim has drawn together a team of 28 translators from across India and Bangladesh to put in inconceivable effort to bring these translations to print. The stories by Shawkat Ali, Imtiar Shamim, Afsana Begum, and Dipen Bhattacharya have been translated into fluid prose by the editor Rifat Munim himself; those by Shawkat Osman, Mamun Hussain, Kayes Ahmed, and Shushanto Majumdar have been translated by Parveen K. Elias, who has preserved their distinctive voices through a clear translation style which makes them more engaging. “At 608 pages, it is a hefty royal-sized tome, and definitely not recommended for casual reading on public transport.” It prompts a long, hard think about what constitutes literary “culture” in the first place.
History of this topic
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