Libraries at the foreign cultural centres in Dhaka

Alliance Française has branches in Dhanmondi and Gulshan in Dhaka and Chattogram. Their library, named after the celebrated science fiction author, has books almost similar in number to the Archer K Blood American Center Library in their chief branch at Dhanmondi. 

Here, one will catch sight of some Bengali translation works of Bangladeshi and Indian origin. However, many of those translations are not allowed, i.e., the publishers didn't get due consent from the original publishers in France or infringed on the copyright of the original authors or their legal successors. 

'When purchased in bulk, it's not always possible to set aside those,' said Sohana, a former librarian.

Nevertheless, a few are legally translated. One is Oporichito (L'Étranger)by Albert Camus, translated by Pabitra Sengupta and published by Ebong Mushaira. There can also be seen a French poetry anthology in Bengali, Onno Jolobatash Onno Dhew, by the renowned French translator from West Bengal, India, Chinmoy Guha; two others by him, La Rochefoucauld's Maxim and Gustave Flaubert's Ahammoker Obhidhan (Le Dictionnaire des Idées Reçues). Noroke Ak Ritu (Une Saison en Enfer) by Arthur Rimbaud and rendered by Loknath Bhattacharya, the Kolkata poet and translator, published by the prestigious French publishing house Gallimard. 

The shelved volumes of Le Grand Robert's dictionary will entice any language enthusiast. Joëlle Jolivet illustrates Karthika Nair's retold folk story of Bonbibi of Sundarban in Le Tigre de Miel. Shamim Azad has translated this book, Modhu Shikari, a permitted translation work published by The University Press Limited (UPL). 

Publishing in collaboration with foreign cultural centres is quite rare in Bangladesh. Shomokalin Forashi Kobita (Contemporary French Poetry) was such a good attempt. The tiny anthology was translated by Mahmud Shah Qureshi, Gurupada Chakraborty, Mainuddin Khaled and Shishir Bhattacharya and illustrated gracefully by Asadul Asgar. 

The dedication page reads, 'In memory of Bengali and French soldiers in the Battle of Plassey',' signifying the translator's history consciousness in the late twentieth century. 

Another is Charles Perrault-r Golpo, three fairy tales by the 17th-century French poet that seem out of print. 

Satyajit Ray was amazed at Noazesh Ahmed and Naib Uddin Ahmed's photo album on Bangladesh, Bangladesh. That out-of-print book was found in a somewhat chaotic condition. Any sane book publishing industry would crave republishing such a masterpiece. 

To the right, at the entrance of the cultural centre's gallery, a watchful bibliophile might notice a shadowed bookcase. It contains photo albums from the likes of Thames & Hudson. A young American girl with a flower in hand against rifles during the anti-Vietnam War march—the widely known photo was captured by the same Marc Riboud who also covered the Liberation War of Bangladesh. 

The case contains two of his albums. One can exploit the resources with 2500 taka per year. Without membership, reading for long periods sitting at the place or borrowing books is not approved. According to the librarian Naziba, there are 120 registered library members. 

Goethe-Institut Bibliothek

This is also (temporarily) situated at Dhanmondi inside DrikPath Bhaban. The German cultural centre has a relatively tiny collection of books. The librarian stated that the sale of a big chunk from the previous collection was the reason behind its size. Until July 31 this year, one can enjoy free membership in the institute. Usually, it is 1000 taka per annum and 800 for half a year. 

The library, however, boasts a small but enriched collection. This includes Brigid Haines and Lyn Marven's The Political Writings of Karl Marx, Herta Müller (a critical companion to the Nobel winner's oeuvre), Mother Steals a Bicycle, and other stories by Salai Selvam.

Few German language learning books include two rare dictionaries by Nabinchandra Ghose, one German to Bengali and another Bengali to German—the only German dictionaries for the Bengali language. 

Another note is Der, Die, Das: The Secrets of German Gender by Constantin Vayenas, a valuable resource for beginners who invariably fail to understand German verbs. You can also borrow DVDs of German movies with English subtitles. A user can borrow ten books at most. 

Iran cultural centre

The street by which this centre was relocated two years ago is opposite the house where Bangabandhu once lived. Compared to Western cultural centres, it has a rather old collection that needs to be updated. One might strain to find some useful and beautiful ones anyway. 

These include The Garden of Iranian Arts, compiled by Jafar Kooshesh Khajooei, A Decade with Painters of the Islamic Revolution (1979-1989), Islam o Iraner Paroshporik Obodan (Mutual Exchange Between Islam and Iran) by Shahid Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahhari, Ekoda Ek Shomoy (Once Upon a Time), the first short story anthology of modern Persian literature by Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh and translated by Abdus Sabur Khan alias Shakir Sabur, Diwan-e-Imam by Imam Khomeini and translated by Dr. Muhammad Isa Shahedi, Iran and Iranians by Vivian C Wood, Farsi Shahitter Itihash (History of Persian Literature) by Ahmad Tamimdari and translated by Tarik Ziaur Rahman and Muhammad Isa Shahedi, The Security and Ethics in The Iranian Family, and now-out-of-print Bangla Academy Arbi-Bangla Obhidhan (Bangla Academy Arabic-Bengali Dictionary), etc. Regular newsletters are published by the cultural centre that conveys unheard news of Iran and its culture elsewhere.

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