Enriching reading habit, new writers' emergence

A full-scale and satisfactory process of reading does not involve books and readers only. In the task of making one engage with books, be they of literature, philosophy, history or science, good readers are required to come through a series of phases. In the early years during the readers' formative days, everything around them lies in a mess. Many of them need a convenient atmosphere or proper guides who can enable them to pick the right books or periodicals. In the growth of the present-day readers, periodicals, magazines, journals etc play a critical role in shaping a young reader's mind. Coming to reading materials, there are many; which are assorted in nature. A passionate reader of the future cannot overlook them.

Even an apparently romantic fiction by Nikos Kazantzakis or one by Lawrence Durrell demands that an inquisitive reader be well versed on the rural Greece or the vibrant Egyptian city of Alexandria respectively. Many good fictions, for that matter all books, require added reading. In the present times, guides to fictions are nothing unusual --- especially for serious readers. While going through Agatha Christie or Stephen King, the seasoned, or even casual, reader may not need one. While going through the memoirs or autobiographies of the giant figures like Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Pablo Neruda et al. many persons well-versed in politics and literature may not need annotations. But those might deem essential for some while reading James Joyce's experimental fiction 'Ulysses'.

There are a few historical novels in Bangla which prove highly enjoyable if an avid reader is aware of the history of the 19th century Bengal. However, an amateur reader doesn't miss the magic of the two-part 'Shei Somoy' by Sunil Ganguly thanks to the books' pictorial and lucid prose. Reading added texts to get the full taste of a book may be considered standing in the way of getting the pleasure of reading. In that case, however, many skip the guidebooks. It is optional. While reading 'Home in the World', the recently published autobiography of economist Amartya Sen , even a sketchy idea about the early Old Dhaka and Tagore's Shantiniketan might help readers enjoy the book's charm. In fact, serious reading necessitates many other prerequisites. Coming to pure literature, journals and added publications meet these needs. The modern Bangla literature is fortunate enough to have seen its emergence along with a number of literary magazines. Following the era centring round Rabindranath Tagore, the poets and prose writers began emerging in the 1930s and the 1940s. These two decades occupy a major place in the literature growing in Kolkata and Dhaka. It's worth mentioning that the modern Bangla literature had its golden times in the two decades mentioned earlier. Those decades saw the publication of a dozen of Bangla literary magazines, most of them monthly. Of them, the periodicals which stood out included 'Kobita', 'Progoti', 'Kollol', 'Kali-Kolom', 'Shonibarer Chithi' etc.

In the 1950s, Dhaka became another centre of Bangla literature in its capacity as the capital of East Bengal or East Pakistan. Kolkata had already been enriched with a rich legacy of literature. Dhaka had to engage in a protracted struggle to grow from the scratch, with no literary movements, and fresh young editors at the helm of new magazines. Amazingly, East Bengal had already started witnessing the emergence of new batches of poets, short story writers, novelists and essayists. A number of writers had also migrated from West Bengal. Thus Dhaka began seeing the new setting of a distinctive literary environment. By the mid-1960s, the fast expanding literary landscape saw the publication of a few journals and magazines. They included 'Samakal' (edited by Sikandar Abu Zafar), 'Ogotya' (edited by Fazle Lohani) and a few short-lived ones. Thanks to the emergence of new batches of poets and short story writers, the Dhaka journals didn't have to look to Kolkata for new literary outputs.

The ground had already been created by Hasan Hafizur Rahman, the poet who edited 'Ekushey February', the first anthology commemorating the bloodied Language Movement, 1952, in Dhaka. In fact, this very publication (1953) pioneered the trend of literary journals in Bangladesh. It's also worth noting that the 1953 Ekushey commemorative magazine sparked the tradition of bringing out these journals on the 21st February every year. Those were not regular literary magazines. On this count, they could be called yearly publications. Credits go to Poet Hasan Hafizur Rahman for introducing this literary trend in Bangladesh. In five years, the decade of the 1950s saw the publication of a few purely literary magazines in Dhaka. Those were welcomed as the voice of the writers backing the 'new literature' in East Bengal. In this regard, the anthology called 'Notun Kobita' deserves special mention. Containing the works of the major representatives of Dhaka poetry, it played a great role in the establishment of East Bengal poems on a firm footing. The poets included Shamsur Rahman, Sikandar Abu Zafar, Al Mahmud, Shaheed Qadri, Syed Shamsul Huq, Alauddin Al Azad, Hasan Hafizur Rahman, Fazal Shahabuddin, Borhan Uddin Khan Jahangir, Habibur Rahman and a lot of others. Many of the latter didn't continue writing.

The anthology titled 'Notun Kobita' identified a vacuum in the Dhaka literary scene. It had pointed out the absence of literary journals representing the poets and prose writers who entered the Dhaka literary landscape in the decade of the 1950s. 'Samakal', edited by Sikandar Abu Zafar, would take almost a decade to come out as a monthly journal. The decade of the 1950s was about to peter out, when Shamsur Rahman and Fazal Shahabuddin felt the urgency of a poetry journal, which would promote the interests of the poets belonging to the group of the fifties. Thus the maiden poetry magazine was published from East Bengal. It was called 'Kobikontho'.

The literary activities of a time cannot progress much, unless it is shaped and promoted by the period's journals and magazines. This is a universal rule. Perhaps, in accordance with it, the following literary decades didn't have to wait longer to find their platforms. The desperate struggles for literary mouthpieces began in earnest in the 1960s. This very decade saw the birth of a literary movement called 'The Sad Generation'. Its voices were 'Kanthaswar' edited by Abdullah Abu Sayeed; and 'Swakkhar', a short-lived little magazine edited by the poets of the sixties by turn. These two were joined by 'Samprotik', edited by Aminul Islam Bedu and Sikdar Aminul Haq. The decade of the sixties didn't see as many literary journals and little magazines as had been seen by the post-Liberation War literary scene in Dhaka. The decade of the 1970s was one of dozens of neatly edited and produced literary journals. Some of them continued for 10-12 years, while many just flashed for a couple of years.

The magazine which opened the decade was 'Kaak', edited by Salahuddin Zaki. In a few years, the capital of Bangladesh saw the appearance of magazines one after another. They included 'Kalpurush', 'Kalsrote', 'Choturmatra', 'Charitra', 'Shilpakala' etc and dozens published from the district headquarters like Chattogram, Bogra and Rajshahi. Of these three districts, the former two offered Bangladesh the magazines such as 'Ochira' and 'Biprotik'. In general, a similar picture prevailed in the decades up to the early 21st century.

Besides journals and little magazines, occasional essays and criticism also help readers understand the authors of a period. Bangladesh still has a dearth of critical works and related write-ups on its major authors. Biographies and autobiographical works sometimes help in cases. In the job of literary appreciation and understanding authors, auxiliary publications play a great role.

shihabskr@ymail.com