1st Edition
Selected Writings of Shyamal Kumar Pramanik Dalit Literature from Bangla
Shyamal Kumar Pramanik is one of the most powerful writers of the Bangla Dalit literary movement. His evocative fictional world throws into relief the lives of the downtrodden in in contemporary India. This volume brings his fiction to a new readership by presenting English translations of a selection of his most powerful stories.
This book is part of the Voices from the Margins series, which seeks to enhance the visibility of literary texts and traditions from various Indian languages and also to bring Dalit literature to the center stage. Pramanik focuses extensively on lives and lifestyles of the people in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and an ecologically fragile zone. Drawn from personal experience, many of these stories paint in vivid colors the deprivations that define life in this part of the world. His fiction highlights the workings of caste.. The translations in this anthology are buttressed by an interview with the writer which includes his reflections on his life, society, and his writings, opening up new possibilities of understanding his work in its larger social context. The book also creates an academic framework within which Pramanik’s fiction can be read and critically analyzed.
This critical edition will be of interest to students and researchers of comparative literature, South Asian literature and culture, modern Indian literature, Dalit studies, culture, history, and sociology.
1. Introduction
2. Bhajahari and his Family
3. In Dakshin Rai’s Land
4. Champaburi, or the Story of a Village
5. Nibaran Mandal’s Tale
6. Untouchable
7. Hariram
8. Surjakanta and his Nimpur Village
9. Charak Mela
10. Homeland
11. Life in the Forest
12. Darkness
13. Unforgiving Time
14. Primitive Even Today
15. Life and Death of Love
16. Lakhi of Lakhimpur
17. The Verdict of Time
18. Fourth Bharatvarsha
19. Survival
20. Tom Uncle’s Dream
21. Time for a Revolution
22. Interview with Shyamal Kumar Pramanik
Index
Biography
Shyamal Kumar Pramanik (b. 1959) is one of the foremost writers of Bangla Dalit literature. A first-generation literate, he has an MA in History and retired from Reserve Bank of India. He writes short stories, novels and poetry. Caste remains one of the abiding concerns of his fiction. He was instrumental in setting up the Bangla Dalit Sahitya Sanstha and its publication wing, Chaturtha Duniya. His collections of short stories include Rupnarayaner Majhi (1982), Khilipaner Meye (1996), Akalmegher Katha (2002), Nibaran Mondaler Upakhyan (2007), Chaturtha Bharatbarsha (2014), and Shambuk O Anyanya Galpo (2021). Pramanik is also author of two novels, Basat Hariye Jay (2005) and Baikunthapurer Katha (2017), and several poetry anthologies such as Roudra Jhorechhe (1992), Kakhono Akash, Kakhono Mati (1994), Shono, Eikhane Rekhe Gelam (1996), Aguner Barnamala (2000), Bipanno Dinguli Hete Ashe (2004), Bhango Pathor Bhange (2007), He Kalbelar Prohor Shakshi (2012), Jakhon Astitwa Bipanna (2016), and Kobe Abar Gaibo Swadhinatar Gaan (2021). He has also authored two research-based books, Poundradesh OJatir Itihas (1998) and Paschimbanger Tapashili Jati O Adivasi (2017).
Sayantan Dasgupta teaches Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University and is Coordinator of the Centre for Translation of Indian Literatures there. He is currently Joint Director, School of Media, Communication, and Culture at Jadavpur University, and was till recently, member, Advisory Board (English), Sahitya Akademi. He is also secretary of the Comparative Literature Association of India, and EC member, International Comparative Literature Association. He currently edits the Jadavpur Journal of Comparative Literature. His latest publications are the edited volumes, Writings from the Sundarbans (co-edited; Orient Blackswan, 2023) Celebrating the City: Kolkata in Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi, 2021) and Dalit Lekhika: Women’s Writing from Bengal (co-edited; Stree, 2020). He is also editor of A South Asian Nationalism Reader and author of books such as Indian English Literature: A Study in Historiography and Shyam Selvadurai: Texts and Contexts.
