Thursday 2 June 2011

Bangla Women Writers

Despite having read and reviewed scores of collections of women’s writings over the years (and recently edited one myself), I approach every new collection with some mistrust. I like to believe that good writing is or should be androgynous; therefore the very notion of women’s writing as a separate entity is something I still need to grapple with.  Most editors of such anthologies work on the premise that the authors they have selected somehow work under a double handicap – by virtue of being women, and women who write – and therefore deserve a special space, a reservation of sorts. Such an assumption, I feel, is unfailingly unfair to the writers whose cause they set out to espouse for it works on the premise that women’s writing not only occupies a separate sphere of writing but also has a different purpose, different that is from men. Time and circumstance might compel women to dwell on certain issues, but certainly women’s writing need not be only about women or of interest to women readers alone. Rarely does one come across an anthology of women’s writing that serves a larger cause, that of constructing women’s literary history virtually from scratch and that too in a sphere so circumscribed by religious and linguistic differences as that occupied by Bengali Muslim women over a century ago.

Women in Concert packs a triple whammy; its sub-title reads An Anthology of Bengali Muslim Women’s Writings, 1904-1938. There is a fourth one too, albeit hidden, in the fact that the book is a translation of the Bengali original called Zenana Mehfil: Bangali Musalman Lekhikader Nirbachita Rachna, published by STREE in 1998. What sets it apart from other collections of women’s writings is precisely the time and circumstances of its contributors. Beginning in the early 20th century when it was difficult for Muslim girls to get a secular education in Bengali and English-medium education was still a far cry for women, this collection not only opens a window into lives seldom glimpsed through the screens of the zenana but also documents the changes brought about in the social and cultural position of Muslim women over a few decades in Bengal. For me, personally, it was this change in the lives of women over a relatively short period of time that was as much, if not more interesting than the literary history unraveling through the extracts chosen by Shaheen Akhtar and Moushumi Bhowmik, the two editors from the two sides of the West Bengal-Bangladesh border.

Bengali Muslim writers, all of whom happen to be women, writing in the early decades of the 20th century, negotiating with modernity and nationalism, speaking of radical feminist concerns often from behind the veil, making a call for freedom and equal opportunities having pulled themselves out of the mire of disadvantage, exhorting their sisters to wake up from long centuries of sleep, the writers included here do all this and more with guts and gumption. Writing in dobhashi Bengali, with its liberal sprinkling of Arabic and Persian, they reveal how linguistic, cultural and religious differences can mutate to produce hybrid writings that meet the needs of a cross-fertilized society.

First published in Saugat or Nabanoor, journals that promoted Muslim writers in Bengal, they had a secular nationalistic agenda. The women writers included here traversed a rough terrain, crisscrossed as it was by the sometimes conciliatory sometimes provocative discourses that ebbed and flowed all around them. Were they to listen to the call of Pan-Islamism that popular poets like Kazi Nazrul Islam voiced in paeans to Kemal Ataturk? Or were they to heed the growing Muslim Bengali intelligentsia who wrote vigorously in support of the nation-building process that was already underway across the breadth of undivided India? Were they to write only of and for a sisterhood of women and Bengali Muslim ones at that? Or were they to espouse concerns outside the home or the village?

The editors of this anthology have showcased writers who listened to the many voices but interpreted them in their own unique way. The canonical writing of Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein showed the way for many of these women. Born in a zamindar’s family, denied any formal education, married to a widower in Bihar at the age of 16, she taught herself Bengali, English as well as Persian, Arabic and Urdu. She wrote prolifically and passionately, hitting out at society as well as religious beliefs that kept women enslaved. An early feminist, she wrote a collection of essays entitled Motichur where she speaks out not only against ornaments, fripperies and other female vanities but also against those men who profess love: ‘They [men] imprison us in the cages of their hearts, depriving us of the ray of knowledge and pure air, thereby pushing us towards a slow death.’

Seclusion, in some form or the other, forms a sub-text for the entire collection. Begum Rokeya herself observed purdah and wrote passionately in defence of her choice to wear the burqa, a garment decreed ‘reprehensible’ by her more liberated sisters.  Abul Fazl, a writer and critic, reviewing the pathos-laden inner world of Akhtar Mahal Syeda Khatun (1901-28) notes:
‘There are many difficulties in the way of writing Muslim fiction. The main among these is the custom of seclusion. While it exists, it is doubtful whether any major creative work in fiction by Muslim authors is possible. The lives of men and women is (sic) the foundation of literature – there is no way for Muslim writers of either sex to find out about each others’ lives. Their vision bounces off from the high walls surrounding them.’

But these high walls began to crumble when education, especially secular education in Bengali, began to make inroads into women’s lives. Mahmuda Khatun Siddiqua (1906-1977), defied both purdah and child marriage, wore her hair short, worked for the swadeshi movement and urged women to look outwards. In an essay entitled “A Women’s Responsibility Towards the Village Community’ she uses a quote from the Holy Quran to bolster her argument: “If you want to satisfy me, then satisfy the poor and deprived people.’

In the end, there is Sufia Kamal who played Boswell to Begum Rokeya’s Johnson but also charted out a new trajectory for young Muslim Bengali women, one that would take them on the path of nationalism. She wrote powerful poetry in support of Bangla during the Language Movement of 1952, protested when the East Bengal government banned celebrations of Tagore’s birth centenary and worked untiringly for the women’s movement. Her inclusion in Women in Concert is valuable for it brings an altogether new and wonderful meaning to a zenana mehfil.


Women in Concert: An Anthology of Bengali Muslim Women’s Writings (1904-1938), edited by Shaheen Akhtar and Moushumi Bhowmik, Translated by STREE, Foreword by Firdous Azim, STREE, 2008, pp 395, Rs 600

RAKHSHANDA JALIL
(Rakhshanda Jalil writes on issues of literature, culture and community. She has recently co-authored Journey to a Holy Land: A Pilgrim’s Diary, OUP, 2009)

15 comments:

  1. What about Sayeeda Monowara Khatun(1909-1981)'s autobiography 'Smriteer Paata' ? She was from Jessore, an expert in Khadi, embroidery & beautiful writings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are many writing services are available online but only few are genuine and available for affordable price. If you choose cheap essay writing service you can save your money and score good grade. But you should select the reliablecheap essay writing serviceservice for your paper, because scams and fakes are also simultaneously working online.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Jalil for talking about Bangla womens writers. You also talk Bangla Muslim women writers information. They are really great writer. I read here many rare information about bangla writers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Writing is a great field and i would suggest all those people whose writing skills are good just apply here http://www.academicghostwriter.org/hire-dissertation-ghostwriter/.Your post is really nice.Brilliant effort.

    ReplyDelete
  5. There are many kind of culture such one are helpful for the good use of mind and perfection. The source of Hindustani culture is rich one as there are many kind of people with different living styles. This also seen in helpful linkfor need.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good personal statement can be persuade to reader and checker.So, its very necessary for students to write effective personal statement. If you are interested so read this post. Hope so, you'll get exactly what you want.

    ReplyDelete
  7. There are lots of type of lifestyle this read here kind of 1 tend to be ideal for the great utilization of thoughts as well as excellence. The origin associated with Hindustani lifestyle is actually wealthy 1 because there are lots of type of individuals with various residing designs.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pleasant blog, Here you give the well information about the books. What's more, as wellspring of conveying data to the understudies. We can give writing in a wellspring of keeping in touch with the understudies. The explore the details is the best for the all level of understudies.

    ReplyDelete
  9. There are many Bangladeshi woman writers always write there book in Bangla language. This is really great information for those women writers. By read this information every women writer can improve there writing skill. You can visit here to get help from our noun checker services. Thanks for sharing helpful article.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now a days Bangla woman writers doing excellent job in writing section. Here author provided very good information about woman's writer. This information should make inspiration of Bangladeshi woman's to writing best content or book. Also you can visit here to know about our paraphrasing services. Thanks for sharing helpful information.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I usually used to have many problems while applying water colors any picture or sketch on this website, being an amateur guy this blog was actually helpful to make grow my interest.

    ReplyDelete
  12. There are lots of composing providers can be found on the internet however just couple of tend to be real as well as readily available for inexpensive cost. Should you select inexpensive composition composing support you are able to save your valuable cash as well as rating great quality. More information http://www.biographywritingservices.com/help-with-bio-for-employees/. However, you ought to choose the reliable cheap composition composing service for the document, simply because ripoffs as well as knockoffs will also be concurrently operating on the internet.

    ReplyDelete
  13. More recently Bangla lady authors performing superb work on paper area. Right here writer supplied excellent details about female's author. These details ought to help to make motivation associated with Bangladeshi female's in order to composing greatest content material or even guide. You can also get redirected here to understand regarding the paraphrasing providers. Many thanks with regard to discussing helpful tips.

    ReplyDelete