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BENGALI
PROSE
In contrast to the Bengali poetry, the history
of Bengali prose is relatively new. It was largely developed and
introduced by the missionaries of Serampore and by the Fort William
College. Nathaniel B. Halhead published the Bengali grammar in 1778
and William Carey (1761-1834) translated the Bible into Bengali in
1801. The Bengali prose thus developed in the early 19th century was
nothing more than a mixture of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian words.
The first Bengali book of prose was Ramram Basu's Raja
Pratapaditya Charita, published in 1801. The author later wrote
another book Lipimala. In 1802, Batrisa Simhasana
written by Mritunjaya Vidyalankar was published. The same writer
also published three other books like Hitopadesh, Rajabali,
Vedanta-chandrika and Prabodh Chandrika.
Raja Rammohan Roy
published his first book of prose called
Vedanta Grantha in 1815. During the period 1815-1830, Rammohan
Roy wrote thirty books in Bengali. He translated some of the
Upanishads and rendered the Bhagwad Gita into Bengali verse.
Later on, other writers like Bankim Chandra, Sharad Chandra
Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore,
Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar,
Pyarichand Mitra
and Tekchand Thakur enriched the Bengali prose with their pioneering
works. Since then the Bengali prose went through a complete course
of evolution. Iswar Chandra
Vidyasagar (1820-91), who is considered as the father of modern
Bengali literary prose, wrote Sakuntala (1854), Sitar
Vanavasa (1860) and Bhranti-vilasa (1869). The other
important Bengali writers and novelists of the 19th and
the 20th centuries include Charu Chandra Banerjee
(1876-1938), Indira Devi (1880-1922), Anurupa Devi (1882-1958),
Nirupama Devi (1883-1951), Saurindramohan Mukherjee (1884-1966),
Rakhaldas Banerjee (1885-1930), Gokul Chandra Nag (1895-1925),
Sailajananda Mukherjee (1900-1976), Bibhutibhusan Banerjee
(1899-1950), Rabindranath Maitra (1896-1933), Rajsekhar Basu
(1880-1960), Prabodhkumar Sanyal (b.1907), Sita Devi (1896-1974) and
Santa Devi (b.1894).
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According
to Professor Sukumar Sen, the evolution of Bengali novelist
tradition can be separated into four well-defined periods.
(a)
The Loric Period:
This was the earliest form of Bengali literature, which centred on
fables and Puranic tales and was either romantic or religious in
content. Examples include Lausen's Adventure from Dharmamangal
by the 17th century poet Roopram Chakravarty and Vidyasundar
by Bharatchandra.
(b) The Bankim Period: The initial stories of this period,
like Chandrakanta and Kaminikumar, were written in
verses and provided a romantic setting for the readers. A new era
dawned with Pyarichand Mitra's trend-setting prose-based novel
Alaler Gharer Dulal (1858). However, it was Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee who finally dropped the curtain on the Loric period by
publishing his masterpiece Durgeshnandini (1865).
Romesh Chandra Dutt (1848-1909) played an important role in the
literary history of Bengal. He wrote four historical romances,
Vanga-vijeta (1874), Madhavi-Kankana (1877),
Maharastra-jivana-prabhata (1878) and Rajput-jivana-sandhya
(1879), besides two novels Samsara (1886) and Samaja
(1894). Damodar Mukherjee (1853-1907) wrote Mrnmayi (1874)
and Nawabnandini as sequels to Bankim Chandra's
Kapala-kundala and Durgesanandini respectively. Bhudev
Mukherjee (Aitihasika Upanyasa and Anguriya-Vinimaya),
Sanjib Chandra Chatterjee (Kanthamala, Madhavilata and Jal
Pratapchand), Taraknath Ganguli (Swarnalata), Sivanath
Sastri (Mejabau and Yugantara) and Swarnakumari Devi (Dipanirvana,
Chinnamukula, Malati) are the other important writers of this
period.
(c) The Tagore Period: The Tagore period, which co-existed
with the Sarat Period, has been the most defining period in Bengali
literature. It has its essentially distinctive universal appeal,
richness and variety of literary styles. Tagore was not just a
Bengali poet or writer but a world phenomenon. His short stories are
many and varied in their content, taste, presentation, universal
appeal and inherent literary beauty. In his novels, Tagore observed
and depicted people in their family and social settings. He also
aptly portrayed the Western influence on the Bengali culture and
people. (See also:
Rabindranath Tagore's Literary Repertoire)
(d) The Sarat Period: Sarat Chandra Chatterjee can be
credited for taking the modern Bengali literature to the masses. He
highlighted aspects of human love, faith and society in his writings
and championed the cause of the under-priviledged and the women in
his stories. His novels and short stories appealed to people of all
walks of life. His immaculate writing style made him one of the
world's best-loved novelists. Haraprasad Sastri (1853-1931) wrote
two historical novels Kanchanamala (1916) and Bener Meye
(1920). Swami Vivekanda was also a vigorous writer in Bengali.
Prachya O Pascatya, Bhavvar Katha, Vartamana Bharata and
Parivrajaka are the few books which contain his original
writings in Bengali. Other writers of the Sarat tradition include
famous novelists like Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Balaichand
Mukhopadhyay (‘Banfool’), Abadhoot, Akshay Kumar Maitreya and Vimal
Mitra. |
