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Autumn Edition 1
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Yr. 3, Issue 2, 19 th October 2015
Publisher Gitanjali Das , President DAUL a theatre group © Copyright 2013 Santiniketan, Bolpur, Birbhum
THESPIAN
c/o. Prativa Bishnu Chowdhury 400, Balaka Avenue, Nabapally, Barasat – 70012 6, North 24 Paraganas West Bengal, India.
Mobile : +91 9434348114, +91 9932220718 E-mail : [email protected]/[email protected] Website : www.thespianmagazine.com
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Team THESPIAN
Editor Bivash Bishnu Chowdhury Associate Editor Arup Sankar Misra Art Director Ashraful Islam Tutul
THESPIAN Correspondents
International – Sagar Mukharjee (Bangladesh) Basunia (U.S.A.) Sadia Afrin (U.K.)
National – G. Gobi (Pondicherry) Prasanth Namboothiri (Kerela) Chandrasekhar Indla (Andhra Pradesh) Amit Chauhan (Chandigarh) Ajit Kumar (Bihar)
Advisory Board ‹ Prof. S. Ramanujam, Former Head, Department of Drama, Tamil University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India. ‹ Prof. C. Raveendran, Former Head, Department of Modern Indian Language and Literary Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, India. ‹ Dr. Sushanta kumar Adhikary, Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
Our Sincere Thanks to Swati Roy Chowdhury Stuti Mamen Saptarshi Roy Arnab Chatterjee Suman Saha Trina Maitra Lila Bishnu Chowdhury Biplab Bishnu Chowdhury
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Autumn Edition 5
ISSN 2321 - 4805 Editorial
Anandalok-e Mangalalok-e...
Let these words of Gurudeva be the inspiration of every human being. The entire race is being distressed by the uncontrolled stampede caused by the wayward byproducts of the civilization. The ‘festivity of decapitation’ has loomed large everywhere. We express our strong repugnance toward those heinous creatures who have been tormenting our fertile and ‘green’ mother earth. Probably beheading these dangerous religious extremists would be the minimum punishment for them. But, unlike them, we should not arouse the barbaric self of ours.
This is civilization ...
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 About Thespian
Thespian is a half-yearly publication premised upon art, culture and literature. It has begun following the Bengali calendar and being circulated in the Bengali language but still for a wide existence it needs to be translated in the universally accepted English language along with Bengali translations of the essays written in English and the literal translation of different subject into Bengali which will hopefully enrich us. This is because the view with which we began our journey was to introduce the theatre loving people of the world to the great treasure trove of Bengali art and literature. It’s not suitable to talk about the end in the beginning itself, but initially it might be said that as long as Thespian will proceed with its journey it will follow this principle. The publication begins with the Nabo Barsho Sankhya (Bengali New Year edition) and the readers will be introduced to the Sharat Sankhya (Autumn edition) after six months.
The publication will not only contain three sections “Essays”, “Interview” and “Photo Gallery”, but also two other sections which has been included with the creative thoughts of two well-wishers of the Thespian publication family - the first section is called “Exposure” which means bringing to light of an veiled substance and the second section is “Short Stories”.
The “Essays” section will contain the research obtained writings of many scholars of different languages (Bengali and English). The next section “Interview” will consist of the interviews of great intellectuals and thinkers who have attained a universal status beyond time, place and person, and the photo stills from the productions/performances of different cultural groups of India as well as the entire world will enrich the next section “Photo Gallery”.
The term “Exposure” refers to the unveiling of a previously hidden substance. In this part the fundamental attempt will be in gathering valuable information on ancient folk tales, endangered theatre communities, ancient architecture and so on which will not only revive the different endangered and forgotten factors of Indian ancient art and culture before the world but also introduce the new generation to it. Its aim is to build a relation between the past and the present. We earnestly desire the help and support of all the art and literature loving people in our
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 attempt to revive endangered ancient heritages and it is not possible for Thespian do it alone. So any rare subject that compels you to think in a new way, kindly enrich us with the details about them.
Now there is something to tell about the part called “Short Stories”. This part is considered with special importance. It is said that the Bengali language has one specific characteristic i.e. the literature written in this language is much enriched. Of course this view does not look down upon other languages and literatures but in self-defense, it can be said that the aim is just to draw attention towards the depth of Bengali language. However, the amount of literature in Bengali is so huge that even if hundreds of pages of translations are published in magazines each month then in ten years not even half of it can be completed, in that case Thespian is only a minute attempt. So in the part named “Short Stories”, readers of different languages will be introduced to the English translations of some of the works of great Bengali authors, playwrights and many stories, plays and poetry and in the same way apart from Bengali literature, the translation of stories, plays, poetry of considerable worth of different languages into Bengali will get special attention.
From the nascent stage of the publication of Thespian, the help and support of enthusiastic theatre loving people has taken our publication to this level. And in our journey, we crave for the support and co-operations from all readers of the world.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article -1
On Contemporary Theatrical Practices
---- Selim Al Deen
Translated by : Arnab Chatterjee, Assistant teacher in English, Harishchandrapur College, Pipla, Malda, W.B., India.
Drama plays an indirect role in creating national values. Political stability and economic prosperity lead to the formation of the nucleus of the culture of a nation. Conspicuous changes are perceptible in the pride of the theatre practitioners and this is, perhaps, to a certain extent, erroneous as I have talked about the indirect role of drama in this respect.
But why?
The answer lies in the political chaos and poor economic condition. This mass can hardly think of a better life and there is no aspiration among them. The promise of development has been rendered into only an unanimated spinster in the hand of young gerrila. The Bengali sense of nationalism is at stake due to the callousness and hollow eloquent rhetoric of the political leaders, the absurd impractical dream of social revolution and autocratic dictatorship. The nation which had the luminous weapon of revolution before the war has now the foul bag of a beggar in hand.
Nowhere, we see a nation selling self-esteem in spite of having such a rich heritage. The present age seems to me an age of nightmare rather than an era of Bengali history and glory.
Yet I believe that from 1972 to 1977 theatrical practices in Bangladesh are better than politics and more dynamic than economic condition.
Theatrical practices in Bangladesh are aware of history and tradition from its genesis. I am sure that the stages of Bangladesh are the centres for the creation of Self-confidence of the
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Bengali nation. This is no less important than the war of independence. This nation is keenly interested in relief and it has realized that it has its own understanding of life and language. Its character is different. Above all, this nation has observed that their original drama is in the process of formation. To a large extent the intrusion of foreign culture has been stopped. Since the last hundred years the primary weakness of Bengali drama lies in its emphasis on upholding the social and political problems rather than artistic qualities. Madhusudan’s success in drama is only due to two farces. The only exceptional figure in this respect is Rabindranath who was able to make contemporary Bengali drama competent to Bengali poetry. In this context, it is perhaps worthy to remember Girish and Dijendralal Roy. But Bengali drama is ultimately inclined towards social scrutiny. Drama will address society and politics. That drama will be the only vehicle for upholding political and social problems and with these objectives an unable hand will write plays is intolerable.
Judging from all perspectives it has been noticed that those whose poetry and novels have been categorized as third grade literature have come to the frontline in drama.
In Dhaka and also in remote areas one thing is made clear- Bengali drama will not be liberated without achieving artistic value. The achievement of artistic value implies that deployment of those subtle artistic techniques are necessary through which drama can clearly and beautifully bring out social truth, political truth or individual feelings. How can there be anything rich in expression of language which is not artistically rich? There is no objection to the political goal of the theatre groups if it is found that the plays maintain artistic form. Today this consciousness and artistic considerations are utterly needful in the theatrical practices of Bangladesh.
Drama can create national values indirectly. The formation of national values connotes that we need such plays which will ouch the heart of the audience. The literary value and stage success of these plays will be our pride. If it is said that Rabindranath has shaped the confidence and belief of the Bengali nation, then it means that a nation has discovered its soul through the huge bulk of Rabindra literature and it has sown the seed of pride and confidence that Bengali language and literature is no less than other languages and literatures in the world. Any nation needs determination of confidence in order to survive. This mass is desperately in need of this. Drama can also shape national values directly. But how? This may happen through saving the Autumn Edition 15
ISSN 2321 - 4805 mass from forgetting its own self and by endorsing the history and revolution or giving slogans on road instead of practicing drama. Judging from all sides the only answer is no, this cannot happen. The role of drama is in root. The role of politics is in branches, leaves and flowers. Admitting the inseparable relationship between the two, I think the function and nature of the two are different. The formation of national values through drama cannot be possible cancelling out politics and social context. But the group theatre should work through this confidence that drama will not be merely based on politics and social issues.
From the year 72 to 77 different groups have nourished this belief. But in the meantime a different trend is found in dramatic practices. That trend is not powerful but dynamic. I am talking about translated or transcreated plays.
This is true that all group theatres cannot stage plays written by themselves. For this reason, they are staging plays translated and transcreated versions of the foreign plays. There is a dearth of original drama but the formation of national values lies in the attempt to transcend that. The belief and impulse of staging any kind of play is harmful to a nation. In the history of drama of Bangladesh there are certain group theatres who promise to stage plays based on their life- world. There are examples that those who promise this become successful.
Changes on stage also take place through translation or transcreation. But what will be the measures for the Bengali drama which has been deceived of success on stage for the last two hundred years and reached a dead situation? The young generation is to be informed that this can go on no longer. The attempt to construct a building of confidence with indebted brick has to be stopped. The nation is to be helped to stand on its own foot. We care a fig for what the rootless political, economic and social theorists are doing. We want the stages and roads of Bangladesh dancing with their own style. These are to dance in pride of their own treasure. All groups are to realize that they have to walk on their self-made road, not constructed by others. Theatre is their joy and representation of life.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article -2
An Existentialist Stance on Change, Personal, Social and Psychosocial, in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night
---- Dr. Irum Alvi Asstt. Professor and Asstt. Dean, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, Rajasthan.
Introduction Change is permanent. In the plays of Eugene O’Neill change is brought by external forces as well as internal psychological processes. All the characters in his play Long Day’s Journey into Night are in a constant state of flux, facing undefeatable threats and problems on an ordinary basis. The paper aims to appreciate and analyze O’Neill’s concern with change, which is a reflection on how man appears to be relatively unconscious to these theatrical facts, and struggles to attain a sense of stability and constancy. O’Neill is also concerned with the personal/subjective change and its traumatic affects on the personas in the plays especially his late play Long Day’s Journey into Night. The paper also deals with the resistant towards change, wherein the popular notion of change as a renowned valuable asset in modern society becomes associated with the tragic instead of the favorable notions of progress and improvement. The most general notion of change is merely a difference in the things. Kant argues that “alteration can be perceived only in substances”, meaning alteration can be understood as the change of states of a substance. He believes “permanence is thus a necessary condition under which alone appearances are determinable as things or objects in a possible experience”. [A187/B230] Man endeavor at the fundamental biological stage to preserve a steady and unvarying inner state – Homeostasis (Cannon, 1935). This necessity is reflected at the individual and social level as stability is thought of as an important element for security and safety (Maslow, 1970).
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Several pessimistic responses towards change are generated due to the diminished ability to control and increased uncertainty (Fox, 1998). Resistance to change is an unconstructive and harmful attitude which pervades life unnoticed but change is a fundamental component of modern life, the resistance to change is an impediment to personal, interpersonal and social. The approach to resist change is bound to fail, only tolerance of change and accepting it provides peace. Change is also linked with uncertainty. Uncertainty can be defined as the individual's lack of ability to foresee happenings, actions or workings of the environment precisely (Milliken, 1987). Insecurity undermines stability, a safety requirement (Maslow, 1970). An intrinsic and innate need is felt to try to avoid, remove or at least manage the uncertainty in the lives (Van den Bos, 2001), though Landau, Greenberg and Kosloff (2010) point to numerous cases in which people make preference that increase rather than decrease uncertainty. In this context, the study analyses the treatment of the attitude towards change in O’Neill’s plays with reference to Long Day’s Journey in to Night. Though much attention has been given to the theme of time and past in different critical studies on O’Neill’s memorable play, what has not been sufficiently appreciated and properly analyzed is how far it portrays responses to change and the trauma associated with it. In the first place the paper analyses that in line with modern concern with change, O’Neill is concerned with the personal/subjective, social and psychosocial domains. Secondly the resistance to change has traumatic effects and the personas conduct in the play Long Day’s Journey into Night is an illustration of trauma that afflicts man. Studies have shown that these responses are caused by psychosocial changes. The lack of the resources which could help survive the stark reality of change such as self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) and perceived control (Seligman, 1975), makes change appears as a challenge. When all the resources are exhausted, change appears more dangerous and takes the form of a threat and the stress response is intensified (Blascovich & Mendes, 2000). The Buddhists believe change is permanent and suffering is caused when people ignore the reality of impermanence. They desire everything to continue being the way it is so the change becomes associated with loss and suffering. The Buddhist tradition contends that only if we liberate ourselves from our flawed and destructive illusion of permanence, and accept that quite ironically impermanence is the only real thing we can hold on to, will we be able to confront death without fear.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 The focal point of the paper is change, which is linked to the human existential plight and forms a process natural. Long Day’s Journey into Night shows the physiological reactions to change that take place in the personas. New situations after situations laden with ambiguity and changeability elicit a response which is exquisitely portrayed by the playwright. These physiological responses, however, depend on the appraisal of the situation, triggered due to lack of ability to cope with the changes and to deal with them. The philosophical contemplation of existence and impermanence is synchronized with psychological attempts to understand the transient nature human kind. Change in O’Neill is integral to his themes and is at the centre of personas’ consciousness. O’Neill’s own experience arises from change, personal loss and subjective experiences. Change in his own case elicited a traumatized response from him, forsaking his ancestral catholic faith (James E. Robinson, 1995 & Edward L. Shaughnessy, 2000), his suicide attempts (James E. Robinson, 1995), prostitution, and trying to hit bottom (Arthur and Barbara Gelb, 155) show how he himself reacted to change in life. Stephen A. Black (1994) finds associations between changes including the loss of entire family (brother, father and mother), and the plays written by O’Neill. However, he argues that O’Neill’s final response was acceptance of loss/ change and his resistance to grief which finally led towards accepting his losses (2). O’Neill dramatizes the terrible changes that take place in day long journey into night in the lives of the four Tyrones. The play starts on a happy note where the family is content. The permanence of impermanence is portrayed as happiness changes into stress. All characters show their responses to change, visible in their feelings, language, recollection and actions. The trauma caused by personal, interpersonal and social change is clearly visible. Each character shows different response and traumatic reaction to change. The urge for permanence or fascination with fixity in the play imparts a psychotic look to the play. O'Neil notes a change in surroundings. No sunlight enters the room and a faint haziness in the air, the fog, parallels changes in the setting as well as psychological state of the characters. John Henry Raleigh (1993) notes there permeates a sense of “not belonging, a kind of cosmic loneliness” (206). Tyrone comments on change in Mary as her perceives she has “far gone in the past already, when it’s only the beginning of the afternoon” (86). He makes a request to Mary to accept change “for God sake,” (87), and, “let our dead baby rest in peace?”(87). Tyrone cannot
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 refute that change has tormented their lives, and will continue to do so. The changes Mary experienced after her marriage with actor Tyrone and baby Edmund’s demise can ever be forgotten. For them change is associated with pain, disease and death. Change acts as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the impermanent state of being. Each and every change is a continuous “small death” and represents a reminder that of the futility in trying to hold on to this world as "changes…are the pulse of death, the heartbeat of death" (Rinpoche; 1992 pp. 46). She hates changes, “I’ve never felt at home in the theatre (102). She hates uncertainties involved with changes including travelling with her actor husband and living in dirty hotels. Mary refers to these changes: “I became terrified. I imagined all sorts of horrible accidents. (113). Mary responds to change to “ugly hotel rooms” as she asserts she became quite used to it (113). She confesses to James she longs for change, “Oh, I’m so sick and tired of pretending this is a home! You never have wanted one never since the day were we married! You should have remained a bachelor and lived in second rate hotels and entertained your friends in barrooms! (67). Later in the same act she regrets change again “for me it’s always been so lonely as a dirty room in one night stand hotel… I know from experience what a home is like. I gave up the one to marry you, my father’s home” (72) she perceives this change drastic. Her response to change is more heightened by the terrible changes in the life of the family, specially the birth and death of babies. In her obsessed state of mind she holds changes responsible for her traumatized state. She tells Tyrone, “But bearing Edmund was the last straw. I was so sick afterwards, and that ignorant of quack of the cheap hotel doctor—all he knew was to reduce pain. (87). She regrets why she changed her aims, “I forgot all about becoming a nun or a concert pianist. All I wanted was to be his wife.”(105). She regrets how he changed into a drunkard disappointing her, “But I must confess, James, although I could not help loving you.” (113). She wants no change and wants to hold on to the things as they were as symbolized by her wedding gown, “Oh, how I loved that gown! It was so beautiful! Where is it now, I wonder? I used to take it out from time to time when I was lonely, but it always made me cry, so finally as long while ago—“(115), she changes the place she keeps the gown so often only to forget where, in which trunk it is. In the last Act desire to change, to be a nun, takes on a morbid control over her. She wants to be a pianist or a Nun. She is unable to figure out whether any change can help her, “What is it I’m looking for? (172). She says, “Something I miss terribly. It can’t be altogether
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 lost” (173). “I remember when I had it I was never neither lonely nor afraid. I can’t have lost it forever; I would die if I thought that. Because then there would be no hope (173). Her hope for another change is to become a pianist, but aging has left its marks “But something horrible has happened to my hands. The fingers have gotten so stiff— (171)”. Mary uses morphine to forget change and uncertainties linked with change. Apart from Mary’s traumatized reactions to change, resistance to change and desire for change, the play dramatizes different traumatized reactions of other personas to different factors that are related to change from different perspectives. Tyrone recalls Mary’s desire for a drastic change by quitting this life in Act II as, “I hope you’ll lay in a good stock ahead so we’ll never have another night like the one when you screamed for it, and ran out of the housed in your nightdress half crazy, to try and throw yourself off the dock”(86). The final scene implies the persistent desire for change in the life of these miserable Tyrones. Jamie and Edmund are traumatized by change. Edmund is no less a victim of change, his worsening health (tuberculosis), his mother’s changing back to drugs, and changed family situation cause stress that result in an unreasonable state of anxiety and fear. His desire for forgetting change is clearly discernible, “Be always drunken. Nothing else matters: That is the only question. If you would not feel the horrible burden of Time weighing on your shoulders and crushing you to the earth, be drunken continually…” (132). For C.W.E. Bigsby O’Neill’s characters as caught in the decline, he regards “a theatre of entropy” (49). Change is perceived as an existential threat as well as an existential remedy. Edmund’s desire for change is eloquently revealed in his statement: “It was a great mistake, my being born a man; I would have been much more successful as a seagull or a fish. As it is, I will always be a stranger who never feels at home who does not really want and is not really wanted, who can never belong, who must always be in little love with death (154)”. Edmund accepts chance from darkness to light, but even this is a reminder of the final change, the final journey to death. Change poses as a fundamental human problem. Change is allegedly a threat as it is allied with time, change is a transition from a youth to old age accompanied with the understanding and acute awareness that that one is coming closer to death. The idea that change signifies death or that death is a form of change is a major pillar of Socratic philosophy (Vlastos, 1971). The car is a lemon that James picked up used a symbol long journeys and change. Mary's wedding dress and James souvenir, a piece of paper printed with praise from famous actor
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Edwin Booth of James's performance of Othello, remind them of change that has taken its toll. As such it is the cognitive, physiological and psychosocial states of the persona which determine how they react to change. They demonstrate several types of responses to various types of change, displaying more aversive towards some changes revealing the psychological setup which influences their reception or resistance to change. Both sons, Jamie and Edmund react to change that goes against their likening. O’Neill’s plays dramatize change both the desire for and fear of it as traumatized experience that destroy life. The Title of the play, “Long Day's Journey into Night ” shows change, which is recurrent and a routine. Change is existentially threatening, and leads the protagonists to display either resistance to change or a dire need for change. Day and Night and the cyclic changes, as represented by the progress of day to night, are one of the central symbols of Long Day's Journey. The Tyrones are caught in a similar cycle of change. They attack, they feel terrible, they make an apology, and they say something hurtful, they feel terrible; they make an apology, even the moods change. Although the concern with change is not unvarying and some find change more existentially intimidating than others, the fact remains that change elicits greater concerns about death than a condition with no change. Although stagnation signifies death and decay, the plays show how changes are perceived as perils. The plays become threatening reminders on how swiftly the sands of time run leaving behind drained hourglass of existence, a token of the loss of youth and vitality. The plays also reveal the intense desire for permanence and ability to transcend the ephemeral nature of the material existence. The distressed responses may differ, but always assume psychotic urge for permanence that impede harmonious integration with the self and the others. These responses are basically post modern in nature. O’Neill demonstrates desire for permanence against the unvarying certainty of change in life. These instincts are post- modernistic in nature. The study concludes that Eugene O’Neill does not provide any approaches for dealing with the trauma caused by the impermanence of life and his plays are merely an illustration of ordeals and suffering of mankind faced with the stark reality of change.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Works Cited
Bandura, A. (1997). Self efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman. Blascovich, J., & Mendes, W. B. (2000). Challenge and threat appraisals: The role of affective cues. In J. Forgas (Ed.) Feeling and Thinking: The Role of Affect in Social Cognition. (pp. 59-82). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. Cannon,W.(1935) Stress and strains of homeostasis. American Journal of Medical Sciences, 1- 14. Bigsby, C.W.E. (1982). A Critical introduction to twentieth Century American Drama I, 1900- 1940. London: Cambridge University Press. Eugene O’Neill. (1955). Long Day’s Journey into Night . New Haven: Yale University Press. Fox, S. (1998). The Psychology of Resistance to Change. Ramat-Gan, Israel: Bar Ilan University Press. (Hebrew) Gelb, Arthur and Barbara O'Neill: Life with Monte Cristo Applause Theater Books (April 15, 2002) Kant, I. (1998) Critique of Pure Reason. Trans and ed. P. Guyer sand A.W. Wood. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Landau, M. J., & Greenberg, J., & Kosloff, S. (2010). Coping with life’s certainty in R. M. Arkin, K. C. Oleson, & P. J. Carroll (Eds.), Handbook of The Uncertain Self (pp. 195-215). New York: Psychology Press. Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and Personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row. Milliken, F. J. (1987). Three type of perceived uncertainty about the environment: State, effect, and response uncertainty. Academy of Management Review , 12, 133- 143. Raleigh, John Henry. (1993). Communal, Familial, and Personal Memories. In O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night in John H. Houchin, Ed. The Critical Response to Eugene O’Neill (pp. 203-212), London: Greenwood. Rinpoche, S. (1992). The Tibetian book of living and dying . San Francisco: Harper Collins. Seligmen, M.E.P. (1975). Helplessness. San Francisco: Freeman. Robinson, James E. (1995). The Masculine Primitive and The Hairy Ape in The Eugene O’Neill Review, ed. Frederick Wilkins, Vol. 19. No. 1 & 2.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Shaughnessy, Edward L. (2000). Down the Nights and Down the Days: Eugene O’Neill’s Catholic Sensibility. Indiana: University of Notre Dam Press. Van den Bos, K. (2001). Uncertainty management: The influence of uncertainty salience on reaction to perceived procedural fairness. Journal of Social Psychology , 80, 931- 941. Vlastos, G. (1971). The philosophy of Socrates: A collection of critical essays . New York: Anchor Books.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article - 3
Discourses of Intertextuality in Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself
---- Priyadarshini Chakrabarti
Ph.D Research Scholar, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
The bonded slave mother’s identity was built on the concept of chattel slavery. While history focuses on the mere facts, literature brings forth the lived experiences of the people. Harriet Jacobs in her autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861) narrates the story of the female protagonist, Linda Brent’s life in slavery. Linda is not only challenging the traditional stereotypical domination of master over slaves but uses her body as a tool to defy and demolish the enforced gender roles. Jacobs like other African American women novelists offer a reinstating of women in history in order to add the missing female voice in the slave narratives. This paper will not only explore the dominant issues of Harriet Jacobs’s autobiography but also place it in a set of cultural contexts by exploring it from an interdisciplinary dimension, revealing in the process that female sexuality, motherhood, individualism, community are themes interwoven to construct the enslaved Black woman’s identity and reality.
The history of African American autobiography is very long. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in America thousands of former slaves set down to write the history of their escape from bondage to freedom which came to be known as ‘slave narratives’. It was during the 1930s, the genre was further expanded. In black autobiographies the individual and community are not apart, there is an identification of individual with the community within any single autobiography in spite of differences in autobiographical modes and in the autobiographers’ visions. Thus LeRoi Jones declared that the black autobiography like the blues expands the solo and through this the single individual retains the tone of the tribe.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 During 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself , has been viewed as the central text in the genre of African American slave narratives. Critic Robert Stepto has defined Douglass as the male archetype. But he makes no attempt to define female archetype. This female archetype is represented by Harriet “Linda Brent” Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself (1861). Although Thayer and Eldridge published the narrative in 1861 but not until 1981 Jean F. Yellin published the evidences and established Jacobs’ historical identity and the authorship of her narrative.
Although other writings appear earlier, this full-length work by an African American woman writing about her experiences as a slave woman is indeed rare. The voice of Linda Brent is polyphonic. It represents the voice of bonded slave women’s plights, their oppressions, their unvoiced words. It covers the narrative pattern of the slave narrative genre with the conventional literary forms and stylistic devices of the nineteenth century domestic novel in an attempt to transform the so called ‘Cult of womanhood’ and to persuade the woman of the North to take an antislavery stance. The dual theme of abolition and feminism are interwoven in Jacobs’s text. In this respect Jacobs’s narrative has got the way to descend through the lanes of interdisciplinarity and achieve a plethora of success as retaining a text of woman which also talks about empowerment of woman. Unlike Harriet Beecher Stowe, Jacobs does not deny the authorship instead she stressed on it saying “ Written by Herself ”.
Harriet Jacobs wrote in her Incidents “Slavery is terrible for men. But it is far more terrible for women” (Jacobs 86).Jean Fagan Yellin states that Jacobs’s narrative was the first to address the sexual exploitation of women under slavery. The pseudonymous character of the narrative, Linda Brent, is caught between the exploitative, brutal bonds of slavery and the idealized bonds of true womanhood. The former she resists with great spirit and no ambivalence; the other she resists with great pain and turmoil. These two systems denied her a selfhood. The text opens with the lines, “I was born a slave, but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away” (Jacobs 7). Slavery was acted out on the male bodies and so also for females. The slave woman’s plight was to become a system of reproduction. Therefore the treatment of slavery was more intimate and brutal. After her mistress’s death she became the property of her mistress’s little niece, Emily Flint. Here enter the character Dr. Flint, the source of all trouble in Linda’s life. As a young girl, Linda had resolved that she would be virtuous,
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 though she was but a slave. Here Jacobs is bringing forth two parallel contradictions. On one hand, Jacobs points out the difficulties that a slave woman has to face to retain her chastity and on the other hand she highlights the white woman’s cultural codes. Rather than to submit Dr. Flint’s demand, she subverts not only his authority as a male but also as her master. According to her grandmother’s vision of the cult of true womanhood is ‘beautiful’ but unattainable. But Linda chooses survival, selfhood and determination not through the innocence of the dove but she uses the wisdom of the serpent. Through her liaison with Mr. Sands she gains some control over her body. Both symbolic and literal this choice of Linda raises her from unchaste and defiled object to a virtuous mother.
The black women’s writing during the Antebellum and post-bellum remains as a glaring representation of what happens with a mother when she is left with little to no claim over her own life and the lives of her children. Marianne Hirsch said that the economy of slavery circumscribes not only the process of individuation and subject formation, but also heightens and intensifies the experience of motherhood—of connection and separation. It is because of this separation and loss that many literary texts construct the mother’s response in this situation. Jacobs presents motherhood as a crucial form of female empowerment. Jacobs represents a significant counterforce to a deeply patriarchal and male-dominated institution. Jacobs demonstrates the need for specific political reforms and goes beyond the abstract rules of teaching her readers the moral and religious lessons. Caroline Levander stated that motherhood becomes the means by which Jacobs represents both her evolving understanding of her identity as a slave and the extreme violence to which she is subjected because of that identity. For Jacobs motherhood is not simply a biological relation. It encompasses an entire worldview: a belief in freedom of all people, a commitment to human equality and the establishment of viable egalitarian economic opportunities. Linda endures the hardships of her existence especially for her children. By hiding in the garret space Linda was able to keep an eye on her children. As described by Jacobs garret can be seen as an interstitial space and it is undetectable to those who are unaware of its existence. In the garret Linda’s life also become interstitial. Linda’s garret is startlingly similar to Jeremy Bentham’s ‘Panopticon ’, which Michel Foucault analyses in Discipline and Punish (1975). Linda’s garret may be a physical prison but like the guards of Panopticon, it helps her to keep her vigil on her community and especially on Dr. Flint.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 ‘Masking’ is a technique which helps the readers to get the double meaning embedded in the narrative. Through employing the ‘masking’ Jacobs is able provide an acceptable explanations of events that she has really experienced. When Linda Brent faced an impending reality of selling her future child by Dr. Flint she used Mr. Sands and made him believe that he is the original father of her child. Linda’s actual dealing with two white male – Dr. Flint and Mr. Sands, would have inundated white female readers’ understanding of what it meant to be a victim of slavery. Actually through her narrative Jacobs is employing the social discourses surrounding race and gender. So Linda declares that, ‘… in looking back, calmly on the events of my life, I feel that the slave ought not to be judged by the same standard as others’ (Jacobs 216).By saying this Jacobs is actually portraying instead of white men being the helpless victims of the lustful black women, white men were revealed to be the predators who had violated black women’s chastity and modesty. Jacobs asserts that a good woman’s task is not to die or succumb to some ideal purity. She must survive. Her black cultural tradition of masking provides an appropriate arsenal to achieve her goal.
Intertextuality as a method enables one to join the present to the past and is central to the theories of African American literature. Transformed by M.M.Bakhtin’s notion of ‘dialogism’, Julia Kristeva’s Word, Dialogue and Novel (1986) conceptualizes intertextuality as an intersection of textual surfaces rather than a point, as a dialogue among several writings. Incidents intersects at the existential themes of absurdity, anguish, choice, responsibility and freedom. In reflecting the interlocutory, or dialogic, character of literature pertaining to slavery and black maternal subjectivity, ambiguity is a necessary element in the African American literary tradition as it invites intertextuality by transforming and retaining narrative patterns and strategies in endless possibility. Linda is not sorry for her decisions. Slavery has left no choice for her to opt. Linda is not only representing her own fate but she is representing the thousands and millions of women who has to face the oppression of slavery and have to suffer the trauma of losing one’s own self and near and dear ones.
Margaret Atwood in her Negotiating With Dead: A Writer on Writing (2002) states the role and responsibility of a female writer that pertains specifically to her duty to write as a woman, about women. Thus writing for her is not just a narration of a story or a point of view, she rather has to take up the additional responsibility of representing her writing as a form of
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 mediation in dealing with the female self or selves and to expose the real history and politics of gender in which the female writers are/were actually grounded and simultaneously paying a homage to their accomplishments. A sudden rapture of engagement with women’s history in literature with a series of rewriting and rereading of literary texts opens an avenue of literary criticism that was absent from the arena of scholarship before the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. As a consequence of this methodology a literary technique seems to get launched by which women writers who have been so long left unnoticed and relegated to the periphery comes to occupy one of the central discourses of the academic sphere. The discovery of the interdisciplinary reliance between feminism, new historicism, reader response theory and the act of writing fiction ultimately combines to culminate in the discovery of a new theoretical approach – that of fictionalizing as a new meta-historicism. Meta-historicism represents the process of creating a female past through the process of writing fiction. In Incidents Linda is helping the readers to expand their imaginations to fill the silences and gaps. By describing her story she is actually reterritorializing her context. In this way Jacobs is engaging her readers to examine what history books have never included. Thus meta-historicism is a methodology which is based on this recreation, exactly what fiction does – creating new ways and possibilities.
Linda is part of a continuum. She links the dead, the living and the unborn. Unlike the heroic male slave narratives Jacobs’s narrative alias Linda celebrates the cooperation and collaboration of all the people, black and white, slave and free, who make her freedom possible. She celebrates her liberty and the security of her children’s fate and life not as an individual effort but out of a collective effort. Thus the outraged mother of Jacobs’s master piece emerges as the archetypal counterpart of the articulate hero. Therefore the study of black women’s writing helps the readers to transform definitions of genre, of archetype, of narrative traditions, and of the AfricanAmerican experience itself.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Works Cited
Fisch, Audrey. The Cambridge Companion to The African American Slave Narrative. CUP: vvvvvvvvvvvv Cambridge. 2007.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl: Written By Herself. Ed. Nell Irvin Painter. bbbbbbbbbbbb Penguin:USA,2000.
Johnson, Yvonne. The Voices of African American Women. Peter Lang: New York.1998.
Mitchell, Angelyn. The Freedom to Remember: Narrative, Slavery and Gender in Contemporary xxxxxxxxxxxxx Black Women’s Fiction RUP: New Brunswick.1998.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article - 4
Unkindness Towards Children: Inthe light of Shakespeare’s King Lear ,SrimadBhagavatam, the Mahabharata and Tagore’s Karna- KuntiSa.nbaad
---- Ranjan Kumar Auddy
Assistant Professor, Department of English,
Sabang Sajanikanta Mahavidyalaya,
West Medinipur, West Bengal, India
In the twentieth century, the authority of the author was challenged with the emergence of Marxist criticisms, reader-response, and post-structural criticism. Instead of aiming to arrive at a final reading, ‘post-structural critics in recent times are sensitive to issues of gender, power, patriarchy, misogyny, and the treatment of the mob in Shakespeare’s plays’ (Foakes, 120). Simultaneously, we see other disciplines and departments, such as Commerce, Philosophy or Business Administration, are seeking in Shakespeare, a model of their derivatives and conclusions. For example, ‘21 st Century Ethics: 16 th Century Advice from William Shakespeare’ is a paper written by Dr. Carson H. Varner, Jr, who is a Professor of Finance, Insurance and Law in Illinois State University. The paper ‘is intended as an explanation of how Shakespeare portrays the problem of ethical leadership in a critical time in English history (Varner, Jr.). Another example is an anonymous article ‘Ethical Leadership Lessons from Shakespeare’s Macbeth ’, where the writer observes, ‘We use Macbeth to examine shadow leadership potentials. We learn how to identify excessive and dangerous behaviours – both in ourselves and others – before derailment becomes inevitable’. This inter-disciplinary phenomenon, quite interestingly, has restored much of the authority of Shakespeare, because he is referred to as the philosopher par excellence and his works are potential areas of research for the students of Business Administration or of Social Ethics or of Social Psychology.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Education of the child by parents and corporal punishment given by parents are areas where our ideas have changed drastically. Parents in 46 countries today do not have the right to inflict corporal punishment on their children at home (Wikipedia ‘Corporal’). The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child and opened it for signature on 20 November 1989. No less than 194 countries are party to it (Wikipedia ‘Convention’). ‘Article 19 of the Convention’, as recorded in Wikipedia,‘states that state parties must “take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence” (qtd. in Wikipedia ‘Convention’),but it makes no explicit reference to corporal punishment . It is quite evident that human society is today finding other means of preventing the child from being spoilt than using the rod in the literal sense. It is almost a universally acknowledged truth that the rod, in the literal sense, has to be spared.
Like issues of gender, power and patriarchy, Shakespeare’s plays are deeply concerned with the the relation between father and child. Interestingly, it is intertwined with the patriarchal attitude towards women. The problem of parental care and guidance of the children by parents have surfaced in many of his plays as one of the main problems of human life. It is very prominently present in Hamlet in the relation between Hamlet’s mother and her son and also between the ghost and Hamlet; the theme is also present in the sub-plot, in the relation between Polonius and Laertes, and in Polonius’s decision to let ‘loose’ (2.2.163) his daughter to spy on Hamlet. Both Gertrude and the ghost of Hamlet’s father were responsible to a considerable extent for the hero’s tragic doom. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet were brought about partly by the enmity between the Montagues and the Capulets. Shakespeare has touched upon the theme in Othello as well, between Desdemona and her father Brabantio. In the last plays- the tragi- comedies- the relation between father and daughter is dominant but there the relation has a harmony which is missing in the tragedies. But in King Lear it constitutes the major theme. Moreover, King Lear is particularly concerned with the ill treatment of sons and daughters by fathers.
Although the play starts with disharmony there is also the reconciliation between Lear and Cordelia, the sweetness of which spills into the last comedies. Children, like Lady Macduff’s son, are rare in Shakespeare but the problems between father and sons and daughters
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 make us ponder about the role of fathers in shaping the conduct and world-view of his children and this is perhaps most conspicuous in King Lear .Shakespeare has recurrently shown that a parent’s love, especially that of father for his children, may be fraught with insensitivity and callousness. In King Lear at the very outset of the play we see a father callously joking- even in the presence of his illegitimate son- on his mother:
Kent. I cannot conceive you.
Glo. Sir, this young fellow’s mother could; whereupon she grew round-womb’d, and had indeed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed.(1.1. 11- 15)
Although Gloucester, as he claims, is ‘braz’d’ to his shame, he is unmindful of the chain of consequences his remarks might bring forth in his young son. To witness an insult on oneself and on one’s mother committed by one’s father and that in public is an experience inexplicably painful. But Edmund, without any protest, listens silently to his father’s conscienceless account of sexual pleasure: ‘…Though this knave came something saucily to the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair, there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.’ (lines 20- 4). Gloucester here is representative of patriarchal mindset which Shakespeare introduces at the very outset of the play. Gloucester thinks he is generous to his son but actually he is blind to the insensitivity with which he treats his son. Moreover, he makes Edmund believe that he is ‘whoreson’ – the stigma which sticks to himself as well as his mother- in contrast to Edgar, who is ‘by order of law’(l 18). This is a mistake more terrible in consequence than fathering Edmund, who, as it turns out, learns to disrespect his mother and hate his father and becomes an enemy to the society. Instead of Mother Mary or Jesus, blind ‘Nature’ is Edmund’s ‘goddess’ (1.2.1). As the play proceeds we realize that Gloucester’s folly is not only a folly of his character but also that of the culture to which both he and King Lear belongs. They belong to a society and a culture which is insensitive to women and children.
Gloucester’s lack of conscience the opening scene is actually a preface to Lear’s profound and melodramatized callous treatment of his daughters. Lear’s folly in the opening scene has been commented upon incessantly by Lear’s fool as well as Shakespeare’s critics and scholars. But the opening scene also makes me guess about the innumerable follies which Lear must have
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 already committed leading to the development of his three daughters. An ancient motif of the father’s foolish pride and the child’s defiant wisdom may be found in SrimadBhagavatam (BhagavataPurana ). In the seventh canto of this Purana, there is an account of the myth of King Hiranyakashipu who attempts more than once to kill his son Prahlad because Prahlad openly defies his orders causing embarrassment for the proud king. Finally Hiranyakashipu faces the wrath of Lord Vishnu who appears in the shape of Narasimha 1 and kills the proud king. Like Cordelia, Prahlad sticks to the truth he believes, defying his father. Like Prahlad, Cordelia is rooted in truth while both the fathers are rooted in pride. While Prahlad is rescued by Vishnu, Cordelia is rescued by France. But unlike Hiranyakashipu, Lear is not physically killed although he faces the wrath of nature in the storm scene. Lear is reborn as an enlightened parent who is shorn off all the baggage of patriarchal society and who can treat his daughter with the love and respect Cordelia deserved. Interestingly, the Purana provides answers to the question of the child’s upbringing to which the text of Shakespeare leaves us guessing. According to this Purana, the ambitious Hiranyakashipu left his abode for tapasya 2in order to please Lord Brahma. The devatas or gods, in his absence, invaded his home and dragged his pregnant wife Kayadhu to heaven. The devatas wanted to kill the child as soon as he would be born as they feared that the child could be as powerful and as threatening as the father. They met Narada, the divine sage and devotee of Lord Vishnu in their way. Narada persuaded the devatas to leave Kayadhu to his care, assuring them that the unborn child is sinless and predicting that the child would be virtuous. He took Kayadhu to his ashrama and used to give the pregnant mother lessons on spirituality and Bhakti. According to this myth, Prahlad, in his mother’s womb, could hear the lessons taught by Narada and he was born with an innate nature of love for God; but as his father stuck to his pride, Prahlad stuck to his ‘Bhakti’ for Lord Vishnu. Like Lear,Cordelia lacks the ‘oily art’. (Lear does not oil Goneril and Regan even when he is helpless). Like Lear she can risk even her own life rather than compromise. Like Lear she is spiritual. Lear gives away his kingdom; it is a renunciation but at the primary level as he has not given away his crown, symbolical of his ego. Yet he has taken the first step of entering into the kingdom of God. ‘The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak’. (Mark 14, 38). At the reconciliation scene he is all ‘ripeness’.
The character of Cordelia and Prahlad, in contrast with Goneril, Regan and Edmund indicate that a child inherits a mass of potentials which circumstances and guidance or Autumn Edition 34
ISSN 2321 - 4805 misguidance channelize into positive or negative goals. The text of Lear, when compared to the myth of Prahlad, brings before us some very important questions. Did Cordelia learn the lessons of humanity from her father or her mother or was there a Narada factor, as in the case of Prahlad? Did the two elder sisters have their inhuman and villainous nature shaped by follies and callousness of their parents?
In both the texts punishments inflicted upon daughter and son are expressions of anger and outcome of pride rather than sincere attempts to correct the behaviour of children. One of the main reasons for the banning of corporal punishment by parents in several countries is the fact that they are actually a result of the parents’ inability to control their own passions.Another point which is deemed important by modern thinkers of education and which is depicted in the two texts discussed above is the parents’ blindness to their children’s point of view. Hiranyakashipu willingly remains blind to his son’s point of view although the latter tries to reason with him. Lear neither understands Cordelia’s rebellion nor Goneril and Regan’s flattery. Not listening to children and not able to see through children’s behaviour handicap the parents seriously. Both the texts show this truth.
Insensitivity to children’s perspective is paired with insensitivity and brutality to women in both the texts. The gods’ brutality towards Kayadhu suggests the brutal attitude towards women in ancient Indian society. Simultaneously, King Lear portrays a society highly insensitive towards women. It is surprising that neither Lear nor any of his daughters ever mention of their mother. Shakespeare’s text is surprisingly silent on Lear’s wife. Even when he is out in the stormy night, exposed to the elements, he does not recall his wife. Thinking upon the ruthlessness and cruelty of his daughters he is surprised at his own parenthood: ‘Judicious punishment: ’twas this flesh begot/ Those pelican daughters’ (3.4.70-1). We reach here the depth of tragedy. But it also exposes Lear’s patriarchal attitude towards procreation and education, for it was not only his flesh but also his wife’s which begot the ‘pelican daughters’. A woman, then, has no genetic contribution to make to her child. She bears the child in her womb like a beast of burden. Moreover, Lear has no reflection regarding the upbringing of his daughters. Reflecting on the unkindness of his ‘lawful’ daughters (in comparison to Gloucester’s ‘bastard son’) the mad Lear vents the ingrained prejudice of his subconscious:
Behold yon simp’ring dame, Autumn Edition 35
ISSN 2321 - 4805 Whose face between her forks presages, snow,
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure’s name,
Thefitchew nor the soiled horse goes to’t
With a more riotous appetite. Down from the waist
They’re centaurs, though women all above.
But to the girdle do the gods inherit;
Beneath is all the fiend’s. There’s hell, there’s darkness,
There is the sulphurous pit, burning, scalding, stench, consumption. Fie. fie, fie; pah, pah!
( 4.6. 116- 26 )
This dehumanization of woman into a cross between heaven and hell was rooted in the patriarchal mindset to which womanhood is a cross between Mother Mary, the emblem of innocence and Eve, the cause of man’s loss of Eden. It took hundreds of years for the menfolk to understand that even a ‘simp’ring dame’ has sexual appetite, just as men have and it is perfectly natural. Lear is much closer to reality at this stage than before but he is culturally ill-equipped to acknowledge the truth. His prejudiced view of women is an obstacle in realizing the equality of man and woman. Hence he is a failure as a father of three daughters. The patriarchal milieu to which Lear belongs, paralyses his chances of becoming a good father to his daughters.
Patriarchal values and prejudicesmakesthe two fathers, Lear and Gloucester, act in an irresponsible manner in the opening scene. Otherwise they are not inhuman and unkind. It is the most irresponsible act of Lear- being the father- to ‘disclaim’ (1.1.113) his unmarried daughter Cordelia for disobeying and insulting him, leaving her absolutely unsheltered, although from Cordelia’s point of view, it was courageous of her to protest all the nonsense and flattery being carried over by his father and two sisters, while Autumn Edition 36
ISSN 2321 - 4805 risking her share of her father’s property. When she is disclaimed from all ‘paternal care’, when Burgundy, one of the suitors is disinterested, she desperately tries to reason with her father:
It is no vicious blot, murther or foulness,
No unchaste action, or dishonour’d step,
That hath deprived me of your grace and favour.
( 1.1. 227-9).
A new-born child is utterly helpless and entirely dependent on parents. As parents love the child, the child also begins to love them. The motherless and unmarried Cordelia, being a woman in the Shakespearean world of medieval England, is again resorted to the helplessness of a child with no parental love. In Lear’s view she is of no value, of no significance. He reintroduces her daughter to Lord Burgundy, one of the suitors to Cordelia as an unsubstantial being whose ‘price is fallen’:
But now her price is fallen. Sir, there she stands:
If aught within that little seeming substance,
Or all of it, with our displeasure piec’d,
And nothing more, …
( lines 196- 99 )
From a feminist perspective, this dialogue makes Lear a villain who deserves to be punished. Bereft of parental care (including the promise of dowry), Cordelia is nothing more than all the ‘little seeming substance’ whose ‘price is fallen’. By Lear’s ‘all of it’ Cordelia has nothing more than an animal, sexual identity. In other words, in the English society even in the seventeenth century, Cordelia could only exist as a prostitute unless she is married to a man. Here, Lear is posited before us not as a father but as a representative of the brutality of patriarchy. Conversely, from the perspective of Cordelia, in being reduced to a mere female in public by her own father, Lear is the worst father a woman can imagine. Lear’s perspective is worse than Gloucester’s. Autumn Edition 37
ISSN 2321 - 4805 Although Gloucester says that the ‘whoreson’ must be acknowledged, Lear disinherits his daughter. It is a naked display of callous individualism and patriarchal mindset which plagued Renaissance Europe and which Shakespeare could not fail to notice. Here we may also refer to Polonius, who ‘looses’ his daughter on Hamlet like a dog: ‘At such a time I’ll loose my daughter to him.’(2.2.163). In fact, both Lear and Cordelia are victims of patriarchy. Perhaps Lear would not have chosen to satisfy his ego in arranging a love-game among his daughters if he had three sons instead of three daughters. He is trained to treat women as insignificant objects. Moreover, he has no knowledge of her daughters’s natures. He is oblivious of how Goneril and Regan can use the situation to their selfish advantage and how Cordelia may react. It was not customary in medieval or in Renaissance European society to be bothered much about daughters. Lear supposedly bothered more about his knights and his fool than his daughters throughout his life.
Beside these cruel fathers let us see how Shakespeare depicts a cruel mother. Lady Macbeth boasts before her husband that she knows ‘how tender ’tis to love the babe…’ ( 1.7.55) that suckles her; yet if she is promised she can dash the brains of the suckling child. This is perhaps the utmost picture of cruelty one can imagine and brings to mind the character of Medea of the ancient Greek play. But Lady Macbeth is merely boasting. She cannot harm even the old Duncan as he resembles her father. In actuality, Lady Macbeth, as we see her in the murder scene and the banquet scene, guards her husband from mental breakdown even at the cost of her own mental disintegration. Here we can draw a line of compassion that connects Lady Macbeth and Cordelia, who shows almost motherly care to her father.
In the old chronicle play the love-game was Leir’s ploy to get Cordelia married, but not in Shakespeare’s play. Here Lear wants to retire from the duties of kingship and therefore wants to divide his kingdom among his daughters. But he could have done that without the love-game. Hence it is solely a way of self-gratification. Simultaneously, from the social perspective, the love-game is not shameful, but rather something on which the king could feel proud, otherwise Lear would not have arranged it. Lear desired the opportunity to gratify his ego in public. Hence Lear’s outburst of anger is caused not only by Cordelia’s obstructing his desire but also by the insult it brought upon Lear in public. This argument becomes more comprehensible when compared to the tragic fate of Karna and Kunti in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Karna is the illegitimate child forsaken by his mother Kunti. Kunti forsakes her first newborn child because it
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 is socially disreputable for an unmarried woman to give birth to a child. Similarly, Lear conducts the love game partly because it is socially prestigious for him to hear his daughters declare their love for him. Both Kunti and Lear are misguided by what their respective societies accept as shameful or prestigious. These characters alarm us that even in the twenty-first century we might be similarly misguided by what society accepts as ‘prestigious’ or ‘shameful’.One might realize one’s folly later but then it will be too late. In Tagore’s adaptation of the episode of Karna and Kunti, titled Karna-KuntiSa.nbaad , Kunti calls herself ‘ ku-mataa ’, ‘bad mother’. In most Indian languages the term is a serious appendage against any mother because it is believed that mothers are always and inevitably good. Yet Karna tells her that you can never return me what you have deprived me of:
Hence unkindness to children cannot be repaired when the childhood is gone. Then a parent has no choice but to suffer. Kunti wonders in amazement at the curse she has brought upon herself: that her once forsaken son has returned in arms to kill her other sons, that is, his own brothers:
,
,
!
That Lear’s folly in forsaking Cordelia brings only curses upon himself is quite evident. But the way Goneril and Regan treat their father throughout the play indicate, especially in the light of the above quotation from Tagore, that Lear must have committed some serious mistakes while his daughters were little.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 In the reconciliation scene, the ‘ripe’ Lear treats his daughter with the respect which no man ever gives to any woman in the play. Lear, on recognizing Cordelia, kneels before her before saying anything. Lear is reborn as a seer of truth, devoid of all anger and pride and prejudice. This scene represents the truth which the playwright posits before patriarchal seventeenth century English society, which had just passed her golden era under the reign of a woman. In the final scene, for Lear, Cordelia is no longer a mere female animal, but the darling daughter, symbolical of all the flowery tenderness of the father’s heart. Now his sensitive soul cannot bear the pain of the death of Cordelia.
The father’s demand for daughter’s love is one of the key preoccupations of Shakespeare’s tragedy. But what about the daughter’s thirst for love of the father? This is a crucial question as far as our understanding of the problem of parental cruelty is concerned. In Tagore’s dramatic poem Karna-KuntiSambad , adapted from Udyogparva of the Mahabharata , Karna speaks of his thirst for mother’s love:
....Indeed I had heard that I had been abandoned by my natural mother. How often in the depth of night I’ve had this dream: that slowly, softly my mother had come to see me, and I’ve felt so bleak, and beseeched her in tears, ‘Mother, remove your veil, let me see your face,’ – and at once the figure has vanished, tearing apart my greedy thirsty dream. (translated from the original Bangla by KetakiKushari Dyson). Did Cordelia dream of her father after being abandoned by him? From the play, it is obvious that Cordelia was aware of the softer side of Lear. She is very likely to feel thirsted for his father’s love. Confessing her sins Kunti tells Karna that she has come to receive him now with due honour. Karna refuses because he cannot betray his friend Duryodhana and join the Pandavas at the time of crisis. When Kunti assures him that he will be the king of Hastinapur if he desists from battle, Karna is surprised, but gathering his sense, he points out the irony that she is offering kingdom to that person who has returned mother’s love. Tagore implies that even an entire kingdom is of little value in comparison to mother’s love:
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 ! —
, ,
The contrast between kingdom and love runs throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy. Lear gives kingdom in return for love; Cordelia refuses to sell love for kingdom. But in the last act of the play Lear has no need of the world. He offers to his dear Cordelia, ‘Come, let’s away to prison’.
Notes
1. One of the ten incarnations or avatars or Lord Vishnu in Hindu mythology. 2. Tapasya is meditation enduring the hardships of nature; in Indian epics and Puranas, we find several demons doing tapasya for supernatural powers and boons from Brahma or Shiva.
Quotations of Shakespeare are from The Complete Oxford Shakespeare , Vol. 3. Tragedies, edited by Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor, John Jowett, and William Montgomery, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 1994. All quotations of Lear are from the Folio text. Quotations of Tagore are from www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr.org
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Works Cited
‘Ethical Leadership from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Olivier Mythodrama TM , www.oliviermythodrama.com/admin/uploads/Ethical%20Leadership%20- %Programme%20Outline%202014.pdf . Foakes, R.A., Hamlet Versus Lear: Cultural Politics and Shakespeare’s Art, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004, First Published 1993. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Ed. The Complete Oxford Shakespeare. Vol. 3. Ed. Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor, John Jowett, and William Montgomery. Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 1994. SrimadBhagavatam (BhagavataPurana). BhaktivedantaVedabase. A Treasure of Spiritual Knowledge. 1.4.2015. www.vedabase.com/en/sb/7/7 . Tagore, Rabindranath, Karna-KuntiSa.nbaad, Rabindrarachanabali. 2.8.15. www.rabindra-rachanabali,nltr.org Tagore Rabindranath Karna-KuntiSa.nbaad. Dialogue BetweenKarna and Kunti. Trans.KetakiKushari Dyson, 30.3.2015. parabaas.com, translations, poems, 2000. The original Bangla poem was published in Kahini, 1900. Varner Jr., Dr. Carson H., ‘21 st Century Ethics: 16 th Century Advice From William Shakespeare’, 1.4.2015. 2:30 p.m., IST. https://about.illinoisstate.edu/varne2/siteassets/pages/Research/21st% 20cntury%20ethics.pdf ,
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia, ‘Hiranyakashipu’. 4.4.2015. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyakashipu, ---.‘CorporalPunishment in the Home’. 20.7.2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal_punishment_in_the_home
---. ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’.20.7.2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Rights_of_the_Child
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article - 6
Theatre of Roots and its Subversions
---- Dr. Mrityunjay Prabhakar
Assistant Professor, Drama & Theatre Arts,
Sangit Bhavana, Visva-Bharati,
Santiniketan, West Bengal, India.
From ‘Go to the Roots’ to ‘Theatre of Roots’, the movement has changed many facets in a very short period. It has been started by choice and concern towards developing a theatre form of our own, assimilating the regional/folk/traditional forms of the country with a certain kind of consciousness. The concern of the first generation directors and theatre activists was to develop a form which would be deeply rooted into its own culture and has fragrance of the soil. They were searching for Indianness within Indian theatre practice which was missing in the so called urban realistic modern Indian theatre. Indian People’s Theatre Association has played a major role as discussed in the earlier chapter. Underlining the Role of Peoples’ associated with IPTA, Habib Tanvir has written way back in 1974 in his article ‘Theatre in the Villages’; The trend itself is not a new phenomenon. It dates back to the Indian Peoples' Theatre Association during the late forties when producers like Balraj Sahni, Shombhu Mitra and Dina Pathak for the first time turned folk theatre forms to contemporary purposefulness. Today, how-ever, a concerted effort of greater significance has to be made in order to make a dent in the lop-sided development of our theatre. Shortly, directors like Habib Tanvir, Sheila Bhatia and Shanta Gandhi also joined the same style of developing a theatre production and together with the first generation North-West Indian theatre directors who started doing experimental works with the folk/traditional/regional theatre forms of their own region, surely in the influence of Indian People’s Theatre Association. Habib Tanvir, Shanta Gandhi and Sheila Bhatia carried their work for a long period and thus they became able to develop their own genre of theatre for which they are known to the world. At the
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 same time or even a little before K. Shivram Karanth and K.N. Panikker were the men in South India who have been deeply engaged in this sort of activities during their early age. K. Shivram Karanth was the man behind the reinvention of a traditional theatre form ‘Yakshgana’ for the modern world as he tried to reorient and modernize ‘Yakshgana’, the regional theatre form of Karnataka according to the need of the hour while K.N. Panniker tried the same with the Sanskrit theatre and reinvented the whole genre with the help of the available forms and cultural artefacts of Kerala. Although, it was just a beginning of the ‘Theatre of Roots’ in the early days of Indian Independence but still it has developed its own niche by the time in the history of Indian performing arts. Lauding their works Habib Tanvir has mentioned; Nonetheless there are producers and theatre groups in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and elsewhere that are engaged in original work of a very valuable nature. They are mostly involved in experiments with Indian folk theatre forms. Though in a country of vast cultural resources like India, their number is deplorably low, they have already managed to break new ground and lay the foundation of a genuine Indian theatre. In the influence of the wonderful works done by the first generation theatre directors like Habib Tanvir, Sheila Bhatia, Shanta Gandhi and K. Shivaram Karanth second generation theatre directors like H. Kanhailal, B.V. Karanth, Rajinder Nath, K.V. Subbanna, Jabbar Patel, Utpal Dutt, Rudraprasad Sengupta and many others either started experimenting with the traditional theatre form of their own region or started carving a modern theatre by using the conventions, techniques and grammar of regional/traditional theatre of their region. Later, major playwrights of the time also joined the movement and started writing plays based on the conventions of folk/traditional/regional performing art forms. Habib Tanvir has mentioned this development in the same article;
And this is also beginning to get reflected in the works of some young and promising playwrights. For instance, Girish Karnad's interes-ing Kannada play 'Haya Vadana' (Half Horse), based upon an ancient Indian legend which also inspired Thomas Mann to write his novel 'Transposed Heads', draws richly from a Mysore folk theatre form known as the rakshagana. Similarly, the Bengali playwright- producer Utpal Dutt recently turned the Bengali folk theatre form of
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Jatra to great political advantage by using its technique in his recent play about Lenin 'Leniner Dak'; P L Deshpande of Bombay has done the same with his Marathi plays written and produced in a Marathi folk theatre style known as Tamasha'. This second generation of theatre directors who took the by lane of ‘Theatre of Roots’, while being already known for their works in mainstream urban theatre, has contributed a lot to the movement which later became the mainstream theatre practice of the country. They have not only carry forward the work started by the first generation theatre directors but also given the movement a kind of strength and experimentation which helped the whole movement in carving a niche of its own. This new kind of experimentations started by the first and second generation of the ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement has created a sort of new kind of aesthetic pleasure in watching the performances which has not only the fragrance but also the soul of the country. They finally broke the western conventions of stage and its technique of producing a play and evolved a production design of their own based on the Indian traditional theatre forms. They were also motivated by the urge of searching their own roots. The third generation of ‘Theatre of Roots’ directors comprises those you have started practicing ‘Theatre of Roots’ model in and around the Sangeet Natak Akademi propagated scheme. All these directors were in their youth at that point of time and they were chosen by the Akademi to produce a play in their own folk/regional/traditional theatre or cultural forms. Many of them have proved their worth and produced some of the most sparkling theatre productions of modern Indian theatre history. Some of the productions which happened in zonal/National theatre festivals organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi are the best examples of the synthesis of modern Indian theatre with its roots but surprisingly a lot of them are of no value. Theatre directors like Ratan Thiyam, Bansi Kaul, B. Jayshree, Waman Kendre, M. K. Raina, Satish Anand, Urmil Kumar Thaptiyal, Chandradashan, Parvej Akhtar, Laique Hussain, Balwant Thakur, Alakhnandan, Bhanu Bharati, Neelam Man Singh, C.R. Jambe, Usha Ganguly, Probir Guha and many others are the glittering names of the Sangeet Natak Akademi supported ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement whose productions caught the attention of the Nation. There are indeed a fourth generation theatre directors who have associated themselves with this genre of performances and they have done a great job even after the SNA scheme deserted the idea of ‘Theatre of Roots’. Sanjay Upadhyay, Suresh Anakali, Gautam Haldar,
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Heisnam Tomba and many others have carried forward the tradition of ‘Theatre of Roots’ on their shoulder till the fifth generation joined it and carrying the task of giving a new outlook to the ‘Theatre of Roots’. Although, it’s hardly like a movement now a days but still a lot of directors still prefer to work with the folk/traditional/regional cultural theatre practices and resources of the country and trying to come up with productions which has a local and global appeal in the post modern society. But, as I have said earlier, I don’t see ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement as monolithic entity. Although, I do not want to categories them according to their age or decade because that would be too simplistic a way to judge them. I would like to categories it in four different types according the trends, attributes and nature of the movement and theatre productions it brought on ground. These are the most important subversions of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement in my perception. These subversions in ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement was brought through the critical and conceptual engagement of the theatre directors with the practice of their own kind of theatre of roots. These subversions can be seen in the stylization, ornamentation, production style and the presentation of the play produced by the theatre directors while engaging with their own folk/traditional/regional theatre forms of the country. These subversions are not only stylistic and conceptual but also different at the level of poetics and politics of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement. The one who was state oriented official stamp quality ‘Ornamental’ ‘Theatre of Roots’, which is quite emblematic and poster material, as it did happen due to the governmental support system without feeling any sensibility towards the form it was utilizing. In my point of view the major portion of the young directors of the state oriented module of ‘Theatre of Roots’ comes into the ‘ornamental’ category. The young budding directors of the country were going with the wind and they hardly took their task seriously enough as they found it an easy way to make name, fame and money at that point of time. Their non-seriousness was one of the major factors behind the debacle of the whole movement. This version of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement can be classified as the ornamental utilization of these forms and age old traditions. In this category most of the directors fit into as most of them came to the movement because of the funding provided by SNA and other government bodies and private agencies. They just used the traditional forms half heartedly and in haphazard way to ornament their own
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 theatre productions. The kind of association which they need to develop with the forms was missing and in end result half waked productions came out of this process. In spite of this horrible gesture from the ornamental trend there are few who used these forms intelligently and took it to such a level that they marvelled the trend. Although, the utilization effect could be seen in them too but at least they make sense. Although, there are directors who have done some significant work even within the limit of ‘Ornamental’ use of the folk/traditional/regional performance resources. These directors have been trying their hands on the folk/traditional/regional performing art forms with the view of modelling a modern theatre performance by acquiring the form, technique and convention and they used them intelligently for their own modern theatre productions. Some of the second and third generation theatre directors like Shyamanand Jalan, Rajinder Nath, Satish Anand, C.C. Mehta, Vaman Kendre, Parvej Akhtar, Laique Hussain and others have done a respectful job and their works could be adhered to the best of ‘Ornamental’ use of ‘Theatre of Roots’. The second trend which can be easily foreseen in the ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement is the ‘Revivalist’ one. Some of the directors turned to the community-specific forms, rituals and age old traditions, classical and folk performances due to its historicity and sacred nature. This revivalist trend follows the glorification project of our age old traditions rather than seeing them in rational perspective. Some of very important figures of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement directors, whether they turned to classical theatre forms or the traditional one, could be put into this category i.e. K.N. Pannikar, K. Shivram Karanth, Kumar Verma and Shanta Gandhi. A section of any society always lives in past. For them the age old rituals, traditions and way of life are a matter of pride. They hail the ancient civilization practices on the name of traditions and glorious past of the society; however, they might not be as glorious as portrayed. These people always carry a puritan view about their social-cultural practices and try to revive them in the present so that they could show how developed and rational their social-cultural practices were even in the ancient times. Some of our theatre directors also did the same into the field of theatre and tried to either revive age old theatre forms or reorient and established them as one of the legendry practices of our country. Some of our modern theatre practitioners tried to do the same in the field of theatre art before and after Independence. They turned to the age old traditional or classical forms and tried to create theatre performances based on them or the Sanskrit plays, which were supposed to be
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 the authentic dramatic writings and forms of the country. They tried to recreate the magic of Sanskrit theatre or traditional theatre forms. They followed the forms and the text so rigid that it was difficult to churn anything new from the same exercise. In search of the authentic theatre forms they simply not gone to the texts but also tried to look for the forms that have derived heavily from Sanskrit theatre practices. Instead of trying to reorient the ancient Sanskrit theatre forms they simply inscribed those theatre or cultural forms which have elements of the same. They based their theatre practice not only on that but also tried to engage with them creatively instead of borrowing from these art forms blindly. In that sense although their search was with the purpose of reinstigetting the old age forms of the country and henforth ‘Revivelist’ but they came up with creative engagement with the same and that’s why they had created a niche for themselves in modern Indian theatre practice. The success achieved in these kinds of performances by the directors of this trend happened due to their actor’s training methods and skill development programs. In an article on Indian theatre titled ‘Theatre in India’ Girish Karnad also mentioned these directors who have engaged themselves creatively with the Sanskrit theatre conventions and provided a rigorous training to their actors of specific forms they were working with. The success achieved in producing some fabulous plays by the directors of this trend shows the passion and brilliance of their actor training methods utilized for the same. Here Girish Karnad writes; To do justice to a Sanskrit play, a producer needs a fully worked out style that is complex and subtle and a cast of actors who have been thoroughly trained in that style. One cannot cast any set of actors nurtured in company natak notions or in the realist school and make the plays work. Only in the last decade have two theatre directors? Kavalan Narayana Panikkar in Kerala and Ratan Thiyam in Manipur (notice the geographical spread)?staged Sanskrit plays with actors specifically trained for that purpose. The results have been spectacular. They have shown that, when properly staged, there is nothing otherworldly or quaint about Sanskrit drama. Many of the young and old directors of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement had tried their hands on traditional and classical theatre art forms of this country and came up with some wonderful performances also. Theatre directors like K. Shivram Karanth, K.N. Panniker, Shanta Gandhi and Kumar Verma did wonderful job in this direction. Their works could be easily
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 assigned to the ‘Revivelist’ trend of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement. They have been successful in producing some very famous plays of the time and movement. Third category of this trend is of the ‘modernist’ utilization of the folk/traditional forms where theatre director takes liberty from the original forms which he is using and try to develop something a new with the amalgamation of the modern techniques, movements, and musical patterns to create a new meaning out of it. Directors like B.V. Karnath, Jabbar Patel, K.V. Subanna, Probir Guha and Ratan Thiyam follows the suit. These celebrated theatre directors of our country are known for their modernist explorations of the folk/traditional/regional forms of the country. They have been utilizing them as raw materials to create a new product rather than celebrating the folk/traditional/regional theatre forms in their theatre productions. The modernist trend of ‘Theatre of Roots’ was one of the major currents of the whole movement. Most of the major theatre directors, who were for the roots with the core of their heart with modern sensibility, turned to this trend and produced splendid works through their experiments. Experiments and explorations were core to their work and they achieved their own glory through their explorations of the folk/traditional/regional theatre and cultural forms with utmost modern sensibility. Rather than charming the audience they believed in engaging with them through their modernist explorations. They achieved it through the fine balance they created between the content and the form they were using for their explorations and experimentations. We all know that there was a large debate over importance of content and form in a theatre or art practice over the years. While some practitioners laid emphasis on content and declared it superior to anything else some others gone crazy for the form and accepted the form as a major entity in theatre/art practices. This debate has its own historicity and merit associated with it in which I don’t want to go but it has influenced many a theatre/art practices of our country. Theatre directors who have opted for ‘Ornamental’ or ‘Revivelist’ trend of ‘Theatre of Roots’ movement as classified by me are more or less abide to the later category for whom the form has a major significance for their theatre practice. While the theatre directors of the ‘Modernist’ Explorations are of the third kind. They have achieved a great balance between the content and form of their theatre practice. For them both go together without overlapping each other. They see hardly any duality between the two and connect both, as two loving hearts connects to each other without seeing any duality
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 between two individuals. This is what makes them different from the directors of the other genres of ‘Theatre of Roots’. The fourth category which I have proposed in ‘Theatre of Roots’ is the ‘representative’ one, consisting of those who turned to their folk/traditional/regional forms and age old traditions totally out of interest. Neither, they were trying to utilize the folk/traditional/regional theatre/cultural forms, age old traditions and rituals to create a new kind of theatre, nor they were for the revival of the forms with whom they were working with. In fact, they were more or less pushing forward and moulding their traditional resources so that it could suit to the new conditions of the world around and acquire a new language and meaning. These were the actual modernist masters of Indian theatre both in content and the form. Directors like H. Kanhailal and Habib Tanvir are the best examples of this category. ‘I was not after the form,’ as, Habib Tanvir revealed in several of his interviews, ‘but was searching a theatrical language through which I could relate to the age old traditions and at the same time appeal the current Indian audience who were far from the so called realistic modern/urban theatre.’ Their concern was much deeper than the utilization value of the cultural forms/traditions/rituals they were working with. They were strikingly different in their themes from the rest and the use of the form. They were not using the form but reorienting them to the present day situations and the needs. The ‘Representative’ category which I am suggesting was due to the nature of the work of these two masters of modern Indian Theatre. If we see and analyze their theatre practice the productions they have done look like the continuation of the age old traditions/forms they were working with. They are not like the types which I have discussed under the ‘Ornamental’ category where the directors were using the actual strength of the forms in bits and pieces to decorate their theatre practice in a particular form. Neither was they working for the revival of the age old traditions and forms of their regions like the masters of the ‘Revivelist’ trend nor were they reinventing their own theatre language and forms as ‘Modernist’ masters have done by churning out the traditional cultural forms of their region. The masters of ‘Representative’ category were minimalist, simple and true in approach to their respective forms with whom they were working with. The forms and actors they were engaged with were always at the core of their theatre practice. They were not for just creative
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 utilization of conventions and performance language of a particular form but for the optimum development of the same so that even the form can get a new life with their theatre practice.
Works Cited
Karnad, Girish. ‘Theatre in India’, Daedalus , Vol. 118, No. 4, Another India (Fall, 1989), pp. 330-352 Tanvir, Habib. ‘Theatre Is in the Villages’, Social Scientist , Vol. 2, No. 10 (May, 1974), pp. 32- 41
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article - 7
‘Politicisation of Aesthetics’ and the Life of Epic Theatre: A Study
---- Subhajit Das
Assistant Professor, Department of English,
Rani Dhanya Kumari College, Jiaganj,
Murshidabad, West Bengal, India.
“For where belief has prevailed for a thousand years, doubt now prevails… what was never doubted is now in doubt” (LG 3). It was after the First World War, that the suffering of the middle and lower classes, the Great Depression of 1930s and the teachings of Marxism led German artists and intellectuals into a profound re-examination of fundamental values of art itself. Arts and politics are integrally connected with each other and it is impossible to separate art and beauty from ideology. George Lukács and Bertolt Brecht had a debate over what the ideal form of art should be. Lukács had objection to the early 20 th century approach to Modernism. He approached realism from a classical humanist position – an individual in touch with his surroundings – a dialectical relationship between the individual and his social position. He was trying to aestheticize the politics. Brecht attempts at broadening the scope of realism, he wants to bring in formalistic changes because the nature of forces of production and the relation between them has been changed, which also leads to the changes in perceptions – trying to comprehend reality in different light. Galileo has rightly underscanned the spirit of enquiry – how to see to get at the truth: “You see! What do you see? You see nothing. You only goggle. Goggling is not seeing” (5). In a modern world, the nature of forces of production and their relation have been changed because of the changes of perceptions. Brecht wants to expand the idea of realism by attempting to look at 19 th century aesthetic principles in a new light. According to him, since society has been technologised, the aesthetic principle also has to be changed as to look reality from
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 different points of view. His attempt is to politicise the aesthetics. A change in art also has to be brought about. So in order to bring about that change, an author has to be anti-illusionist – the idea of verisimilitude has to be done away with. Brecht deliberately avoids the smooth inevitability of 19 th century drama and he argues that only epic theatre can express the bewildering disjointedness of modern life. It is a new kind and a new theory of drama. He is debunking the Aristotelian theory in the Poetics . According to Aristotle, a tragedy can be tragedy only when there is ‘catharsis’ and emotional empathy with the character. A situation will be created so that the audience will be soaked in the tragic action and should get involved in it. But Brecht retorts as he wants his audience to know that it is not real, the characters are not real and Brecht will construct his plays in such a way that the characters will be able to watch the action from multi-perspective views. Brecht’s plays are open-ended. Audiences are given chances to make choice. He wants to break the illusion of drama. Actors do not really play their part but quote merely. The audience will not be intrigued by the fact what will happen next. The Life of Galileo opens with Galileo being introduced with the help of commentary and placard: GALILEO GALILEI, TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS AT PADUA, DETERMINES TO PROVE THE NEW COPERNICAN SYSTEM In the year sixteen hundred and nine Science’s light began to shine. At Padua City, in a modest house Galileo Galilei set out to prove The sun is still, the earth is on the move. (1) Use of placards, commentaries, long pauses, empty stages, episodic plots establish epic theatre as a place of entertainment, but not of brainless entertainment. Thus, the element of surprise is minimalised. The theme is to present ideas and invite the audiences to make judgement. Characters are not intended to mimic real people but to represent opposing sides of an argument. Brechtian stage productions are also different. Musicians sit on stage – the distance between the stage and audience is broken down deliberately. Duality is engraved in every individual and through duality comes complexity and through this comes the scope for Brecht to broaden up the issue of reality. Here comes the idea of commitment. For Brecht, realism does not exist. It has to be arrived at and this reality has to be opened up by taking some anti-
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 illusionist technique and ‘alienation’ is incorporated to make the viewers aware that reality in a performance is only a performance. One has to defamiliarise the familiar world to change it. Art, according to Brecht, should be considered as a product. The idea of ‘artist’ has also been changed radically – an artist becomes producer of a product, because of which relationship between the artist and the audience has also been changed. Brecht does not present Galileo as a hero in the traditional sense of the term deliberately. Initially he does have the potential to be a hero but he proves to be a person with ‘heroic cowardice’. When Andrea loudly says, “Unhappy the land that has no heroes!” (82). Galileo calmly retorts and replies, “No. Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes” (83). Galileo is presented as a simple man whose mentality would serve the matrix of the dialectics of the society. There should not be any space for empathy. In the romantic aesthetics, artist having full autonomy over his art is the guardian of the art that he has produced. The artist and art have a direct one to one correspondence but the use of technology gives rise to a new form of art. According to Benjamin, the peculiar ‘aura’ of art has declined with the introduction of print and technology. In modern world, the nucleus of modern- day art is shock experience centered around the urban life. To Benjamin, life is like a film – contingent, fleeting and fugitive which is the essence of urban experience and urban art. Because urban life is fragmentary, urban art should also be fragmentary. The modern artist has also become a producer. New kinds of audience have to be produced because of the decline of the ‘aura’ and because of the shock experience which is at the centre of urban life. Brecht through his epic theatre and anti-Aristotelian stance is trying to reach out reality in a manner which is radically different from Lukács. To Benjamin, a truly progressive art should rise above the dichotomy of form and content. It should try to bring new techniques, latest technological tools in order to change art from within. He is really ‘politicising the aesthetics’. The new form of art will help us for distancing ourselves from constructing the principles of reality. Art had aura in the beginning; it had hermetic quality because of the exclusivity of art aspiring the ritual of art. But with reproducibility, the ‘aura’ declines. The purpose of art changes, now-a-days artists need to put politics in art so that we can have a peep at reality – thus resulting in commitment. Thus Brecht creates a new kind of Marxist theatre – classical in its ambition and resolutely modern in its form and content. It is nothing less than dialectics in practice.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 It must be mentioned in this context that the original title of The Life of Galileo was The Earth Moves . It does not merely reflect the dynamic movement of heavenly bodies but also indicates a very same movement in society and seeing life critically is the first step towards changing it for “a new era” to be “dawned, a great age in which it is a joy to be alive” (6). In a way, the dramatists’, the actors’ and the audiences’/readers’ onus lies in materialising the dream into reality as Marx has rightly pointed out, “ The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” (Marxists.org Web)
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Works Cited
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. N. Heath. London: Penguin, 1996. Print. Benjamin, Walter. Understanding Brecht . Trans. Anna Bostock. London: Verso, 1998. Print. Brecht, Bertolt. Brecht on Theatre. Eds. Marc Silberman, Steve Giles & Tom Kuhn. London & etc. : Bloomsbury, 2014. Print. _ _ _. The Life of Galileo . Trans. Desmond I. Vesey. Ed. A. G. Stock. Calcutta & etc. : OUP, 1983. Print. ( cited as LG) “Marx/ Engels Internet Archive”. https://www.Marxist.org. Web. Accessed on 11.08.15 at 8 pm. Unwin, Stephen. A Guide to the Plays of Bertolt Brecht . London & etc. : Bloomsbury, 2012. Print.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Article - 8
The ‘sumptuous spoils of foreign soils’: Wealth and Acquisition in The Rape Of The Lock and Robinson Crusoe
---- Sukanya Ray Ph.D Research Scholar, Department of English & Other Modern European Languages, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan West Bengal, India.,
To ev’ry Part of the Globe we roam, And bring the Riches of each Climate home; With Northern Furrs we’re clad and Eastern Gold, Yet know not India’s, nor Russia’s cold, We taste the Winds, that sultry Soils produce, Free from the Scorching Beams, which raise the noble Juice; Knowledge and Plenty fetch from ev’ry Shore, With Arts our Minds, with Wealth our Coffers store. Henry Needler “A Sea- Piece” (Line 67-76) ─ The eighteenth century witnessed the massive growth in overseas trade, navigation, plantation and slave trade which led to the concomitant consolidation of “Great Britain” as an Empire, both at home and abroad. The “sumptuous spoils of foreign soils” (Edward Young 232, 305-6) which flowed in unceasingly as a result of the mercantilist exploits of the British traders aroused in the hearts of the British people a libidinal desire for ‘wealth’ and ‘acquisition’ ─ and this shall be our subject of discussion primarily confining our analysis to The Rape Of The Lock (1712) and Robinson Crusoe (1719), the two representative texts of this era. English imperialism did not begin in the eighteenth century. It began as early as 1650, but especially after 1713, it underwent a rapid expansion and an increasing orientation toward the trade or commercially based version that serves the interests of a pre-industrial capitalist society. Autumn Edition 67
ISSN 2321 - 4805 The wars of this period fought by England, were essentially commercial struggles, out of which England emerged as the dominant commercial power in the extra- European world. By the early eighteenth century, the East India Company was England’s biggest business, and its mercantilist strategies served as a prelude to future colonization and the setting up of exclusive monopolies and administrative control over the exotic East. By the ‘Peace of Utrecht’ of 1713, the War of the Spanish succession concluded and England attained equality with France in trade with Spain. It supplanted France in holding a monopoly contract to supply slaves to the Spanish New World. As a result of these, England replaced Holland as a major European slave-trading nation. No wonder trade, the praise of trade and the effects of trade became a dominant motif in the major texts of this time. In an age of unprecedented expansion, the discovery of new worlds fostered by the technologies of the telescope and the microscope, echoing with the strains of – “Rule, Britannia, rule the waves” (Thompson 5) one cannot help but ascribe the talismanic objects on Belinda’s dressing table to the huge importation of goods accompanying overseas expansion and trade. In such a social scenario, an exchange value comes to usurp use value, and relations between things replace relations between people, human beings themselves here come to be redefined as objects, and in such a world one can well imagine that ‘mighty contests’ cannot rise for the love of a women but for ‘trivial Things.’ By taking on the characteristics of mercantile imperialism, by painting herself into a socially prescribed and acceptable text, Belinda becomes a walking commodity herself. According to Laura Brown “The poem identifies her in terms of the products of mercantilist expansion, and it begins to develop a rhetoric of the commodity through which she and her culture can be described ─ a language of commodity fetishism were objects become the only reality” (13). Hence Belinda’s beauty can be measured in terms of the commodities she endorses, how far she is actually beautiful remains a mystery yet to be unravelled. The Marxian concept of the fetishism of commodity is particularly relevant in this regard. It refers to the tendency to replace inter-human relationships with relationships between humans and objects, where objects acquire their value not from their utility but by being exchanged for other objects. Here labour, becomes a commodity itself which can be exchanged for the universal equivalent of money. Thus the objectification of a culture and people result in a universal leveling of things where objects and human beings become synonymous and mutually
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 interchangeable. So the labour that is necessarily exploited overseas in order to procure the ‘glitt’ring Spoils’ on Belinda’s dressing table is essentially obliterated, and the Sylphs in charge of Belinda’s beauty and honour, had to be inevitably be ‘invisible’ and the ‘inferior priestess’ Betty had to be inevitably be ‘prais’d for Labour’, ‘not her own’. Belinda, as Commerce personified was decked with ‘all that Land and Sea afford (5:11)’, and ‘The various Off’rings of the World (1:130)’. For her, religion and mercantilism became synonymous and so she worshipped the ‘Cosmetic Pow’rs’ and wore a cross, merely as a decorative piece which ‘Jews might kiss, and Infidels adore’. Hence the exchangeability of ‘Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux (1:138)’ suggests the moral disorder of Belinda’s world, or the creation of a new, amoral kind of order in a universe where commodities have taken over all meaning. The orderly progression of words within the line “from one-to-two to three-syllable units” has a systematic cumulative effect, conforming to the ethic of acquisitiveness of this century. The image of Belinda when she emerges from the dressing room dressed in the white robe with the sparkling cross at her breast symbolically represents the British nation embellished with the colonial spoils, and her journey towards the Hampton Court is her symbolical journey towards the heart of the British politics. Belinda’s dressing table crowded with the bathetic collection of things, has no material history, has no makers. “The Tortoise here and Elephant unite, Transform’d to Combs, the speckled and the white” (1: 135-36) ─ the huge efforts of hunting then killing elephants and turtles, cutting off their tusks and removing their shells, transporting the ivory and tortoise shells and marketing them, has been reduced to a single word ‘Transform’d’, and Arabia captured and contained within the confinement of a single ‘box’. But Belinda has a “dual-status” in the poem, she is not only a consumer of commodities but a commodity herself. So a Lord Peter, fetishized not a flesh and bone woman but ‘He saw, he wish’d , and to the Prize aspir’d (2:30)’, and in his altar of love, which was furnished with ‘all the Trophies of his former Loves (2:40)’ he longed to contain Belinda’s beauty and chastity through a mere castration of her locks. And Belinda, after the loss of her lock fought not for her honour but for the public reputation of it, once again conforming to the new, amoral ethic of the time.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 The use of the mirror and the heroic classical materials, simultaneously reveal Pope’s narcissistic appraisal of the age, his celebration of the colossal ‘wealth and acquisition’ of the imperialist mission, and also his demystification of the false grandeur of Belinda’s trivial, commodified world by placing it in sharp contrast to the magnificence of the classical age. Hence Pope did not restrict himself by glowingly evoking only the ‘glitt’ring Spoils’ on Belinda’s dressing table, through Umbriel’s visit to the ‘Cave of Spleen’ he also talked of the import of pain, misery, ruthlessness, distress and fetishism, the bi-products of mercantile expansion --- “There she collects the Force of Female Lungs Sighs, Sobs, and Passions, and the War of Tongues. A Vial next she fills with fainting Fears, Soft Sorrows, melting Griefs, and flowing Tears (4:90-93)”. Since Pope was half in love with the creature he condemned his ambiguous affection is mirrored in his ambiguous treatment of the frivolous Belinda and the debased imperialist ethic. Pope, a product of the imperialist ideology, could not act above it and so he himself engaged in an act of imperialist mercantilism in importing styles, phrases, archetypes and the Rosicrucian Doctrine from other states, requisitioning their materials and taking them for his own in his creation of The Rape of The Lock. The infinite treasures in the distant Orient crying out for appropriation and use find a proper guide in the person of Daniel Defoe, who through all his works attempted to convince the English people how that exotic east can be with ease, “Possess’d, Planted, Secur’d to the British Nation ... and what Immense Wealth and Increase of Commerce might be Rais’d from thence (qtd. in Alam12),” and how the emptiness of the unpossessed space can be converted into potentiality. Thus Robinson Crusoe narrates the story of this conversion of space, the story of the colonization of the east, the story of the making and circulation of wealth, the story of the transformation of subsistence economy to profit-oriented economy and finally the story of the consolidation of the Empire. Crusoe is the representative of the ‘homo economicus’ or the economic man who enjoys the exploitation of the resources of the island and regrets his solitude only when he needs a helper in his labours. He is a representative of the capitalist ideology, driven to acquire, control and dominate. He is the self sufficient hero who does not go and settle in an environment that suits
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 him rather settles anywhere and creates an environment to suit him. Crusoe’s identity as an economic man is reflected in his treatment of Xury, the young slave who saves his life. Whenever the opportunity arises Crusoe does not hesitate to sell him for forty pounds. In Crusoe’s text human relationships are often dominated by economic concerns. Thus he may quibble about his ‘original sin’ in traveling out from his ‘middle station’ but the fact remains that it is in this departure to new spaces and new territories that the mercantile-colonial project thrives. Islands have always been objects of desire for the questers who have ever longed to bring the blank spaces under the cartographic system of the map and render them amenable for control and exploitation. So the ‘Island of Despair’ in Robinson Crusoe though apparently a wasteland, held the promise of immense wealth and riches for the mercantile imperialist Crusoe. His quest for the ‘sumptuous spoils’ and his desire to rise beyond his station carried him half round the globe to the African shores where his initial commercial success was followed by his temporary enslavement by the Moorish pirates. But this did not stop a Crusoe, he still believed with Defoe in the hidden potentialities of the blank spots, in the ‘prophecy of the Empire’ ─ “Africa is so large in its extent, and the country on the Coast everywhere so good that there is enough to satisfy every Pretender, and let everyone keep what they conquer (qtd. in Alam 15)”. This belief carried Crusoe, though by chance to the desolate island, which became for him the location for settlement, for colonization, for civilization, for exploitation, and for administration. Thus through Robinson Crusoe, Defoe presents a microcosmic representation of the macrocosmic phenomenon of colonialism where Crusoe, the arch colonizer extracts the maximum profit and wealth from the available natural and human resources, and generate a civilization from bogs. His ambitious mind was always contemplating and calculating moves to create more wealth, to reap the highest benefits from the available raw materials ─ “Having now secur’d my Habitation as I thought fully to my Mind… I began to take a more particular Survey of the Island itself… I had a great Desire to make a more perfect Discovery of the Island, and to see what other Productions I might find (72).” The mercantilist opportunist Crusoe, through his extreme power of observation and resourcefulness transformed the uncared, wild island into ‘a planted Garden’. It is striking how full of resources the island was. It had fowls, hares, goats, fish, turtles, and even penguins and seals. More important than the fauna of the island was its extraordinarily fertile soil, the
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 evidence of which was found when Crusoe noticed “perfect green Barley of the same kind as our European, nay, as our English Barley”, and next to it “some other straggling Stalks, which proved to be Stalks of Ryce (58-9)”, which were the outcome of Crusoe’s unthinkingly spilling of some husks on the ground, a month earlier. He also discovered tobacco, “large Plants of Alloes”, several sugar canes, melons, grapes, cocoa, orange, lemons, citron trees and “Savanna Fields sweet adorn’d with flowers and Grass, and full of very fine Woods (113-23)”. In such an Edenic environment it is no wonder that Crusoe, not even for once, did lament the absence of his parents or the comforts of his home, rather he contemplated other ways to improve his own living conditions and felt ‘a secret kind of Pleasure’ in being the ‘king and Lord of this Country (73)’. Crusoe’s credit laid not in the production of things but in the circulation and the proper utilization of the available resources. Mercantilism precisely dealt with this circulation of commodities in the eighteenth century. The mercantilist discourse on wealth was thus not the production but the circulation of commodities. The mobility of things is manifested in Robinson Crusoe in the description of lengthy and detailed lists, used to capture the transfer of things from one location to another ─ “I brought away several things very useful to me; as first, in the carpenter’s stores I found two or three bags full of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets, and above all, that most useful thing called a grindstone; all these I secured together, with several things belonging to the gunner, particularly two or three crows, and two barrels of musquet bullets, seven musquets, and another fowling piece, with some small quantity of powder more; a large bagful of small shot, and a great roll of sheet lead (41).” Crusoe’s fetishism of things is not the industrial fetishism for commodities, it is rather an act of mercantile fetishism where circulation is prioritized over production. Crusoe made an astounding forty-two visits to the wreck, neurotically collecting all the available items from the ship - transforming them into his necessities and erecting his empire from the ruins. Unlike the Marxian concept of commodity fetishism where exchange value dominates over use value and where labour is obliterated, Crusoe’s empire was built by the sole efforts of his own hands and because use value dominated his solitary life, all the relations between Crusoe and the objects were simple and transparent. Crusoe’s text is thus a validation of human labour and it’s proper harnessing under supervision to create the phenomenon of Empire.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Crusoe’s compulsive transfer of things was not a mere removal of objects from one place to another, it was more importantly the filling of the ‘vacant’ space of the island and the transformation of the “confused heap of goods” into the luxuries of an empire. Hence the enumeration, circulation, acquisition and mercantilism in Robinson Crusoe is a micro narrative of the larger socio-economical world. Crusoe’s acquisitiveness is typified in the passage where he reflects on the uselessness of money on his island, and then decides to keep it. Space itself becomes for Crusoe something to be tasted and treasured, and so he consumes the different parts of his island, labeling them his home, bower, country house, plantation, kingdom, and colony. Crusoe’s hunger is not quenched by merely consuming things and spaces, he further goes on to consume human freedom by successively taming the Carib Friday and his father, the Spaniard and his companions, the English Captain and the defeated Mutineers, taking advantage of their sense of obligation and establishing himself as the “absolute Lord and Law-giver” of the island. The increasing population in the island gave rise to an increasing production and circulation of wealth, thereby slowly transforming a subsistence economy into a profit-oriented economy. The ‘foreign soils’ of the island became the homeland for a Crusoe, who thoroughly exploited the natural and the human resources to procure the ‘sumptuous spoils’. Thus Robinson Crusoe is the story of the archetypal European adventurer exploring, exploiting, and mastering a hitherto uncharted land, subjecting other races and putting them to work, and becoming prosperous in the process. Robinson Crusoe is thus the cause and also the process behind the subsequent manufacturing of a walking commodity like Belinda. Both Crusoe and Belinda fetishize things but in their own individual ways. But both are nonetheless, the outcome of the imperialist mercantile ethic of the eighteenth century society. And one cannot be much surprised if in such a social scenario, one gets to hear a Belinda, the synecdochic representation of the British Empire, echoing the words of Alexander Selkirk in the solitude of an alienated commodified culture ─ “I am monarch of all I survey; My right there is none to dispute; From the centre all round to the sea I am lord of the fowl and the brute (Cowper 1-4).”
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Works Cited
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe . 2nd ed. ED. Michael Shinagel. New York : Norton, 1994. Pope, Alexander. The Rape of the Lock . Ed. Geoffrey Tillotson. Delhi : AITBS,1999. Alam, Fakrul. Daniel Defoe: Colonial Propagandist . Dhaka: University of Dhaka, 1989. Brown, Laura. Alexander Pope. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1985. Kaul, Suvir. Poems of Nation, Anthems of Empire. New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2001. Marx, Karl.” The Commodity”, Capital, Vol-1, Trans. Samuel Moore & Edward Aveling. Moscow: Progress, 1954; rpt. 1974. Cowper, William. “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk.” Hermitary . http://www.hermitary.com/literature/cowper.html Accessed on 10 th August 2015. Crehan, Stewart. The Rape of the Lock and the Economy of “Trivial Things”. url:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eighteenth-century_studies/v031/31.1crehan.html Accessed on 28th May 2015. Thompson, James. “Rule, Britannia.” Poetry Foundation . www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174671 Accessed on 10 th August 2015. Wheeler, Roxann. ” ‘My Savage’, ‘My Man’: Racial Multiplicity in Robinson Crusoe”. url:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/v062/62.4wheeler.html Accessed on 28th May 2015. Wolfram Schmidgen. Robinson Crusoe, Enumeration, and the Mercantile Fetish. url:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eighteenth-century_studies/v035/35.1schmidgen.html Accessed on 28th May 2015. Young, Edward. “Ocean; An Ode,” The Works of Edward Young, LLD . https://books.google.co.in/books?id=83S2AAAAYAAJ Accessed on 10 th August 2015.
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Article – 9
“All the world's a stage”:
Shakespeare, Liberties and Impossible Global Stage
---- Saptarshi Roy
Lecturer, Department of English,
Bankura Sammilani College, Bankura,
West Bengal, India.
Harold Bloom helpfully suggests that our continued interest in Shakespeare has something to do with Shakespeare’s particular insight into what it means to be a human being: “Shakespeare not only invented the English language, but also created human nature as we know it today.” As the world has just passed by his 450 th birthday landmark, questions on his popularity, his acceptability in ultramodern society, his halo in a ‘dying’ age of arts and the like seem to be quite obvious. We now stand on the brink where topics on the demolition or preservation of the Bard’s created worlds have become a bit close to equal. This paper tries to show some ‘locale’ (and some locals ) that look impossible for any variety of stage-craft—Shakespeare being the farthest of them all. But the green can grow anywhere, we never know! And this again proves that famous thought of our Bard when he saw a stage everywhere.
“… Ay, every inch a king”
Even though, definitions of the term ideology have become all the time more challenging, its currency in many topical commentaries on 'the Bard' indicates a particularly attractive development. Shakespearean studies have grown in a way that became homogenous to the study of social caption—of the customs in which individual people are emblazoned by society with
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 roles, beliefs, identities and allegiances. The Bard explores the method in which he is drawn in; and if his standing as sage happened to be diminished, the status of his workings as illuminators of historical processes has variously been enhanced. The creator of Prospero and Jaques might smile, if a little wryly, to see that so much topical literary theory aspires to dissolve the conventional boundaries between verity and fiction, realism and daydream. The influences of Marx, Freud, Saussure, Althusser, Derrida, Barthes, Foucault and others have conspired to make many earlier certainties, facts or beliefs seem, at times, an ‘insubstantial pageant’, while disconcerting force has been conferred on the pronouncement that: “All the world is a stage..”
“...to split the ears of the groundlings”
The understanding, or rather interpretation (to use the sense in its critical premise) of the works of this genius was a lot unalike in his own days. The then-audience was a cross-section of London—Puritans only excepted—and what on earth its precincts might be, it possessed the utmost worth of regarding poetry as a normal resource of expression. Poetry, in its own term was far isolated from the lingo of commonplace tongue, and whilst it was delivered by actors, it was proclaimed in such an approach so as to call attention to, rather than to screen the rhetorical diplomacy in employment by the versifier. Robert Bridges accused those dejected beings (called ‘the groundlings’ at that time) for preventing the Bard from being a grand artiste. As a matter of fact, modern scholars owe them a huge debt of gratitude for demanding of Shakespeare poetry rather than realism, and for forestalling him from lettering the scholastic dramas which were the pride of the Wits—the academic élite in the age of 'New Learning'.
“… Greek to me”
In present times, especially since the twentieth century, the increase of school and university edification generated such a communal that desires to make out Shakespeare affably performed. Plays that remained uncared for centuries have been revived and rejuvenated, while amateur dramatics transformed therefore—though not got hold of that great level of eighteenth century. It would be inoperative to make believe that the modern playgoer is an idyllic bystander of a Shakespeare play. Having premeditated that subject matter at school, he is to be expected to perceive the drama through the distorting mirror of the detractor. The modern stature has lost the delights of lack of knowledge—the joy, for example, of stimulation with the plot; and, as verse
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 is ‘creature from outer space’ to him, he will hardly ever clutch the accurate connotation of the more knotty speeches, whether the performers hold forth them so as to communicate disposition rather that meaning or speak the lines as if they were prose. Both schemes, wanting the essential mix together of formality and artlessness, take life of the poetry.
“… Keep renewing the acquaintance”
The picture of the modernist monitor does not necessarily mean that the Bard posseses nothing nuovo to offer now; on the contrary, every new day is bringing with it more and more novel studies related to the poet of Avon. We now know him as a psychological mentor for the Elizabethans, and perhaps the more complex figure as an illegal food hoarder or tax evader. His persona and creations are equally well under scanner for academicians as they were, while each day his relevancy is trying to reach out more globally from his native ‘Globe’ . In the present climate, when the entire world is celebrating the Bard’s 450 th year of arrival, we are enclosed by questions of our own subsistence that are forcing the desertion of the ‘arts’; however this situation is not as much as necessary to make those anxious who are really aflame about the grand rhymester. Antithetically, the ever-changing construal of the Bard and his workings (generated out of immense labour by the acolytes) are not only transforming the scholarship but also opening new premise and places to land upon—places which were never explored or even thought of beforehand for any kind of activity concerning Shakespeare. The passionate populace in every niche and bend of the world are making an effort to accomplish a bit innovative with the Bard, manoeuvring his thoughts out of the vestiges; these are not merely activities or conduct to pay homage, but are new-fangled interpretations also. They breed in figure and volume as much as they sprout all over the planet with their space-specific exegesis.
“Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.”
Here is a major question that seems looming large upon us: how on earth an enthusiast should bring Shakespeare to those people who are devilishly death-ridden? There are Lands that are torn apart by severe civil strife for decades, and the cause which may sound as silly as the possession of the salt-fields. Geographies those are so war-ridden that blood and bullet became everyday actuality even for the infants who die fast by starving or by some deadly disease in the arms of their parents. As a matter of fact, what is frequently harsh realism in a developing world, for
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 many in Europe is Shakespeare’s world of poetry and metaphor. Life for citizens in these parts of the globe is nearer to the means all human beings have lived until recent times, even if somehow more severe and instantaneous. Diseases here are highly vituperative, wider in scope and more perilous, while beggars and the disabled are on the street, right in front of others. Thus Death is always at hand, and when people breathe their last, the funeral is least to mention. The grey and muffled Occidental hemisphere in comparison looks wrapped in cotton wool—by screens, walls and windows; they are tainted with identical hues as westerly thoughts and language—copiously constrained by euphemism and political correctness. The affairs of state are vicious in worlds ‘on the rise’ in matters of life or death, and despots like Robert Mugabe or Mobutu Sese Seko escalate and plummet like Shakespearean kings and lords. There are others who have begun their tenure fighting fit and afterwards, like Macbeth, became mistrustful autocrats. The tribalism of Montagues and Capulets is straight away decipherable, so is the authoritative enchantment like that of Prospero —domineering the spirits of air, earth, water. So, for a rejoin, Shakespeare needs no explanation, neither any context settling in these parts of the globe.
“The game is up.”
Let us take here an alternative picture, rather a frame of alter-Shakespearean identity. Under an initiative from the Globe theatre, a troop from the newborn nation state South Sudan performed Shakespeare’s Cymbeline following the good guidance of actor Francis Paulino Lugali, whose booming voice yelled in Juba Arabic at the very core of the Globe: “All these people have come from the newest country in the world, and this country is South Sudan!” (Bloomekatz). A sad pleasantry with reference to a British sovereign who says no to forfeit an accolade to the Romans, Cymbeline contains a loving filament filled with con and trouncing running all the way through. In a significant reading of the entire state of affairs, Dominic Gorgory Lohore, who delivered a unassailable act as the conceited Cloten, weighed the tribute against the oil—which is at this moment craved by apiece nation—and the naive but uncontaminated romance to the spirit of an toddler national territory. “Petrol is there… but human beings are unique. They can do anything with the petrol, but the heart is the very important thing,” Gorgory Lohore believed.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 “What’s past is prologue.”
Not that people from developing nations come to London or Europe to give testimony to their love or interpretations of Shakespeare, but the Bard also reaches them equally well. The present century has seen a volley of strife—be it civil or international; these are under watch by UN ‘Peace Keeping’ programme. But one way or another, topics like Shakespeare still inspires a few dozen at least. To brood over his philosophy and act upon them are still in the veins of humanists who do really care for humanity itself and at large; the result is the performances at those places where one would generally expect the march of military boots if not gunshots. In war-torn Bosnia, U.S. College graduates brought Shakespeare, with the aim to fetch in concert Muslims and Catholics; the aim is one to rub out the scars of their country’s blood-spattered civil hostilities. Former Dartmouth students with Professor Andrew Garrod steered the youthful Bosnian performers to dramatize Shakespeare’s The Tempest , an account on the subject of vengeance and lenience. In excess of a decade after the finish of its civil war, Bosnia is now at a standstill divide between ethnicity and religion. With the multiethnic actors ranging from ages 14 to 24, productions and 'liberties' like such proffer one of the few prospects for juvenile Bosniak Muslims and young Croat Catholics to draw closer simultaneously.
“…come to this great stage of fools.”
A further classic example of this shifting phizog of Shakespeare is the performance of King Lear by a group of Syrian refugee brood in a place unbelievable and farthest even from imagination— the desert camp at Zaatari in Jordon. For those 100 children constituting the dramatis personae, it was their introductory brush with the loftier arts of Shakespeare—despite the fact that they were already “steep’d in” tragedy and heartbreak themselves. “People get opportunities in life, and you have to take advantage of them,” Mr. Azzam, the father of a child-actor, have been found opining significantly. “She got a chance to act when she was young, so that could make it easier for her in the future” (Hubbard). The refugees who had fled the civil war in Syria had seen their homes destroyed, or had lost relatives. Many had difficulty in sleeping or jumped at strident sounds; be that as it may, in this secluded, treeless camp, an abode that appeared to be a lay of lack, insecurity and tedium. Parents and aid workers felt apprehensive that that Syria’s war threatened to erupt a mislaid generation of children who are pockmarked by violent behaviour and let pass imperative years of schooling; issues as vital as that might be disadvantageous for Autumn Edition 79
ISSN 2321 - 4805 them, and will go behind them into later life. The King Lear show, the winding up of a venture that took several months, was one endeavour to wrestle any such kind of peril.
“Many a true world hath been spoken in jest.”
Lear was written by the Bard in the immediate upshot of the Gunpowder Plot, a ‘terrorist’ plot with latent September 11 penalty. Nawar Bulbul, a Syrian actor (who as a director sliced into it bits of Hamlet too) had expressed it straight: “The show is to bring back laughter, joy and humanity” (Hubbard). Bulbul opted for Lear as he dreaded “a play about the bombs that fell on people’s heads in Syria would not interest” kids who have grown to be world-weary by the bereavement and demolition. “I focused on the comparison between lying and telling the truth,” Bulbul said. “Children should be playing with toys and learning science, arts and music”. “When I first came here,” he went on, “children were using the language of war ... tanks, bullets and bombs. That’s changed now. To me, this is an achievement” (Taha) Here, we must silently listen and feel the voice of Bushra Nasr, 13, who played Lear’s eldest daughter Goneril: “The play brought joy to all of us,” while Weam Ammari, 12, who played ill-treated daughter Cordelia brightly rejoined: “My role was not easy at first because I had to speak classical Arabic... But now, everything is smooth and I have a lot of friends. It makes me feel much better. I do not feel lonely any more in this place” (Taha). Before we move on from Zaatari, a confident remark of Bulbul also calls for mention: “Performing Shakespeare’s play in the heart of Zaatari is a different kind of a revolution against politics and society” (Taha).
“So shaken as we are, so wan with care.”
It is not that folks in this modern century compellingly fashion acquaintances between the works of the Bard and the ongoing socio-political issues; to boot, these clamping are for no reason a new thing too. Shakespeare himself could have attended to stories of war and death from the English who had been skirmishing on the Continent in the 16th century, and as a consequence we obtain from him more than a few immortal lines related to mortality and massacre. He has written extensively on the ravages of war, and both the aggressor and the opponent are poetically justified. At the blockade of Harfleur, the soldier Boy of Henry V Part 1 (Act 3, Scene 2) desires to be far-flung from scuffle: “Would I were in an alehouse in London! I would give / all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety”. Henry’s saunter throughout his camp on the eve of
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Agincourt (in concealing outfit) stirs up some justly current manifestations on warfare. The warrior Bates proposes that if the king had approached on his own to Agincourt, he would be securely ransomed “and a many poor men’s lives saved” (Act 4, Scene 1). The uniformly distraught soldier Williams points that if the English cause is doubtful: “...the king himself hath / a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs, and / arms, and heads, chopped off in a battle, shall join / together at the latter day, and cry all ‘We died at / such a place’; some swearing, some crying for a / surgeon; some upon their wives, left poor behind / them; some upon the debts they owe; some upon their / children rawly left...” (Act 4, Scene 1).
“we owe God a death.”
Death was eternally in attendance in the lives of Tudor men—the Plague that every now and then closed down the Globe Theatre, along with the highly contagious graveyards spilling over, amalgamated the entire mankind in the propinquity of demise. The pace with which sickness knocked down living beings in previous centuries was beyond doubt homicidal, and Shakespeare would unquestionably have witnessed ache and anguish in London life on a daily basis. Therefore identifying with death is to comprehend hostilities, which is in essence about the extermination of human existence more willingly than trouncing or defeat. As a precedent, Hamlet’s soliloquy over pitiable Yorick’s skull continues to exist as a profoundly perturbing contemplation of death: “My gorge rises at / it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know / not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your / gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment / that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one / now, to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfall’n?” And as he got to his feet in the Elsinore churchyard: “I saw a bird alighted on the city walls of Tus / Grasping in its claws Kaika’us’s head: / It was saying to that head, ‘Shame! Shame! / Where now the sound of the bells and the boom of the drum?’” Do we not hear the jibe at our own devastative ways of politics while reading or reciting or performing such lines? Words like that do not need any specific geography to settle upon as politically prefect—they belong to every nook and corner of this planet irrespective of time and space.
“Appear thou in the likeness...”
As a consequence, a playing of the crowd scenes of Julius Caesar (even!) in Africa becomes effortless and without rehearsal; the vindication is that the mass knew all about uncomplicated
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 people tricked by ‘tricky’ politicians. Now more than ever, people turn out to be really interested in finding the postcolonial or late-late modernistic flavour while watching pieces like The Tempest or thinking about Othello as a testimony of the fear of the Arab—that very ‘Arabia’ for the Bard. Prospero in The Tempest is full of both the self-satisfaction and brutality of any modern-day terrorist and the clandestine bigotry of some ‘white’ house. He orders Ariel to demolish the arrogating Alonso's vessel resulting massive destruction; whilst shrewdly controlling Caliban—the ‘terrorist’. Folks, especially those who were hit hard as a result of some stubborn occidental ‘developmental steps’, can easily make out the method used upon Caliban— at the outset naively nurtured by Prospero and then fated to slavery after misbehaving with Prospero's daughter; the colonial slave who turns not in favour of the fruits of civilisation that were tendered to him. Singing on a graver note, Othello represents a palpable catastrophic account for the western world regarding the bothersome Middle East. Othello is a Muslim in the service of Venice—by neighbour to the Ottoman Empire—and is sent to Cyprus to mêlée the Turkish flotilla. He looks a mercenary whose self-hatred sullies the play and in due course leads to his own fatality. Racially battered by both Iago and Roderigo, he subsists in a world where there are men whose heads supposedly hang beneath their shoulders. Yet, till 1998 the widely read texts on this first-rate ‘coloured’ tragedy enclosed nuances on Othello as the ‘nigger’. Thus, to perform dramas as such, enthusiasts feel it never hard to locate urgings for adaptations, liberties or interpretations.
“To change true rules for old inventions.”
As a matter of historical fact, the changing facade of playing Shakespeare, that people talk about widely today, were actually shifting from the days of James I and Charles I. At the time of Restoration two theatres—and between 1682 and 1695 only one—were ample to gratify the public demand. A generation earlier, a smaller populace had required no less than six. Shakespeare, becoming less popular then than Beamount and Fletcher, was recurrently altered to suit the taste of the times. Side by side, Actresses, now becoming visible for the first time, had to be provided for. At the end of King Lear Cordelia was made to live happily ever after as Edgar's wife, Miranda was given a sister, and Lady Macduff had her part enlarged. It is significant that the age which was most critical of his faults (1660-1800), was the one when most liberties were taken with the staging of his plays. Yet the period from 1660 to 1890 was an age of great acting
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 when Betterton, Garrick, Kemble and many others appeared in adapted versions of the plays of the Bard. Shakespeare’s plays were staged with elaborate scenery, and with savage cuts to make room for it. Those who really appreciated Shakespeare usually stayed away from the theatre, and we had the comic spectacle of Thomas Hardy in the front row of the gallery with his eyes glued not to the stage but to a text of the play.
“If you can look into the seeds of time...”
Now a days, while performing in a Syrian refugee camp or in newly created South Sudan, liberties are taken not to critique the Bard or to suit the popular taste, but for contextualizing with the complex cultural space—with perhaps an opaque aim of sharing some fundamental philosophy with a number of distressed denizens. Shakespeare can still be used to remind ourselves of an earlier, "safer" (if nonexistent) world; a reassurance of our own ultimate survival. All those bones of contention present in Shakespeare's era, and which crowd in his theatrics— class discrimination, racial and bias, civil disobedience, eroticism, prejudice against women and their much debated role in society—are still pivotal and appear to be blighted subjects in today's dysfunctional global society. Critics cry loud about the difficulties with reading him, and it might bear out really onerous if one goes over one of his plays for the first time—trying to make sense of it. But that does not necessarily mean he will be what Geoffrey Chaucer is now; a brilliant author whose works can be read intelligently in the original barely by the minority. After all, Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed, not to be read in miserable isolation. The more plays that are enjoyed in this way—and enjoyment should be the keyword—the clearer a picture emerges of the universal and relevant situations which Shakespeare wrote about.
“But this denoted a foregone conclusion.”
As our language changes, older forms of English become further knotty. This is why Shakespeare’s place will be increasingly hard to defend. A taxing toil is to maintain that he remains at the very core of the Anglophone literature and culture, because his works have demurred in comparative esteem. Not that they are prostrated by the ravages of time, but all the time more subject to it. People know his reputation more than his words, and thus it embarks on to appear as though Shakespeare can never be beaten, even in this tech-savvy century—though he is the most un-digitalized of all writers. Conformist censors may extol him for the messages
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 of nationalism, piety, harmony, unity and reconciliation which he proclaims to them. Middle-of- the-road critics may clap his 'infinite variety', density and ambiguity. Left-wing critics may speak well of him for the views about ideological obfuscation which he smuggles. And within many recent commentaries, whether they advertize themselves as semiotic or deconstructional or materialistic, we may detect not only the reductively skeptical tones of a Thersites of Troilus and Cressida , but also the considerate tones of a Launce ( The Two Gentlemen of Verona ), voicing concern for the small fry. On his 450 th year of arrival, when the world is crying foul to Humanities, the Bard still breathes within us and none can take his share of reverence at any rate.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Works Cited
Bloomekatz, Ari. "South Sudan troupe sees new country's struggle in Shakespeare." Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2012. Entertainment sec. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.
"Dartmouth Now." Dartmouth Now . N.p., 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.
Ford, Borris, ed. New pelican Guide to English Literature . 1983. 2. Middlesex: Penguine Books, 1986. Print.
Hubbard, Ben. "Behind Barbed Wire, Shakespeare Inspires a Cast of Young Syrians." The New York Times . The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2014. MIDDLE EAST sec. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
Reisz, Matthew. "Is there anything new to say about Shakespeare?." Times Higher Education . N.p., 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"Shakespeare's past as food hoarder." BBC News . N.p., 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Taha, Kamal. "Young Syrian refugees bring Lear to life at Zaatari camp." The Daily Star Newspaper . N.p., 27 Mar. 2014. Culture sec. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Interview
(Republished)
Translated by : Tanmoy Putatunda, Ph.D Research Scholar, Department of English & OMEL, Visva- Bharati, Santiniketan, W.B., India.
The Germans have read Shakuntala before us, the Bengalis. We need to understand the potential of the Indian culture. Denying this and just worshipping Shakespeare – I am not saying that he should not be worshipped – but we also need to look ahead. Our Vaoaia and Vatiali is not the same. Although these originated from the same country, there are different. Vatiali is for the rivers, and Vaoaia is for the horizon. Thus, the songs, dance techniques and theatricalities of the aboriginals, who live in hills, are not similar to those of the plains. Then how could they match that of the Bengalis. So everyone is beautiful in their own rights. Everyone is capable of expressing oneself in his/her own way. That is their cultural heritage.
‘Subornaputra’ of Bangla Natya, Nasir Uddin Yousuff Bachchu – 2014
Bangladesh is the name of a war trodden, undaunted civilization. Amidst all the adversities, it has kept the desire for a prosperous and peaceful life alive. The institution which recognizes this and deals with the issues of common mass, their culture and activities in their plays, is the
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 ‘Dhaka Theatre’. ‘Dhaka Theatre’ was established during a time when the economic stagnation and political rifts created an air of restlessness and uncertainties in the newly independent Bangladesh. ‘Dhaka Theatre’ was able to establish the innate doctrines of the theatre in Bangladesh and gradually unfolded it into the life and culture of the larger populace. It has also established the ‘Gram Theatre’, bearing the spirit and essence of the rural Bangladesh. ‘Dhaka Theatre’, who are pledged to stage the fundamental and indigenous theatre, has Nasir Uddin Yusuf as its director. We got a scope to interact with him, a part of which is published in this issue. I myself, us, as well us the whole theatre world got enriched.
THESPIAN When did you start your career as a theatre artist? In the year 1972, just after the Liberation War. I had started working for theatre after returning from the war. I was doing MA from the University of Dhaka at that point of time. Indeed, there were theatre performances even before the Liberation War - from ’56 to ’62 - although I was much younger then. There was a group near my house called the ‘Drama Circle’. Bazlul Karim and Moksud Us Saleheen led the initiative. They produced plays like Raja , Oedipus , Kobor , Milepost . They used to perform plays of all over the world.
…In English?… No, in Bengali. The American Cultural Centre endorsed that. It was also supported by the British Council. It was ‘group theatre’ and it was quite remarkable. I was about eight or ten when I saw those performances. This attracted me, but I was interested in doing cinema at that time. After the Independence we thought of starting our work. But we did not have enough money for cinema. But, theatre does not require that much money. So, the cultural secretary of the student union of the University of Dhaka proposed to form a drama circle. M Hamid was the cultural secretary. I was in Mohsin Hall then. Selim Al Deen was a student of the Mohsin Hall [University of Dhaka]. The play Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon, written by Selim Al Deen and directed by me, made a nice impact. It was an absurdist play. The dialogues did not have any meaning whatsoever. Dialogues were scattered and isolated ones. Overall, a person utters some dialogues amidst an uncomfortable ambience – I put my effort to execute this production in a different way. But, there were western influences in Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon , especially in the scene-transition. Actually, I was a huge fan of Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus at that
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 time. That was the reason why this play by Selim Al Deen had attracted me so much. So, I directed the play. Prior to this, I had worked as a background artist in the groups like ‘Aranyak’, ‘Bohubochon’ and others. Meanwhile ‘Drama Circle’ again started their work after the war in 1972. These groups were making productions regularly at that time. Although they were able to sell tickets and make profits from their ventures. At this point of time I used to design sets & lights and write reviews. Everyone used to say that you write so much, now show your work. Then I did the Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon. It was the best play in all the groups of the inter hall competition of the University of Dhaka. Then some people wrote in the newspaper that “some insane people have entered on to the Bangla stage, let’s drive them away. They don’t understand anything about theatre, nothing, they have no idea what they are doing, there is no order or sense in the dialogues, there is no incident, they just don’t make sense. What kind of theatre is this? It’s nothing but madness.” So I and Selim began like this. But today I can say that the journey we started in order to make something new - which has received so much love and appreciation - actually starts from Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon. That is my beginning.
THESPIAN How did the Dhaka Theatre start? Yes, among these, ‘Nagorik Natyasmaproday’ successfully staged Baki Itihas – in February 1973. I really appreciated it, Sunday morning shows are running, people are queuing up for tickets, really liked it.
…Sunday morning?... Yes, Sunday was off day. Before that I worked with Kabir Anwar for Jone Jone Janata in the auditorium of Engineering Institute. It was in February 1972, just two months after the Independence. But it was not successful; ran for only four shows. But ‘Nagorik NatyaSamproday’ staged shows for consecutive 8 weeks. Meantime ‘Dhaka Theatre’ was already built, in July 29, 1973. Indeed, all the groups were formed in and around 1973. ‘Nagorik’ was formed in 1973, we too were in 73. In 1972, only ‘Bohubachan’ attempted to make shows by selling tickets, and before that ‘Parapar’ by Kabir Anwar did the same thing. Although, ‘Aranyak’ also did a play called Kabar .
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THESPIAN Was ‘Aranyak’ formed in 1972? Yes, 1972, ‘Theatre’ also started at that time. But they made their first production in 1974. ‘Nagorik’ started in 1968. They produced a play called Buro Shaliker Ghare Ron , by Madhusudan [Michael Madhusudan Dutta] in 1972. Then ‘Nagorik’ started their production in 1973 in exchange of tickets. They were the first theatre group in Bangladesh to successfully do so. ‘Dhaka Theatre’ was the second group to do that successfully. There is an auditorium called Krira Samiti near the Dhaka Stadium. It was small in size, with ceiling made of wood. We did 13 consecutive shows with Selim’s Samvad Cartoon and Habibul Hasan’s Samrat O Protidwandigon . ‘Nagorik’ did eight, in each Sunday morning. The shows were successful; many people came to watch the shows. Stalwarts like the poets Al Mahmood and Samsur Rahman, the editor Shahjat Chowdhury, novelists Akhtaruddin Elias, Showkat Ali, Hasan Azizul Haq, Rafiq Azad, Nirmalendu Goon, Artist Ranbi came and saw my shows. All of them were immensely popular at that point of time. This was the beginning of the ‘Dhaka theatre’.
THESPIAN Have you ever attempted acting? In ‘Natyachakra’, I acted in Selim’s [Selim Al Deen] Explosive O Mul Somosya . My acting was so poor that I did not try again.
THESPIAN How did u suddenly decide right after the Liberation War that you were going to get involved in theatre? I mean to say – what was your inspiration? If you say inspiration – the chief inspiration was Selim Al Deen. Other than him I have often seen with great wonder the stalwarts like Shombhu Mitra and Tripti Mitra. We came to know about Sombhu Mitra around the 60s. They came here [Dhaka] in 1972 to perform. Badal Sircar’s Pagla Ghora was also performed. It was a splendid performance. We had not yet seen Kolkata’s theatre then - that was the first time. Then I thought that we have fought as a warrior in our Liberation War for independence, we should have a cultural revolution and movement which would carry the consciousness of the Liberation War to the masses and make it relevant. It would also inspire the people to protect all the people’s right, promote secular politics, bolster democracy and secure the rights of the people from each religion and race. The essence of the
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Liberation War is secularity and democracy; and only theatre can take this essence to the people. Another thing is that we thought that an independent country must have an independent and unique theatre convention and style. I and Selim had our doubts while we were doing plays like Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon or Samvad Cartoon ; but we believed that we were doing it in a good form and manner, and people also loved it. I have said earlier that Samvad Cartoon is made in the line of Piscator’s documentary. But I also wondered if all of it embodied me. We thought if Bengal’s tree, soil; Bengal’s climate, nature; Bengal’s birds, meadows, people and their social life could find expression in it. If this style or convention embodies this, then the radical theatre practices of the ‘Dhaka Theatre’, professional theatre and the thoughts of taking this as a profession – all these lead myself, Selim Al Deen and M Hamid to be the convenor. People like Raisul Islam Asad, Piyush Bandopadhyay, Al Mansur, Habibul Hasan, Abdul Kader, Basanti Gomez also joined. In 1974, I again directed Jaundice [Jaundice O Bibidho Balloon by Selim Al Deen] in exchange of tickets. Then ‘Nagorik’ started staging shows in the ‘Mahila Samiti Auditorium’. We too went over there. ‘Mahila Samiti’ started with ours and Nagorik’s plays. Next, we did Samvad Cartoon . It received much attention. It went on for many shows – almost 23 or 24. Doing 23-24 shows were big deal back then. In this way the theatre began in Bangladesh. Yes it was in a dire state, there were not much glamour and riches but the soul was there. After us and ‘Nagarik’, ‘Theatre’ brought in another production, namely, Subachan Nirbasone by Abdullah Al Mamun. It was quite a popular play. In this way the basis for our theatre was built and the movement started. I was about 21/22 then. I was crazy and enthusiastic. More so because I had been in contact with literature and poetry and saw films…I used to read a lot of world literature and thus western influences were obvious in my plays from the very beginning. So these were my influences. I used to visit my native house in childhood. I was born in Dhaka in the year 1950. When I used to go to village – there was a cousin elder brother of mine – Kashem master, he used to perform in jatra. He was also a school teacher. I used to be very amused to see his jatra. In winter nights, in the seaside of Chittagang under moonlight and with lantern light, with patromax, – on one side there was sea and on the other side he was performing on a stage made of soil – the character of Tipu Sultan. The sound of sea at the background, wind – incredible! I was eight then. I used to play the son of Tipu Sultan. These are also inspirations for sure. All these lead to the awakening of a cultural urge within. I was not aware perhaps. Before the Liberation War, I thought of doing cinema while I was studying in
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 University. In a programme, Syad Salauddin Zaki (one of the proponents of the ‘Dhaka Theatre’) told me that I had apparently told him on 13 September, 1971, when the Liberation War was still underway, that “Once the country achieves freedom, I shall do theatre.” So, these are the things that inspired me.
THESPIAN How did you started walking in a unique direction? Or shall I say, how did this search for Bengal’s own theatre convention or tradition had begun? After graduating in Bengali from the University of Dhaka, Selim started teaching in Jahangirnagar University. He has lived his whole life in villages whereas I lived mine in cities. He grew up in village. He did his schooling in village, and then spent his college and university life here [Dhaka]. Just when Selim wished to start research on this area, he thought of a drama department. Before this happened, we were not able to relate ourselves with the plays that we were making. Rather we were not sure what we were doing. If these were originally ours, if we have brought these characters from somewhere, if the plots are ours or have been borrowed, if this is art or just copying – all these questions lead to our search. We had a few questions in our mind and while searching for answers we wondered about the forms that we have, like jatra, pala, gamvira, alkap and the kind of performance these constitute. What we are doing in the cities is theatre, then what is the thing that they do ? The question lies here. Then if they do it, it is not theatre and if we do it then it is theatre – the question strikes here. They can easily present a whole scene through a narrative, but we make a ridiculous presentation with lots of show and splendour. Suppose, to act as Hamlet or Oedipus, do we need to paint ourselves white, wear the ‘jobba’, which is not there in our body or soul, and which does not connect to our inner being. If we perform in such a manner, is that an art work – these questions started haunting us. While addressing these queries we started going through may books and found out about Bharata’s Natyashastra and its notable practitioners Ujjwal Nilmani, Roop Goswami and Nandikishore. We explored their differences with Aristotle. Europe has made substantial progress by positing Aristotle in the foreground and constantly practicing and simultaneously questioning him. On the other hand, India, despite being a far more ancient than Europe, and despite its art’s morality, art philosophy, life philosophy, political principles, its governance being it’s very own and indigenous, and despite being very different from their western counterparts, don’t know why Autumn Edition 112
ISSN 2321 - 4805 theatre and painting became like that of the West. Which did not change and did not change for many years are its dance and songs. I think that because of the two hundred years of colonial rule, theatre has lost its continuity. If there had been no colonial rule for two hundred years, then this continuity would have given birth to a modern theatre. The Muslims of Central Asia have taken our classical music to an altogether different level. They have looted our riches alright, but they have not taken it back to the Central Asia, they have become king and ruled here. They have also contributed substantially to painting. In the next phase, the medieval Bengali literature was enriched by them. On the other hand, Europe has only plundered us and enriched their home, England. Not just that, they have tried to harm our culture as well. But, such was the foundation of our culture, especially the music and dance, that it was not possible to break through those. But they have altered theatre according to their preferences and a ‘babu culture’ was formed. We began to read and explain this history critically. We saw that we had made several mistakes then. Then what needs to be done? Do we have anything called our own theatre! If Japan has kabuki , if Indonesia has Ramleela ’s Ramayan in their own theatrical tradition, then why won’t we search for our own Bengali theatrical tradition? While doing this, 70s decade had elapsed. We call it our search period.
THESPIAN Is this the beginning for the modern narrative theatrical tradition? Yes! After that we tried to understand the structure of the narrative performance in its presentation, acting and so on. We found out that there are differences in verbs. They differ from that of the spoken dialect. Sentence structures are different. The rhythm is also different. Then we decided to stick to the narrative tradition. We had the will but lacked knowledge. So we started to train ourselves. But this is not the ‘modern’ theatre. We thought that indigenous theatre should be the only way for Bengali theatre. By indigenous theatre we implied those by the indigenous playwrights but all of those were in method acting tradition. Today we call that colonial theatre. We are not saying that those are bad, but this has turned into a stereotype. A kind of theatre form has been established by assimilating both the forms. I am not going into value judgements but I wish to stress on the understanding. Another one is the latest ‘modern Western theatre’. That is also not bad. It is much modern in terms of convention. Although ‘colonial theatre’ is dated, we can see a kind of expansion within it. But in Rabindranath we will Autumn Edition 113
ISSN 2321 - 4805 see that he has become modernist by following the panchali tradition. We have tried to follow this. But our style is not the same as Rabindranath. Our aim was same but way was different. Rabindranath kept the character, we also did the same. We called it the time of ‘classical reality’ for the narrative theatrical tradition. From where does a character like ‘Sonai’ in Kirtankhola [by Selim Al Deen] draws his strength and courage? We thought that he derives his power from the puranas . The people in puranas fight for humanity, for truth and derive strength from it. Today’s farmers, workers, middle class men gain inspiration from this. I saw that, yes, Saiful Muluk’s sea voyage and that of Sonai almost become synonymous. Likewise, the Keramat Mangal [by Selim Al Deen], which is composed in an epic style and which is considered by Akhtarujjaman Ilias, Ahmed Sharif as the epic of our time which starts with the riot of 1946 and ends in the next year of the Liberation War of 1972, reflects each and every creation of mankind – a civilization. This consists of narrative, Adam Surat which is there in our tradition and also in our puranas. Then what happened to the narrations through this parallels? Image was created, verse was composed. So called dialogues lost its necessity and the scope for the western style characterization was decreased.
………the convention has been changed…………… Yes, and the characters also witnessed change. Because when you bring in narration in the place of dialogues, then the nature of the character also changes. So, the way in which an actor makes up a character that also changed and the process also changed. This is absolutely necessary; and after this we produced Haathadai [written by Selim Al Deen]. In Haathadai , we came nearer to the narrative theatrical tradition where there are narration, acting, dance, song and dialogues. Many called Haathadai as carnival theatre. Selim Al Deen brought the whole world, from Hokkaido (near Siberia) to Argentina into a space with dance, songs and abundant energy. He made us travel through the oceans. He narrated this incredible story in a story-telling and conversational technique of the Arabya-Rajani . You know Bivash, this narrative is everywhere. We should remember that this narrative reached its peak from the Greek and Roman theatre to Elizabethan theatre, Isn’t it? Greek theatre reached its zenith in the hands of Sophocles and Euripides. But we would get the best of all from Shakespeare, then Marlow, and then Germany’s Goethe. Goethe also expresses his likings for the narrative form of Kalidas’s Shakuntala. He even translated it in that era. The Germans have read Shakuntala before us, the Bengalis. We
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 need to understand the potential of the Indian culture. Denying this and just worshipping Shakespeare – I am not saying that he should not be worshipped – but we also need to look ahead. Our Vaoaia and Vatiali is not the same. Although these originated from the same country, there are different. Vatiali is for the rivers, and Vaoaia is for the horizon. Thus, the songs, dance techniques and theatricalities of the aboriginals, who live in hills, are not similar to those of the plains. Then how could they match that of the Bengalis. So everyone is beautiful in their own rights. Everyone is capable of expressing oneself in his/her own way. That is their cultural heritage. Then why won’t the Bengali would go ahead with that in an independent and free country? With this thought, we got inclined to the narrative theatrical tradition. Within this inclination, this is also a step forward. Where the narrative tradition helps to narrate the story in an incredible way, itself becomes many characters and where we saw many characters converging to one. It is then when the question of Selim Al Deen’s Dwoitadwitobaad comes into play. Next let’s talk about the ‘Kathanatya’. Selim says, since it is ruled by ‘katha’ [speech], hence it is called ‘kathanatya’. Natya is theatre; we are now calling theatre as ‘natya’, not the ‘written text’ but the performing art. You would see in Chaka [written by Selim Al Deen] and Jaibati Kanyar Mon [also written by Selim Al Deen] that the character is playing the part of the narration but not as narration. Up to Shakuntala [by Selim Al Deen] the narration was different. Starting from Kirtonkhola , we find no narration. I also understood that. Selim had understood this before that I could not apply this on the stage out of apprehensions and lack of experience. However, Kirtonkhola was popular enough as the my first work (in the narrative tradition) and because of its epic expansion. But it is true that it is of mixed tradition. Keramat [Keramat Mangal ] is also in mixed tradition. But, in Keramat Mangal , the dialogues became narrative. Selim understood my weakness and thus wrote the dialogues in a way that the dialogues were not merely dialogues but became an amalgamation of narration and dialogues. Next, we would see in Haathadai that at times, the character – Anar Bhandari or ‘kachhim shikar’[tortoise hunting] - becomes narration - a dialogue of two pages. I may call this ‘poetry’ or ‘stage poetry’, or ‘stage poems’, but this is just a dialogue. Now I turned it into a physical art form, not merely a dialogue. I made some parts of it as acting – the part which is related to dance or mime. But the thing that I was trying to do is that narration will not be restricted into just description or speech, but it should also come into your expression. Your body also narrates many things. So, if I take
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 that narration along with dance, song, dialogues and description, it creates a new image. That image is created through bird-hunting, cock-fighting. When there is vast description of cock- fighting, I told Selim – what to do with this! He said, “why, you will stand there and say that cocks are fighting, birds are being hunted.” I told, “but that is not theatre, I want to do theatre, I am not doing a pala , I am not a gayen. I am working on several characters with several people”. After that I wondered if it was possible to make a new modern convention by altering the tradition of gayen and pala. Which may then be called the modern theatre of Bengalis. This was my prime target. In Haathadai , it made a space for itself. But we did different work in the kathanatya part. Jamil Ahmed did Chaka with much interest. This somewhat gave me confidence. We saw that we could establish our narration on the stage through acting and presentation. There are a few dialogues which we replaced with dance. But when would the dance happen – in a moment when the dialogues will lead to a stage where dance would follow naturally and inevitably. This stages need to be transformed magically. I learnt these works myself. I was thinking and executing. Next we worked with the panchali tradition. Plays like Bonpangshul [by Selim Al Deen], Prachya [by Selim Al Deen], Himu [Humaiun Kabir Himu] and Jan Bergstrand directed Horgaz [by Selim Al Deen], Dhabaman [by Selim Al Deen] and Shakespeare’s The Tempest were enacted in the tradition of Panchali and Nrigosthi . Amongst these, we did several works in Nrigosthi tradition. It is also there in Keramot Mongol . Selim staged the Marma Rupkatha in collaboration with Dhaka Theatre and Jahanginagar University by presenting the performance in their own way, by taking the maramas all the way to Dhaka. These experiments surely had encouraged us. We could come out of the colonial mind set and was doing something on our own. In Panchali tradition we would finally see that dance, acting and dialogues are complementing each other, like in Bonpangshul . This means that not one aspect was ruling the performance. Everything was collaborating in the performing art. This transformation was absolutely necessary. We wish to affirm that as the Japanese have Kabuki , Chinese have Oriental , likewise we also have Panchali tradition. We have modernized the Panchali tradition and called it ‘Nabya-Panchali’ tradition. Tagore’s Raja [The King of the Dark Chamber ], Raktokorobi [Red Oleander ], Dakghar [The Post Office ] – all are written in Panchali tradition. May be he has written the dialogues in a different manner, but those are in the narrative tradition. There is vast difference between the plays staged by the Great National Theatre and that of Rabindranath’s. We tried to lend value to that empty space in plays like
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Bonpangshul , Prachyaa and The Tempest . We have made a long journey. But this is not the end. Someday, Panchali tradition will also be changed and a new Bengali tradition will be formed. We believe that while searching for the roots, we should not revert back to the same place from which we were displaced by the colonial rule. Rather, we must take the essence from our roots and look ahead. So we are saying, “may the past, the eternal music of Bengali stage be rekindled on the world stage”. There is another slogan of the Gram Theatre – “thousand years in our hand; we are marching ahead”. Our drama began since the time of the Charyapad . Then why should we say that our theatre is two hundred years old, after Lebedev. I and Selim were much criticized for saying this. Many have called us ignorant. Nevertheless, I think that a garden looks good when there are varieties of flowers within it. It is not that we will stick to the Panchali tradition for ever. There are several conventions like this. For example, I think that when the fishermen come back after fishing – the process of fishing undergoes a ritual – with drums and songs. The indigenous games that we use in our theatre – like cockfights, wrestling and so on – are integral ingredients of our culture. These things are there in our theatre. In this way, people of Bengal have found their own roots and tradition in the hand of Selim Al Deen and ‘Dhaka Theatre’. Now it is the time to move ahead. Youngsters like you are there. And not only the ‘Dhaka Theatre’, there are other groups as well. They will take this task forward.
THESPIAN Then what was the role of the ‘Gram Theatre’? In this relation… Yes, ‘Bangladesh Gram Theatre’ started in 1982. The primary thoughts for this hit our mind around the year 1980. Bangladesh does not have any institutionalized system to disperse notions about our folk or traditional theatre, presentation and writing style. I thought it is of prime importance that people have appropriate ideas about the traditional music, dance and natya/theatre, palagan, the presentations that are made following the Manasamangal tradition, gamvira, leto, alkap and so on. Then our Gram Theatre was established by Selim Al Deen through a fair (mela) at Taluknagar which was called Azhar Bayati’s mela. The Taluknagar theatre was established in 1982. Selim went over there several times before. I went there for the last time in the month of Magh, 1982. We presented a play called Saiful Muluk Badiujjaman in the Jatra tradition. I was introduced to Gazir gaan there. That time onwards, the influence of Gazir gaan can be traced in several of my plays. I think our journey has been quite much successful. We started in this way but we did not obviously think that our journey would be so Autumn Edition 117
ISSN 2321 - 4805 successful. But we had the determination. We knew that there will be problems. But we got great responses when we came to Dhaka and said that we want to do this kind of work in the whole country, this surely benefitted us a great deal. Then we tried to approach such organizations which produce play all over the country. We had a meeting with the ‘Dhaka Theatre’ along with three organizations – Bogra’s ‘Bogra theatre’, Feni’s ‘Songlap theatre’ and Kushtiya’s ‘Bodhon theatre’. A committee was built. I was the convener of that committee. We decentralized the committee and thought of a one member central committee. Selim was in charge of Dhaka, Humayun faridi was in charge of Noakhali, Piyush Bandopadhyay of North Bengal and Zahir Uddin Piyar took the charge of South Bengal and Khulna. We got huge popularity in Selim Al Deen’s area – which is Dhaka. However, Selim was not limited within Dhaka, he travels all across the Bangladesh. In this way, ‘Gram theatre’ was started. We tried to say with the ‘Gram theatre’, that “thousand years in our hand; we are marching ahead.” We have thousand years of heritage. Bengali theatre should be built in its light. It’s a search for that. If we are successful in our search, then there is research. Through that research, we wish to build modern Bengali drama in its light. This is the primary aim. Simultaneously, we wished to provide momentum to the Bengal’s own culture as opposed to the Western cultural influences on mediums like television and cinema. Apart from these, we sought to provide impetus to the economic activities of the people, as well as the cultural exchange through the inception of fairs (mela). This means comprehensive social, cultural and economic progress. We bring this into focus through our work and our plays, the issues of consciousness of the freedom struggle, religious tolerance, democracy and equal rights to all men. In the next step, we made several organizations of the ‘Gram theatre’, almost 262. But several organizations was closed down also. Reason is that they don’t have patience. The social system of Bangladesh has not provided them stability amidst the political, economic and social crises. Naturally we face several difficulties. These social hindrances are also cultural. Moreover, there is also another stream in Bangladesh which opposes the consciousness of the Liberation War and they seek to establish a new culture which is not multi-dimensional but a narrow one. They do not tolerate multiplicity of opinions. They wish to follow religious fanaticism. They don’t believe in anything earthly, they believe only in afterlife. We don’t oppose those who believe in afterlife, but our culture wants them to perform their duties in this life as well. May that culture be fostered. May that culture be lead, controlled
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 and enlivened by the progressive politics. We and our ‘Gram theatre’ wanted that culture to form a multidimensional stature.
THESPIAN Was it contrary to the mainstream? What do you think? To some extent it was. The problem with the mainstream is that they considered the colonial theatre as the only form of theatre. We are not denying the colonial rule, but our country has been divided because of the colonial rule and as a result of that we have been separated from our roots and heritage, and colonial theatre has taken its place. We cannot deny the colonial theatre but only that has to be practiced and others will be ignored – we could not agree with that. That is why ‘Gram Theatre’ was incepted. But it is not that the ‘Gram Theatre’ has been able to perform that task completely. ‘Gram Theatre’ has not reached that point yet. The reason is the long practice of the colonial theatre. They are growing up in that theatre discipline. So they have trouble in following our workshops. These do not have any resemblance with the television. Television necessarily means modernity. Then how could this be modern. This is not a progressive thought. We appreciate the developments that the colonial theatre has made in our country. But, our folk theatre, which has been built along the tradition of the traditional theatre, which we call the modern Bengali theatre, that should also be practiced and appreciated. Although it has been appreciated. Selim Al Deen has proved that through his plays. Those have been discussed all over the country and abroad. Several translated plays are also being performed in huge numbers. Starting from Brecht, through Shakespeare, it has reached a nice phase. I don’t see this negatively. There are three streams in Bangladesh. One is European/Western or Foreign modern tradition, colonial tradition and another is traditional Bengali one. Thus we think that we are in a state of mutual coexistence rather than a mutually exclusive one. At the beginning, there was a sense of negligence about us, but gradually people have started to see truth, although not entirely. But we think, most of the cultural workers think that the ‘Gram theatre’ has performed a pivotal role in the progress of the Bengalis. Furthermore, these new traditions are playing an important role in determining the national theatrical tradition.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 THESPIAN You were saying…….about Rabindranath….Rabindranath had started plays along the tradition of the Panchali… I think Rabindranath…If we see Raja , Dakghar , Raktakarabi , Basanta which was a tribute to Nazrul, and even in Chitrangada , the tradition of Panchali has been dominant. Many confuse this with the opera. But Tagore never thought of the Opera. If we analyse his sentence structure, we will see that those are actually “sanglap natya”. He rather accepted our narrative tradition. For this he has avoided all contradictions and confusions. The contradictions in Rabindranath’s plays are resolved in several styles. Because it is Nandini who leads Raja out in Raktakarabi . This is entirely opposite to the western theatrical tradition or philosophy. Rabindranath has also worked from a philosophical point of view. The philosophy that is inherent in Indian people’s lives is worthy to be written, not only the tradition and style. This is very important. Rabindranath was as much an Indian as a modernist. I thought Selim Al Deen has done this sort of work. It had developed through Rabindranath and it could have gone as a movement, but it did not happen. Several years later, Shombhu Mitra applied this in his Chand Boniker Pala . But it is Selim Al Deen who has given impetus to this tradition and made it modern.
THESPIAN A small query here – would we call Selim Al Deen’s work as an extension of that of Rabindranath? Yes, Certainly. But since the plays which were staged in Rabindranath’s time had not been much discussed upon, we can say that Selim Al Deen has established that into the mainstream. This is his prime contribution. Selim has been able to prove that this is a unique theatrical tradition and that it is a tradition of Bengal itself. He also started establishing the precepts of the same.
THESPIAN Then why did you not feel the urge to produce a play by Rabindranath? Where English poet Shakespeare gained your attention but not Rabindranath? I have not done Rabindranath because I did not get time as such. I have to do many things. Outside theatre, I need to lead many social, cultural organizations. I lose the bulk of my time there. Also, Selim’s plays involve research which take so much time. I take around one to one
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 and a half year for a play. I wish to do Rabindranath, I really do. I will do Dakghar . I like it very much, have read it in my childhood. Actually I did Shakespeare out of compulsion. In London’s Globe Theatre, there was a theatre festival where there would be performances on Shakespeare in 37 languages of 37 different countries. Initially I hesitated a bit that doing Shakespeare is not my cup of tea. But I presented him in the tradition of Panchali. At least I have successfully proved the slogan – “may the past, the eternal music of Bengali stage be rekindled on the world stage”. By breaking away from Shakespeare’s five act structure, I have provided it a lyrical form. I have derived a new form by combining the Nrigosthi theatre convention of Selim Al Deen and Bengal’s own theatrical convention. I think I need to break away from a lot of things if I were to do Rabindranath. Will do that; not a problem.
THESPIAN What do you think of the present state of the theatre in Bangladesh in its socio economic context? I think that our theatre artists have a keen eye on the politics and keep that within their creative process. That is why ‘street-theatre’ is so popular here. They have been telling this for almost thirty years that there is a possibility of the uprising of the fundamentalism and terrorism. The government or the politicians have not taken any measure for the benefit of the theatre. Despite that, theatre in our country has dealt with the issues like the trials of the war-criminals and few other relevant agendas. As a result of which the War Crime Tribunal was set up.
THESPIAN What is the reason behind the lack of audience in Bangladesh theatre? Where is the actual problem? Manuscript, direction, acting or somewhere else? There is severe financial crunch in theatre. This has not allowed us to be professional. There are theatre groups in Bangladesh at several places. But there is no place to stage a performance. There has not been many auditoriums or open stages. Rather the number has decreased continuously. We will see that number of places for worship is increasing but the number of playgrounds is on the wane. So we can understand where the society is heading. So the space for theatre has been crippled. Thus the audience is also lesser in number. Thus the theatre practice is being hampered. There are groups in or outside Dhaka, but there are no performances. There are Autumn Edition 121
ISSN 2321 - 4805 many districts but no auditoriums. And the auditoriums that the experts of our government set up, are not fit for a theatre performance. Instead of taking care of these issues, the government is restricting the whole nation within the arena of politics. There no appreciation of the cultural activities. These are the reasons why a secular society is gradually turning into religious fanatics. Because of this dire economic condition, we are not able to set up a repertoire theatre. Had there been professional theatre in each district of Bangladesh, the nature of theatre practice would have been different – be it good or bad. The dearth of manuscript is another major problem. I think there are many new exciting talents coming up in the field of acting and direction. They are really doing well. So I am hopeful in this regard. Apart from these social insecurity is also a major reason behind the lack of audience.
THESPIAN To what extent our achievement vis-à-vis our search for the roots is acknowledged in the international arena; especially when you are the president of the ITI (Bangladesh chapter) and while Bangladesh possesses the seat of the president (worldwide) since the last four years . Regarding the ITI, Bangladesh has good reputation all over the world. However the problem is that not much of our plays are being performed on the international stage. Hardly one or two performances are staged in a year. We will not get much response in the international arena like this. Government should undertake initiative regarding this. If the government take the charge of our travel and food expenses, if they spend around five crore then each year ten groups can visit other countries – nearby countries or the far ones also. We can let the world know about our experiments in the theatre world and make sure that they understand that this is not merely a country about storms, floods, fundamentalism, terrorism or fire in the garment factory. Bangladesh is much more than that. As we have done in the Globe Theatre. Almost two to two and a half thousand people in two days have watched the performance. Everyone had liked our experiments with The Tempest . The production was able to create huge stir among the audience. British magazines like The Guardian , The Art Desk published large columns appreciating the work. It is here where we are lagging behind slightly. Government has given financial support in some cases. But by no means that was not enough.
2014.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Short Stories - 1
Almighty ---- Bonoful (Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay)
Translated by: Suman Saha, Department of English and Other Modern European Languages, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, W.B., India.
Commotion of a tiger has increased. Situation becomes uneasy for the local populace. Cows and calves are their early preys but soon after men are also not spared. Then they pick stick, spear and gun to kill that tiger. They kill one, but another come. At last human being files a petition near the Almighty God – “Please save us from the fracas of tiger.” God says – “Granted”. Almost immediately tiger complaints to the God – “We are restless for men’s disturbance. We have to flee to different woods. But hunters are chasing us far and wide to hinder our peace. Please do something.” God replies – “Granted”. At once Nera’s mother appeals to God – “Oh invincible Father may my Nera have a pretty little bride. Please God, if he gets, then I’ll give you an oblation of five paisa.” God utters – “Granted”. Harihar Bhattacharya was going to lodge a lawsuit. He pronounces to God, - “Throughout my life I am worshipping you. My body turns weak in fast. I won’t leave that brother in-law and nephew. God, I want your support.” God says – “Granted”. Sunil will appear in an examination. He pleas to God habitually, - “Please help me to qualify in my examination”. Today he requests, “If you felicitate me with scholarship then I’ll spend five rupees to flood sweets among the crowd on your name”. God replies – “Granted”.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 HarenPurokayesth wants to be the chairman of district board. With the assistance of priest Kali, he urges, “Oh almighty God, I want eleven votes”. Taking a huge amount of fees from HarenPurokayesth, priest Kali starts pronouncing wrong Sanskrit mantras to agitate God – “Votongdehi . . .votongdehi”. God says – “Granted…Granted…Granted”. Raising two hands, a farmer requests, “God, we want rain for harvesting”. God says –“Granted”. A suffering mother prays to God, “I have only one son. Please don’t snatch him away.” “Granted”. Khentipishi of the neighbouring house cries against the above mentioned mother, “Oh God, that brothel is very conceited. Wearing new jewellery every now and then she thinks herself to be the Queen. You are right in entangling her son’s throat. She deserves to be punished.” God says – “Granted”. Philosopher says, “God, I want to understand you”. God says – “Granted”. Cries from China – “Almighty, save us from the Japanese.” God says – “Granted”. A young lad from Bangladesh pleads, “No editor is publishing my works. I want my writing to be published in “Prabashi”. Please ask Ramanandababu to be kind.” God replies – “Granted”. Getting a little break, God asks Bramha, who is sitting beside him – “Do you have pure mustard oil in your place?” Bramha replies, “Yes, we have. Why?” God: “I need some. Will you offer?” Bramha: (Delighted) “Yes, indeed.” Good, pure mustard oil comes from Bramha’s dwelling. At once God inhales it and goes into a profound perpetual sleep. And he has not woken up yet.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Short Stories – 2
Dreaming Together
---- Bonoful (Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay )
Translated by: Trina Maitra, M. Phil. , Department of English, Jadavpur University, W.B., India.
I
A bouquet of tuberoses in hand, Sudhir enters, beaming with joy. As if like a free bird he would soar unto dizzying heights. Scurrying in, Sudhir says, “Hashi, here I bring a wonderful piece of news. But until and unless I get to know what I’ll be getting in exchange, I’ll keep my lips tightly pursed.” Craning her neck, Hashi shoots a glance at Sudhir. A glance, both curious and playful. “You’ll never get over your habit of teasing, eh? What is it? Tell me now. Please”, she pleads. “My prize?” “What can I offer? Let me think. How about a pretty little embroidery pattern on your handkerchief?” “I won’t trade this news for just a stitch work. Something else, perhaps?” “Chocolates, then?” “What? Chocolates!” blurts out Sudhir in wide-eyed surprise. “Am I a child to be lulled with chocolates?” Hashi could not help but burst into laughter. With a smile still dangling at the corners of her mouth, she feigns anger, “Stitch work, chocolates—nothing interests you, I see. What more can I offer? Fine, then. Let it be. You don’t have to disclose what it is.” “As you wish. I guess I should be leaving then”, continuesSudhir in an equally playful strain. “Such a hard-to-please man you’ve become, these days. You won’t budge for anything, then?” “I will. If I get that one thing I had asked for the last day. If you remember…” He leaves the words unuttered, only to speak a thousand more with a single glance. Autumn Edition 131
ISSN 2321 - 4805 Hashi blushes a deep red. A brief pause ensues. “What you ask for is not possible. I’ve told you before”, she murmurs softly, with her head bent low. She can hear her heart racing down a wild, wild maze, reaching out for a new horizon. She raises her head slowly. She senses a change in the contours of Sudhir’s face. There is something very unsettling about his expression. She can hear Sudhir say, “I thought I would somehow manage to convey the news to you in a jaunty way. I tried hard. I did. But I could not. Forgive me Hashi. I’ve just come to learn that your marriage has been fixed with that man from Santragachhi”. Having finally conveyed the news, Sudhir walks away. “Sudhir da, listen to me. Please come back. Sudhir da…” But Sudhir leaves, never to return again.
II
Aloka has come. That very Aloka, to get a glimpse of whom Ajay would wait all day long. “Before I forget Ajay da, is there any word called ‘pet’ in English?” Aloka asks after approaching. Ajay replies mischievously, “Yes of course. ‘Pet’ means ‘matha’.” “Really?” “If you have any doubt then consult dictionary. ‘Pet’ means ‘matha’. “Oh! Then Baruna di was right.” “Can you tell me what the English of ‘mundu’ is?” asks Ajay. Looking in flickering dim eyes, she answers, “Head”. “Oh ‘Head’ means ‘matha’.” “Mundu’ similarly means ‘matha.” “Is this your knowledge of English? How can you say that ‘matha’ and ‘mundu’ are same?” replies Ajay, grinning. “What is the difference?” gigglesAloka. In a mock serious tone Ajay asks, “You mean there’s no difference between you and that washerwoman, then? Both are women, after all.” “Washerwoman? Who are you talking about?”
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 “The onewho resides just opposite your lane. She’s pretty young”, winks Ajay. “I guess the same age as yours”. A wry smile whizzespast Aloka’s face. “You’ve become a meticulous observer these days, I see. Even the washerwoman isn’t being spared”. “Of course.In order to appreciate light, you need to pit it against darkness. Likewise, in matters of the heart, you need to follow the same. I, too, need to be assured that mine is the best”, he says, chortling. “Yours?Ajay da,who areyou referring to? asksAloka with strange inquisitive eyes. “There’s someone…”says Ajay, taking a deep breath. Aloka suddenly moves aside, unmindfully thumbing through the pages of the book lying on the table. Ajay, too, walks to the window, staring at the distant horizon.
Two different individuals weaving their own yarns of fantasies.Lying on the bed, pressed against each other.Hashi rests her hand delicately on Ajay’s broad chest. Ajay and Hashi--husband and wife.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 Short Stories – 3
The Jurassic Egg
Satyajit Ray
Originally written in Bengali with the title Pterodactyler Dim and was published in the famous children's magazine Sandesh in February -March, 1962.
Translated by: Saptarshi Roy, M. Phil. , Department of English, Jadavpur University, W.B., India.
Badanbabu doesn't come to Curzon Park of late.
Gone those old days! He used to sit a few moments under the statue of Suren Banerjee, waiting for the rush to reduce in trams. Only then he would take slow strides to his Shib Thakur Lane home.
Now-a-days trams have stretched routes inside park, so no relaxation possible. Though it is equally tough to go home by 'hanging' on transport, sweating profusely!
And not only that. Badanbabu feels his life a failure if he is unable to spend at least an hour, cherishing the natural world still offered by Calcutta. Though a clerk, he is a die hard visionary. This Curzon Park has long been his seedbed of multiple stories. But he was never able to pen them down. Where is time for all that? He believes that he may have earned quite a name by writing.
Although, not all his stories have gone to ashtrays.
His physically-challenged boy Biltu has grown to 7 now. Unable to move from bed, most of his time swings in listening tales from parents-- known tales, printed ones, ghost stories, funny, all sorts of fairy tales-- everything have gone past his ears in the last 3 years. Minimum a thousand plots. Recently Badanbabu has begun to fabricate a new story each night. They are created in this very Curzon Park.
Though for the last one month that tradition broke many times. The tales that he delivered failed to become a hit for Biltu. And why not? On one side tremendous work load in office, and on other end his simultaneous loss of a resting place and scopes of ruminating. Autumn Edition 134
ISSN 2321 - 4805 Post leaving Curzon Park, he tried to find abode beside Lal Dighi. Not good. That gigantic Telecom House there has encroached capital amount of the sky, leaving no space for thinking.
Even later this Lal Dighi has also become an area for tram routes, and Badanbabu has thus been forced to flee for newer shades.
Today he has come to the south of Outrum Ghat, on the Ganges. Beside the rail line there is a bench.
No, it's not lonely anyway. There are files of boats in front, with some buzzing of sailors. In a faraway distance there's a Japanese ship. Even further one can find bunches of mast and pulley just kissing an evening sky.
Hmmm... Nice place.
Let's sit on the bench.
There's Evening Star, visible dimly through steamer smoke.
Badanbabu felt that perhaps he hasn't seen this much of a sky for long. Wow, this is huge! Enormous! How can ideas be flying without such greatness?
Badanbabu took off his shoes to sit comfortably. Like a babu. Today he will spin multiple plots to make up for all these days.
He can see the vision of a much happier Biltu.
"Namaste!"
Oh! Even here!
Badanbabu turned his head only to find a skinny figure of nearly 50 wearing a brown coat and pants, a jute bag hanging from his shoulders. Dim evening lights are not helping much to see, but even then the eyes can be traced as unusually glittering.
And what's that? Stethoscopes?
Two tubes can be seen that have entered into his ears from a machine lay hanging over his chest.
Smiling gently, the intruder said "hope I'm not disturbing? Please don't mind. Haven't seen you here anytime before, that's why..."
Badanbabu became truly annoyed. Was enjoying this loneliness! Why come and chat? Everything gone out of brain. What explanation he now will give to poor Biltu?
Though he timidly said "I never came here before, so you haven't seen me. In such a big city 'not-seen's are more in numbers than the 'seen's. Isn't it?" Autumn Edition 135
ISSN 2321 - 4805 The stranger ignored the irony of Badanbabu, "I'm coming to this place regularly for 4 years."
"Hmmm ".
"Right here. In the same place. This bench. Actually it's my space for experiment!"
Experiment? What experiments one can do in this open fields beside the Ganges? Is he crazy or what?
Or he might be a ruffian? You can never tell in Calcutta.
My gosh! Badanbabu got his salary today. 2 new hundred rupees are with him, tied to his hanky. Also his wallet accounts for 55 rupees and 32 paisa.
Badanbabu stood up. Prevention is better than cure.
"What? Are you leaving? Angry with me?"
"No, no. Not at all."
"Then? You have just arrived. And leaving so soon?"
That's true! Why is he behaving so childish? What's his fear? Within 30 yards there are nearly 100 people in those boats.
Even then Badanbabu said "Yep, it's getting late."
"Late? But it's only 5.30.
"Have to go a long way."
"How far?"
"Baghbazar".
"Shame shame. Could have told me Srirampur or Chinsurah--at least Dakshineswar."
"Not that near though, I guess? Takes an exact 40 minutes by trams. Then it's 10 minutes more to walk."
"That's right."
The stranger suddenly became serious. Then came his murmured voice, "40 plus 10 is 50... I'm not that easy with hour-minutes pattern. For us it's... Please be seated! Just a couple of minutes."
Badanbabu took a seat.
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 The stranger possessed something unknown in his voice and gaze, what made Badanbabu unable to deny. He thought to himself, that's perhaps called hypnotism.
The mysterious man said "Generally I don't ask people to sit with me. You seem to me a thoughtful person. Like the other 99.99% folks who stick to this Earth with their endless measurements of rupees and coins, you don't look that busy. Am I wrong?"
Badanbabu hesitated, "You know..."
"And you're humble too. That's good. I don't prefer people who boast. If anyone could have ever boasted that's me."
The stranger stopped talking. Then opening the tubes from his ears, said "I feel afraid. If in darkness the switch gets pressed by chance, that would be disastrous."
A question was waiting upon the lips of Badanbabu. It slipped out--
"Is that instrument a stethoscope or what?"
The stranger ignored his quarry totally. How ill-mannered! Instead of an answer he asked something irrelevant, "You write?"
"Write what? Stories?"
"Anything. Cause I don't. I wish I could. All my achievements, experiences, experiments should be preserved for future generations."
Experiences? Experiments? What's this fellow saying?
"How many varieties you have seen of a traveler?"
Really this man asks utterly nonsense questions. Isn't seeing a single traveler a rare fortune?
Badanbabu said, "I never knew that travelers do have more than one type!"
"What! Three types are most common to guess! Terrestrial, aquatic and airborne. First group consists Vasco da Gama, Columbus, and Captain Scott etc. The terrestrials are Hsuan Tsang, Mungo Park, Livingstone, even our globe trotter Umesh Bhattacharya. And in sky let's take Professor Piccard, who went up to 50,000 feet, and that newbie Gagarin. Although these are merely considerable. The travel that I'm talking about don't belong to aquatic, terrestrial or airborne categories."
"Then?"
"Time."
"I'm sorry?" Autumn Edition 137
ISSN 2321 - 4805 "Roaming around time. Time travel. Journey to the past, back to the future. At will. I don't bother about the present."
Now clouds got a little clear for Badanbabu. He said, "You are talking about H. G. Wells right? Time machine? That bicycle like thing. You ride and pull a handle to go to the past, and another for the future? That very story which was made into a foreign bioscope?"
The gentleman smiled with snub. "That's a tale. I'm telling you a reality. My reality. My experiences. My machine. Not some tell-tale of a foreign writer."
Somewhere a steamer whistled.
Badanbabu shivered a little, and then slid his hands into his woolen wrapper. A few moments later nothing would be visible except little lights from the boats.
In that darkening milieu Badanbabu looked at the face of our stranger. His eyeballs were now reflecting the residue hues of the evening sky.
The man looked at the sky. Then after a brief pause said, "I feel laughing. Some 300 hundred years ago, right here, near this bench, an alligator and a stork on its head was basking under the sun. From the position of that boat over there, a sailor from a Dutch schooner shot that croc with a desi rifle. Just one bullet was enough. The stork flew away, and a feather glided on me. Here it is."
The stranger brought out a marble white feather from his bag.
"What are these red spots?"
Badanbabu's voice is now heavy with anxiety.
The man said, "Alligator's blood sprinkled on that stork."
Badanbabu returned the feather.
The eyes of the stranger were glowing dim. Weeds were floating around the Ganges. Nothing was visible. Water, sky, and earth everything have turned into a single smudge.
"Can you guess what is this thing?"
Badanbabu took into his hands-- a triangular tiny piece of iron, with a sharpened head.
The stranger began, "Some 2000 years ago, in the middle of the river, a ship with colorful sails was trading towards the sea. Perhaps a merchant one. May be going to Bali for doing trades. I could hear the distinct sound of oars right from here."
"You?"
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 "Who else? Right here--in place of this bench--hiding behind a banyan tree."
"Why hidden?"
"Had to. This place was incomparably dangerous. History don't record such things."
"Tigers?"
"Much more than that. Humans. Short height, small nose, dark savages. Earrings, nose-rings, tattoos. With bow and arrows. Arrows with venom tipped."
"What are you saying!"
"Telling the truth."
"You actually saw that?"
"Listen please! The month was Baishakh. A wild storm had begun. That merchant ship drowned before my eyes."
"Then?"
"A man reached the shore with the help of a log, struggling against sharks and crocodiles. And then... Oh!..."
"What?"
"If you only could see with your own eyes, what those savages had done to that man... Although me too was unable to see. An arrow hit the banyan tree. Collecting that I switched back to the present."
Badanbabu felt undecided on choosing between cry and laugh. Are this tiny instrument and two tubes really containing that much magic? Is it possible at all?
Perhaps the stranger guessed the question of Badanbabu. "When you insert both tubes of this very instrument-- pressing the right hand side switch transports to future, whereas left switch drags back to the past. At what time, in what era you want to go, that can be adjusted by rotating this marker on the dial. Although 20-30 years might be miscalculated, it’s a minor issue. Cheap thing, you know. So not that accurate!"
"Cheap?" Badanbabu is now more surprised than ever.
"Cheap regarding the cost. It contains a legacy of 5000 year's scientific knowledge and intelligence. In our country scientific research is hidden from view, unlike the West. Think of history. Do you know the painters of Elora caves? Who created Bhairavi tune, Rig Veda? Do we
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 know the actual contributors of Ramayana or Mahabharata? Say what primal component changed Mathematics in a revolutionary way?"
What component? Badanbabu knew none of them.
The man said, "Zero."
A bolt from the blue for Badanbabu.
"From 1 to 0. There's nothing more in Maths. All calculations are based on them. And you know from where these figures came? India. Then went to Arabia. Then to Europe and the whole world. Understood? Do you have any idea what was the system before?”
Badanbabu again shook his head in negative. Really, his knowledge is so limited!
"It was Roman numerals. No numbers, only alphabets. I was 1, II was 2, but 5 was V. No specific rules. For a four-lettered year 1962, you had to write MCMDCII, total 7 letters. For 888 you have to use a dozen letters DCCCLXXXVIII. Can you imagine what would have happened to scientific formulas. People would have gone bald within 30. And Moon expeditions won't have taken place for another thousand years. Just think. A witty concept from an unknown man of our own country changed Mathematics forever."
The stranger paused for a second to breathe.
Gongs were heard from the Church. It's 6 in the evening now.
The stranger continued, "It's same even now. There are many persons in our country of whom nobody knows a word. They just sit quietly in some lonely corners, solving huge formulas inside their brains."
"Are you one of them?" Badanbabu inquired very timidly.
The man said, "No. Although I came in contact with one of them. In some distant hills. I was younger then. Used to travel a lot. That man was incredible. Name was Ganitananda. The 30 miles radius of his habitat was filled with mathematical scripts written on the stones. From his Guru, he came to know time travel. I got knowledge from him that there was a higher mountain than Everest that was destroyed 47,000 years ago by an earthquake. That same quake gave birth to a spring which is the source of this river, rippling in front of us."
Badanbabu wiped his sweats on forehead. "You got this instrument from that sage?"
Our stranger said, "Actually he told me the components. I collected them and made it myself. This tube is not made from rubber; it's a branch of a wild shrub. I bought nothing from any shop to build this. All of these are natural elements. Although it malfunctions sometimes, because it's hand-made. The switch to the future is not working of late."
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ISSN 2321 - 4805 "Have you ever been to future?"
"Just once. Not far though. In the mid 30th century."
"How is it?"
"Well, you know. In this spot there's a big road. And I'm the only person walking. Nearly escaped from getting crushed by a peculiar car. After that, I never went back there."
"And how far have you gone in the past?"
"That's another issue. With this instrument you can't reach at the moment of creation."
"Really?"
"Yes. After trying hard and fast I reached at a time when reptiles have already arrived."
Badanbabu felt dryness in throat. "What reptile? Snake...?"
"Oh, no no. Snake is but a kid."
"Then?"
"Suppose, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaur, Dinosaur etc."
"You went to that land too?"
"Mistake! What lands? Do you think they were not here?"
"They were?"
"Right at this place. Beside this very bench."
A chill ran through the spine of Badanbabu.
The stranger continued, "Ganges was not here. All these places were marshes. Near this jetty there was a moss-laden pond. With the help of marsh lights I saw a pair of red eyes. Just like the Chinese dragon of the drawing book. I understood that's stegosaurus. It was coming forward while chewing leaves. I knew it's herbivores, but even then I couldn't breathe out of fear. As I was thinking of switching back to the present, I heard a sound of wings. To my shock, I saw a pterodactyl, neither bird, nor animal, nor a bat. It attacked the animal. The cause of this rage became known when I saw a stone heap nearby. There was a glossy white egg. Pterodactyl's egg. I couln't control my greed even in that situation. On one side a fight had begun, and here I easily collected the egg...ha ha ha ha."
Although Badanbabu haven't felt any laugh at all. Can these happen beyond the realm of books?
"I could have given you the instrument to try, but..." Autumn Edition 141
ISSN 2321 - 4805 "But?"
The veins on the forehead of Badanbabu began to vibrate!
"Only a fool's chance to get succeeded."
"Wh-why?"
"Even so you can try. No gains might be, but no losses at least."
Badanbabu stretched out his neck. Oh God! Please don't disappoint!
The man pushed instrument's tubes into the ears of Badanbabu. Clicking the switch he grabbed the wrist of Badanbabu.
"Have to measure the pulse."
"Past or future?" Shivering like a scapegoat Badanbabu asked in low tone.
"Past. 6000 B.C. Shut your eyes tightly."
Badanbabu waited with utmost anxiety nearly for a minute. Then said, "Nothing is taking place."
The stranger pulled out the machine.
"The chance is one in a crore."
"Why?"
"If both of our heads contained even number of hairs, then the instrument might have worked."
Badanbabu felt like a punctured balloon. Alas! Alas! A chance like this perished in such way?
The stranger again slid his hand into his bag.
Now everything was clearly visible because of the moonlight.
The stranger passed to him a white rounded glossy thing.
Quite heavy. And wonderfully smooth.
"Give me that. I've to move now. The night is falling."
Badanbabu returned the egg. Who knows how many experiences this man possessed.
He asked, "You're again coming to this same place tomorrow. Right?"
"Let's see. So much work is left. Have to verify historical data. The issue of the establishment of Calcutta should be looked into. People are making a fuss about Charnok. Bye. Good God!"
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* * *
Badanbabu had to get off the tram just after getting into it, providing a lame excuse. Because he fell from heaven as his hand reached the pocket.
His wallet has vanished.
Walking towards home he said with a sigh, "Got it. When I closed my eyes, and that man took my hand to measure the pulse... Shame, shame! What a fool I have been made today!"
When he reached home it was 8 p.m.
Having seen his dad Biltu's face became illuminated with smile.
By now Badanbabu too is feeling much at ease.
As he was opening his shirt he said, "Today I'll tell you a good story."
"Really? Not like other days?"
"No my dear. Really."
"What the story is about, papa?"
"Pterodactyl's egg. And many others. Won't finish in one day."
To tell the truth, what this one day has provided him for the happiness of Biltu, isn't that accounts for at least 55 rupees and 32 paisa?
(Shortened a little on purpose by the translator)
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