Waltzing through literature land
Crossings
ULAB Journal of English Studies
Volume 2 No. 1 Fall 2009
Ed Mohit Ul Alam
Crossings is a literary journal produced by the Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. The journal, published annually, rightly defines itself as a " peer-reviewed journal of scholarly articles and book reviews."
I was awestruck by some of the articles in this volume. This magazine presents reading material of great variety. This issue features articles contributed by faculties from many different tertiary institutions of Bangladesh and also two faculties from India.
Professor Mohit Ul Alam, the editor of the journal, himself elaborates the contents of the work in his very well-written introduction: "The issue has nineteen essays and five book reviews. The essays have been put into five sections in accordance with their thematic similarities. The sections are named as "Literatures Interfacing", 'Post Colonial Literature," "Diasporic Literature," "Imperialistic Legacies," and "Language: Theory, Practice and Mechanics" respectively."
In the first section, there are five essays dealing with some aspects interfacing between literatures, cultures and theories. This section juxtaposes titles with variety. It deals with Tagore's prose by Fakrul Alam and Kaiser Haq's poetry by Sheikh Mehedi Hasan. It also includes an uncommon topic titled, "What's Cooking?Cookery and Creativity in The Mistress of Spices, Serving Crazy with Curry and Book of Rachel' by Rajyashree Khushu-Lahiri and Shweta Rao from India.
The second section, named "Postcolonial Literature", contains three essays, the first of which is by Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, a noted author and leading intellectual of the country. The other two essays on Doris Lessing's The Grass is Singing and Achebe's Things Fall Apart by Mohammad Shahidul Islam Chowdhury and Nasrin Islam respectively have been a pleasure to read.
The third section titled "Diasporic Literature" also contains three essays, starting with a paper by Kaiser Haq on Nirad C. Chaudhury, the controversial iconoclast.
The fourth section dwells on Shakespeare's imperial dimension, another controversial topic, and becomes lively in the hands of Mohit Ul Alam, an accomplished and amusing writer.
The last group containing seven essays deals with the perennial problems of establishing English language learning on a sound pedagogical base. The essayists of this section make a praiseworthy effort as a whole to draw a comprehensive picture of the present state of English language in the country.
The edition of Crossings is lovely and appealing because it fulfills our longing for a well-composed and handsomely printed collection. While each piece is unique unto itself, together they make for a satisfying romp through writers like Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Professor Kaiser Haq, Professor Fakrul Alam and Professor Mohit Ul Alam with substantial and impressive publication credits.
Re Fakrul Alam's article "Some Qualities of Permanence": Tagore's English prose, for example, attempts "to demonstrate how Tagore endeavoured to use the English language flexibly and imaginatively and how he was able to wield the language in diverse ways to suit the occasion, the audience, or the form of expression he had chosen." Alam tries "to produce a thorough re-evaluation of Tagore's contribution to English prose and affirm the value of his prose writings in our time."
Tagore felt unsure or cynical about his ability to master the pitfalls of the English language, "the definite and indefinite articles, the prepositions, the use of 'shall' and 'will'"---pitfalls which could not be "avoided by intuition" and could be acquired only through "tuition" he deduced. As he suggested wryly, he actually knew "well enough to say" that he "did not know it".
The journal features Kaiser Haq with his excellent and amusing article titled, "The Late Mr. Nirad C. Chaudhury, C.B.E.(Hony.),and the Twilght of Empire". Haq, a noteworthy and major poet composing poetry in English from Bangladesh, equally excels in prose too. He attempts here "to examine the philosophy of history expounded by Nirad C. Chaudhury, and relate it to the apocalyptic temper of modernism". He cites two amusing anecdotes revealing, "one aspect of Chaudhury: The show off. Complimentary to showing off is putting down; and Chaudhury delighted in it."
Before I leave it to the reader to read and appreciate the journal independently, I cannot resist the temptation of making a few more comments. Mohit Ul Alam, in his essay on Shakespeare's "Imperial Design", asks some relevant questions on Shakespeare. Apart from the "imperial theme" or Poetic Geography of which I hardly have room to pass my opinion here, I would prefer to concentrate on the point his argument revolves around. Recognizing the debt to the critics he borrowed points from, his moving to the questions in the conclusion is significant to those who study Shakespeare in Bangladesh. We may not find all the answers here and so we may make more explorations but the questions are right. And if the questions are right, we may surely find the answers too.
The journal encloses, among others, a couple of unique, well-written, and thoughtful literary reviews by Syed Badrul Ahsan, a columnist, poet and Literary and Current Affairs Editor of the Daily Star.
To conclude, my sincere appreciation goes to the editor along with his entire team for his unassuming and unpretentious perseverance in bringing this journal out. This volume is engaging and satisfying but that makes me all the more eager for looking forward with much anticipation.
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