Modernism and Internationalismin Bangla Literature

“Bangla Shahitto -- Adhunikota O Antorjatikota”, one of the sessions on Bangla literature on the opening day of the Hay Festival, was led by prominent writer of contemporary Bengali literature Abhijit Sen, and supported by Professor Mohammed Mohsin, Chanchal Ashraf -- a reporter by profession and emerging writer, author Parvez Hossain and Hamin Kamrul Haque. The panel discussed various viewpoints and breakthroughs of the Bengali literature that have managed to break the boundaries to step into modernism and internationalism.
The discussion began through the words of Abhiit Sen who claimed that modernism in Bengali literature was adopted from Europe, as we were part of the colonised culture, and internationalism in Bengali literature came through the hands of Rabindranath Tagore. Professor Mohsin pointed out the works of Biharial Charaborty, who first introduced modernism in Bengali literature and the writers who followed by stepping away from traditional forms -- fragmenting Bangla literature to create new structures. The discussants claimed that modernism may be identified in the works of Jibanananda Das and other poets of his time. However, modernism in writing does not mean internationalism. It is about identifying oneself with the society; how stories of different places of the world connect with a person is what results in internationalism.
The discussion moved towards the importance of this self- realisation, urging people to come out from their limitations to seek out new literatures, because only then true modernism can be achieved. However, the fast-paced growth of the modern world, globalisation, and corporate entities have reduced the number of original novelists and contemporary writers. Abhijit Sen said that it was a matter of concern that we can now produce good graduates and executives, but not true writers. There is no room for an individual to grow as the pressure of society destroys any possibility for imagination.
The last section of the discussion zoomed in on the importance of literature itself as opposed to modernism and internationalism. The basic philosophy of modernism and internationalism lies to the extent of which we can relate ourselves to our culture, gaining inspiration from our 1952 Language Movement and the 1971 Liberation War. It is an endless revolution that can only be measured by the tools we ourselves create.