3 Review(s)

The [Oxford India] Anthology of Bengali Literature: Volume II (1941-1991) spans a period of half a century and includes the writings of some of the most representative figures in Bengali literature. Apart from offering a judicious selection of a vast number of writers, the anthology encompasses various genres including poetry, short story, novel, memoir, and essay, among others. The chronological listing of works by authors enables the readers to develop a sense of evolution of various genres and sub-genres from mid to late twentieth century, while savouring this veritable feast of material. The volume is divided into three sections. The poetry section begins with Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) and ends with Mandakranta Sen (b. 1972), and includes, among others, the works of Amiya Chakravarty, Buddhadeva Bose, Latifi Hilali, Shamsur Rahman, Sankha Ghosh, Tarapada Roy, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, and Ketaki Kushari Dyson. Satinath Bhaduri, Manik Bandyopadhyay, Satyajit Ray, Syed Shamsul Haq, Bani Basu, and Nasreen Jahan are some of the names featuring in the short fiction section. The section on prose non-fiction-memoir, essay, etc.-features Dhurjatiprasad Mukerji, Sudhindranath Datta, Buddhadeva Bose, Samar Sen, Sibnarayan Ray, Ashok Rudra, Partha Chatterjee, Gautam Bhadra, and Taslima Nasrin, among others.