Bangla Science Fiction
Encyclopedia
Bengali science fiction is a rich part of Bengali literature
. Although it is not as established as other genres
in the Bengali language
, it is gaining popularity among Bengali readers
, especially in Bangladesh
.
wrote various science fiction
works in the 19th and early 20th centuries during the British Raj
, before the partition of India
. Isaac Asimov
’s assertion that "true science fiction could not really exist until people understood the rationalism
of science and began to use it with respect in their stories" is true for the earliest science fiction written in the Bengali language
.
The earliest notable Bengali science fiction was Jagadananda Roy
's Shukra Bhraman (Travels to Venus), published in 1879. This story is of particular interest to literary historians, as it described a journey to another planet; its description of the alien creatures that are seen in Uranus
used an evolution
ary theory similar to the origins of man: "They resembled our apes to a large extent. Their bodies were covered with dense black fur. Their heads were larger in comparison with their bodies, limbs sported long nails and they were completely naked." This story was published a decade before H. G. Wells
’s The War of the Worlds (1898) in which Wells describes the aliens from Mars
.
Some specialists credit Hemlal Dutta as one of the earliest Bengali science fiction writers for his Rohosso ("The Mystery"). This story was published in two installments in 1882 in the pictorial magazine Bigyan Dorpon ("Mirror of Science").
Jagadish Chandra Bose, now considered as the father of Bangla science fiction, wrote "Niruddesher Kahini" in 1896. This tale of weather control
, one of the first Bangla science fiction works, features getting rid of a cyclone using a little bottle of hair oil (Kuntol Keshori). Later, he submitted the story to Obbakto as "Polatok Tufan" ("Run Away Cyclone").
Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya), an early Islamic feminist
, wrote "Sultana's Dream
", one of the earliest examples of feminist science fiction
in any language. It depicts a feminist utopia
of role reversal
, in which men are locked away in seclusion, in a manner corresponding to the traditional Muslim practice of purdah
for women. The short story
, written in English
, was first published in the Madras-based Indian Ladies Magazine in 1905, and three years later appeared as a book.
Premendra Mitra
wrote the first novel, Kuhoker Deshe ("In the Land of Mystery"). Hemendra Kumar Ray wrote Meghduter Morte Agomon.
wrote the first modern Bangla SF novel, Tomader Jonno Valobasa ("Love For You All"). It was published in 1973. This book is treated as the first full-fledged Bangladeshi science fiction novel. Then he wrote Tara Tinjon ("They were Three"), Irina, Anonto Nakshatra Bithi ("Endless Galaxy"), Fiha Somikoron ("Fiha Equation") etc.
But Bangla science fiction leaves its cocoon phase holding the hands of Muhammed Zafar Iqbal
. Mr. Iqbal wrote a story named "Copotronic Sukh Dukho" when he was a student of Dhaka University. This story was later included in a compilation of Iqbal's work in a book by the same name. Muktodhara, a famous publishing house of Dhaka
was the publisher of this book. This collection of science fiction stories gained huge popularity and the new trend of science fiction emerged among Bangla writers and readers. After his first collection, Mr. Iqbal transformed his own science fiction cartoon strip "Mohakashe Mohatrash" ("Terror in the Cosmos") into a novel. All told, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal has written the greatest number of science fiction works in Bangla science fiction.
Following the footsteps of the ancestors, more and more writers, especially young writers started writing science fiction and a new era started in Bangla literature.
Moulik, the first and longest-running Bangladeshi science fiction magazine, was first published in 1997, with famous cartoonist Ahsan Habib as the editor. This monthly magazine plays an important role in the development of Bangla science fiction in Bangladesh. A number of new and very promising science fiction writers like Rabiul Hasan Avi, Anik Khan, Asrar Masud, Sajjad Kabir, Russel Ahmed and Mizanur Rahman Kallol came of age while working with the magazine.
, Qazi Anwar Hussain
,Altamas Pasha, Abdul Ahad, Anirudha Alam, Ahsanul Habib, Kamal Arsalan, Dr. Ahmed Mujibar Rahman, Moinul Ahsan Saber
, Swapan Kumar Gayen, Mostafa Tanim, Vobdesh Ray, Jubaida Gulshan Ara Hena, Amirul Islam, Touhidur Rahman, Zakaria Swapan and Qazi Shahnur Hussain.
, India
have written science fiction, as well. But almost all of the writers of West Bengal (excepting Premendra Mitra
) actually wrote science fantasy rather than science fiction.
Adrish Bardhan is one of the most notable names among West Bengal's sci-fi writers. He, under the pen name of Akash Sen, was also the editor of Ashchorjo, the first Bangla science fiction magazine. After a six year run, this magazine ceased publishing. Later, Mr. Bardhan became editor of the magazine Fantastic, but it did not last long. Another Sci-Fi magazine "Vismoy Science Fiction" was edited by Sujit Dhar and Ranen Ghosh but it lasted only about two years.
A short story known as The Alien
written by Satyajit Ray
about an alien named "Mr. Ang" gained popularity among Bengalis in the early 1960s. He virtually pioneered the genre of Indian Science Fiction. It is alleged that the script for Steven Spielberg
’s film E.T.
was based on a script for The Alien that Ray had sent to the film's producers in the late 1960s.
Other notable science fiction writers of West Bengal include: Lila Majumdar, Sunil Ganguly, Kinnor Ray, Abhijnan Roychowdhury, Anish Deb, Shirshendu Mukherjee, Said Mustafa Siraj, Samarjit Kar, Swapan Banarjee and Samaresh Majumder.
Qazi Shahnur Hussain, the elder son of Qazi Anwar Hussain and grandson of Qazi Motahar Hussain, wrote a science fiction series named "Chotomama Series". These are the adventures of a young Bangladeshi scientist Rumi Chotomama and his nephew.
Satyajit Ray, on the contrary, wrote most of his science fiction works with the participation of the fictional character Professor Shanku
or Trilokeshwar Shanku. Shanku is portrayed as an aged man with proficiency in 72 different languages who has invented quite a number of useful things. Shanku used to be regularly accompanied by other fictional characters like scientists Jeremy Saunders and Hermann Krol, the completely non-scientific neighbour Mr. Abinash, the servant Prahlad and the beloved cat Newton.
Bengali literature
Bengali literature is literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and the Indian provinces of West Bengal and Tripura. The history of Bengali literature traces back hundreds of years while it is impossible to separate the literary trends of the two Bengals during the...
. Although it is not as established as other genres
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
in the Bengali language
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, it is gaining popularity among Bengali readers
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
, especially in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Earliest writers
Bengali writersBengali literature
Bengali literature is literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and the Indian provinces of West Bengal and Tripura. The history of Bengali literature traces back hundreds of years while it is impossible to separate the literary trends of the two Bengals during the...
wrote various science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
works in the 19th and early 20th centuries during the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, before the partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
. Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
’s assertion that "true science fiction could not really exist until people understood the rationalism
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
of science and began to use it with respect in their stories" is true for the earliest science fiction written in the Bengali language
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
.
The earliest notable Bengali science fiction was Jagadananda Roy
Jagadananda Roy
Jagadananda Roy was an eminent scientific article writer as well as Bangla science fiction writer in the 19th century. He wrote mainly for teens.Roy was among one of the first science teachers of Rabindranath Tagore established Visva Bharati....
's Shukra Bhraman (Travels to Venus), published in 1879. This story is of particular interest to literary historians, as it described a journey to another planet; its description of the alien creatures that are seen in Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
used an evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary theory similar to the origins of man: "They resembled our apes to a large extent. Their bodies were covered with dense black fur. Their heads were larger in comparison with their bodies, limbs sported long nails and they were completely naked." This story was published a decade before H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
’s The War of the Worlds (1898) in which Wells describes the aliens from Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
.
Some specialists credit Hemlal Dutta as one of the earliest Bengali science fiction writers for his Rohosso ("The Mystery"). This story was published in two installments in 1882 in the pictorial magazine Bigyan Dorpon ("Mirror of Science").
Weather control
Weather control is the act of manipulating or altering certain aspects of the environment to produce desirable changes in weather. Weather control can have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, from occurring; of causing beneficial weather, such as rainfall in...
, one of the first Bangla science fiction works, features getting rid of a cyclone using a little bottle of hair oil (Kuntol Keshori). Later, he submitted the story to Obbakto as "Polatok Tufan" ("Run Away Cyclone").
Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya), an early Islamic feminist
Islamic feminism
Islamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework...
, wrote "Sultana's Dream
Sultana's dream
"Sultana's Dream" is a classic work of Bengali science fiction and one of the first examples of feminist science fiction. This short story was written in 1905 by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain, a Muslim feminist, writer and social reformer who lived in British India, in what is now Bangladesh. The word...
", one of the earliest examples of feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
in any language. It depicts a feminist utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
of role reversal
Role reversal
In psychodrama, role reversal is a technique where the protagonist is asked, by the psychodrama director, to exchange roles with another person on the psychodrama stage. The former assumes as many of the roles of the other as possible and vice versa...
, in which men are locked away in seclusion, in a manner corresponding to the traditional Muslim practice of purdah
Purdah
Purdah or pardeh is the practice of concealing women from men. According to one definition:This takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes, and the requirement for women to cover their bodies and conceal their form....
for women. The short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, written in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, was first published in the Madras-based Indian Ladies Magazine in 1905, and three years later appeared as a book.
Premendra Mitra
Premendra Mitra
Premendra Mitra was a renowned Bengali poet, novelist, short story writer and film director. He was also an author of Bangla science fiction and thrillers.-Life:...
wrote the first novel, Kuhoker Deshe ("In the Land of Mystery"). Hemendra Kumar Ray wrote Meghduter Morte Agomon.
Science fiction in Bangladesh
After Qazi Abdul Halim's Mohasunner Kanna ("Tears of the Cosmos"), Humayun AhmedHumayun Ahmed
Humayun Ahmed is a Bangladeshi author, dramatist and director of film and television. He broke through since the publication of his first novel, Nandita Naraké...
wrote the first modern Bangla SF novel, Tomader Jonno Valobasa ("Love For You All"). It was published in 1973. This book is treated as the first full-fledged Bangladeshi science fiction novel. Then he wrote Tara Tinjon ("They were Three"), Irina, Anonto Nakshatra Bithi ("Endless Galaxy"), Fiha Somikoron ("Fiha Equation") etc.
But Bangla science fiction leaves its cocoon phase holding the hands of Muhammed Zafar Iqbal
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal is a Bangladeshi writer of children’s books and science-fiction and also a well-known political columnist. He is a professor of Computer Science & Engineering at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, though originally educated as a physicist.-Early life:Muhammed...
. Mr. Iqbal wrote a story named "Copotronic Sukh Dukho" when he was a student of Dhaka University. This story was later included in a compilation of Iqbal's work in a book by the same name. Muktodhara, a famous publishing house of Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
was the publisher of this book. This collection of science fiction stories gained huge popularity and the new trend of science fiction emerged among Bangla writers and readers. After his first collection, Mr. Iqbal transformed his own science fiction cartoon strip "Mohakashe Mohatrash" ("Terror in the Cosmos") into a novel. All told, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal has written the greatest number of science fiction works in Bangla science fiction.
Following the footsteps of the ancestors, more and more writers, especially young writers started writing science fiction and a new era started in Bangla literature.
Moulik, the first and longest-running Bangladeshi science fiction magazine, was first published in 1997, with famous cartoonist Ahsan Habib as the editor. This monthly magazine plays an important role in the development of Bangla science fiction in Bangladesh. A number of new and very promising science fiction writers like Rabiul Hasan Avi, Anik Khan, Asrar Masud, Sajjad Kabir, Russel Ahmed and Mizanur Rahman Kallol came of age while working with the magazine.
Other Writers of Bangladesh
Other notable writers in the genre include: Nipun Alam, Ali ImamAli Imam
-Works:Immam has written more than 200 books, translated nearly 40. Child psychology, humanism and adventure is found in his writing. A simple style is available. Adventures, science fictions, stories related with historic events are the categories....
, Qazi Anwar Hussain
Qazi Anwar Hussain
Qazi Anwar Husain is an author, publisher and translator from Bangladesh. He has used pen names like Bidyut Mitra...
,Altamas Pasha, Abdul Ahad, Anirudha Alam, Ahsanul Habib, Kamal Arsalan, Dr. Ahmed Mujibar Rahman, Moinul Ahsan Saber
Moinul Ahsan Saber
Moinul Ahsan Saber is a fiction writer of Bangladesh. He is the executive editor of popular weekly magazine Saptahik 2000, published from Dhaka....
, Swapan Kumar Gayen, Mostafa Tanim, Vobdesh Ray, Jubaida Gulshan Ara Hena, Amirul Islam, Touhidur Rahman, Zakaria Swapan and Qazi Shahnur Hussain.
Writers from West Bengal
A number of writers from West BengalWest Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
have written science fiction, as well. But almost all of the writers of West Bengal (excepting Premendra Mitra
Premendra Mitra
Premendra Mitra was a renowned Bengali poet, novelist, short story writer and film director. He was also an author of Bangla science fiction and thrillers.-Life:...
) actually wrote science fantasy rather than science fiction.
Adrish Bardhan is one of the most notable names among West Bengal's sci-fi writers. He, under the pen name of Akash Sen, was also the editor of Ashchorjo, the first Bangla science fiction magazine. After a six year run, this magazine ceased publishing. Later, Mr. Bardhan became editor of the magazine Fantastic, but it did not last long. Another Sci-Fi magazine "Vismoy Science Fiction" was edited by Sujit Dhar and Ranen Ghosh but it lasted only about two years.
A short story known as The Alien
The Alien
The Alien was an Indian-American science fiction film under production in the late 1960s which was eventually cancelled. It was being directed by the celebrated Indian director Satyajit Ray and co-produced by Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures. The script was written by Ray in 1967, loosely based...
written by Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
about an alien named "Mr. Ang" gained popularity among Bengalis in the early 1960s. He virtually pioneered the genre of Indian Science Fiction. It is alleged that the script for Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
’s film E.T.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
was based on a script for The Alien that Ray had sent to the film's producers in the late 1960s.
Other notable science fiction writers of West Bengal include: Lila Majumdar, Sunil Ganguly, Kinnor Ray, Abhijnan Roychowdhury, Anish Deb, Shirshendu Mukherjee, Said Mustafa Siraj, Samarjit Kar, Swapan Banarjee and Samaresh Majumder.
Portrayal of Characters in Bangla Science Fiction
Most Bangla science fiction authors use different characters for different stories, building them up in different forms according to the theme of the story. The stories by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal sometimes repeat names but never used the same character in more than one story.Qazi Shahnur Hussain, the elder son of Qazi Anwar Hussain and grandson of Qazi Motahar Hussain, wrote a science fiction series named "Chotomama Series". These are the adventures of a young Bangladeshi scientist Rumi Chotomama and his nephew.
Satyajit Ray, on the contrary, wrote most of his science fiction works with the participation of the fictional character Professor Shanku
Professor Shanku
Professor Shanku is a fictional scientist created by Satyajit Ray in a series of Bangla science fiction books. His full name is Trilokeshwar Shanku, and by occupation, he is an inventor. He is the son of Dr. Tripureshwar Shanku...
or Trilokeshwar Shanku. Shanku is portrayed as an aged man with proficiency in 72 different languages who has invented quite a number of useful things. Shanku used to be regularly accompanied by other fictional characters like scientists Jeremy Saunders and Hermann Krol, the completely non-scientific neighbour Mr. Abinash, the servant Prahlad and the beloved cat Newton.