BLiterature-Apratim

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He warns mankind of a possible future catastrophe and indirectly advises
them to be self-restrained about their evil tendencies and harmful behavioral flaws.
His fictions sometimes seem to present an ethical code for the future human race.
His works are, above all, full of optimism of human potentiality, which is
mingled with his deep confidence on man’s eternal supremacy. His robots tell us of
man’s greatness, and assure us of an unending journey of human civilization. That
makes Zafar more a human being and artist than a celebrity author, a pioneer of
humanity more than a visionary of science.
4
The Millennium, Prospects and Possibilities
The future and prospect of our literature seem uncertain due to the socioeconomic
crises it has faced. We are, at the same time, fighting anarchy and
fundamentalism that are eternal rivals of all norms of art, culture and civilization.
The so-called Postmodernism has grabbed the mind of our every young artist.
But the question is: will it eventually succeed? It seems a rather trivial trend and a
poor stream like Neoclassicism, because it is based on absurdity and denies all
traditional good norms of civilization. And the civilization cannot survive simply with
absurdist thoughts. It should always be based on reason.
Along with the side of the so-called Postmodernists, rationalist philosophers
too are reviving. It is like the condition of the 19 th century Bengal while progressive
visionaries were attacking the darkness of social primitivism; and now we are fighting
the darkness of a threat of tyranny and totalitarianism, an emergence of anarchy and
the arrival of a strong new force against reason. We are in a battle against all these
pre-modern opponents. So it is the time for a world-wide Renaissance. And after all
these arguments, if we continue to mark our time as ‘Postmodern’, rather it will mean
a Renaissance. In fact there is no problem of marking this period as ‘Postmodern’.
But the Postmodernist artists will definitely not be the pioneers of this artistic era.
Also excessive technological advancement has made man a crude
mechanical being. Technological innovations like TV, computer and internet have
diverted human interest. 3D movies, video music and computer games have become
the media of entertainment for the new generation. Man’s consciousness has been
confined to some shallow and limited ideas. As a result, the civilization has come
close to a tremendous change and the whole idea of literature is under threat of
extinction; and the death of literature reasonably signifies civilization’s death.
Alongside, the concept of literature needs to be reconsidered. Literature
needs not be confined to some ideological boundaries. It also essentially does not
need to have specific features. A writer even has no liabilities of maintaining
boundaries of genres. A writer can at the same time draw replicas of Tagore,
Jibanananda, Jayadeva, Nazrul and Lalan. Championing these principles of
composition, s/he has to make his/her unique art.