BLiterature-Apratim

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Literature is not for just entertainment; it has a nobler purpose. With its power
of enlightenment of the readers, literature can serve a nation and also the entire
human society. A society’s progression can be traced with the advancement of its
literature and philosophy.
At the beginning of a new Platonic year, we hope the civilization will come out
of its long-lasted gloom, reject all primitivism and embrace a new light of the genuine
good will of a loving heart. Let the triumph of light and love be marked on the
forehead of the human civilization in the new Millennium. May the good power be
victorious against its evil arch-rival! And may our great nation be a fellow of this
mission.
APPENDIX
• For selecting the writers for detailed discussions in the third chapter of the
essay (‘Great Bengali Writers’), I have adopted the following principles -
1. S/he must be the best writer of an artistic type, for example – Jibanananda.
2. S/he must be eligible to be called the greatest (or one of the greatest) writer of
her/his period.
3. S/he must be a unique writer as far as possible. If several or more number of
writers’ works have remarkable resemblance, the best and older ones have
been prioritized. That’s why I have not included Gobindadas (who is inferior to
Vidyapati) or Mir Mosharraf (who is inferior to Bankim) or Sudhindranath (who
is reasonably a minor poet than Tagore) in this list.
4. Some poets’ diction is too wordy and their poems convey few unique
philosophies, like Bharatchandra Ray, Sudhindranath and Al Mahmud. I have
avoided such poets.
5. I have avoided translators or rewriters, like Alaol or Vidyasagar.
6. From the poets of High Modern era, I have selected Jibanananda and Bishnu
Dey and I believe this selection does not require any explanation.
7. I have not taken the writers of linear techniques, for example – Humayun
Azad or Syed Shamsul Haq (in fact they are too concerned with sexuality to
have real artistic qualities); and taken Waliullah, Mahmudul Haq and Elias as
they are comparatively much greater writers.
8. Among the Marxist poets, I have taken Bishnu Dey for his artistic depth and
left Sukanta and Subhash for their linearity. I have also excluded Joy
Goswami, because excessive intricacies have made his poems artistically
bizarre.
9. Among the writers of historical novels, I have taken Sunil Gangopadhyay, and
reasonably left Bimal Mitra and Amiyabhushan.
10. Among the Sanskrit poets, I have accepted only Jayadeva because his
Sanskrit is close to Bangla what cannot be said about others’ verses.