Jiabanananda Das's Selected Poems: New Translations
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New Translation of Jibanananda Das
Fakrul Alam has done a commendable job at Jibanananda Das Selec-ted
Poems with an Introduction, Chronology and Glossary
By Ziaul Karim
The birth centenary of one of the most important poets of Bengal
Jibanananda Das's falls this year. Largely considered untranslatable,
Jibanananda remained unrepresented in world literature.
Not that there has been any attempt to translate Jibanananda before,
but most of them failed to capture and preserve the flavor of the
Bengali original. The latest attempt at Jibanananda's mysteriously
simple and deeply suggestive poems to bring into English is no doubt a
Herculean task. The person who has done this colossal work with
unrivaled mastery to capture the Jibanananda Dasian nuance is Fakrul
Alam. He is the author Daniel Defoe: Colonial Propagandist, Bharati
Mukherjee. He is also the editor of the Dhaka University Studies. He
currently teaches English at University of Dhaka.
Most of Fakrul's translations which appeared in the literary pages of
The Daily Star generated tremendous interest among the poetry lovers.
He began to translate Jibanananda with Banalata Sen with his limited
knowledge of Bangla. It was in fact the beauty of the poem that created
a mysterious passion in him for learning Bangla: the result is a
handsome volume of poetry with notes and glossary of Bengali words to
track those murky Jibanananda Dasian paths. This fabulous work will
establish Jibanananda Das as one of the most original poets in World
literature.
Published by the University Press Limited the smart volume is priced at
290 takas. The volume is going to hit the book shops within a couple of
days.
[Reprinted from THE DAILY STAR, Oct. 30, 1999]
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[Reprinted from THE DAILY STAR, Oct. 30, 1999]
Book Review
A Fresh Look at the "Rhinoceros-Poet" Jibanananda Das
by Shamsad Mortuza
Jibanananda Das: Selected Poems with an Introduction, Chronology, and
Glossary.
Translated by Fakrul Alam
Published by UPL 1999
JIBANANANDA Das has been translated before. Fakrul Alam's translation
of Jibanananda Das's poems into English adds one more to the total,
therefore brings one more fresh perspective.
In principle translation is a subjective interpretive act, and all
translations must position themselves in terms of identity and
difference (sameness and otherness, likeness and unlikeness, ours and
theirs) as they attempt to cross boundaries of language. What could be
more pertinent than to keep this notion in mind while approaching the
translation of Jibanananda Das, the poet who has always treaded the
realms of familiar and unfamiliar?
Now how far has Fakrul Alam made the familiar Bengali poet unfamiliar
in this process of translation? Or is it the other way round? In a
postmodern world, the skeptic gaze of a critic is always busy to
(borrowing a phrase from Jibanananda Das) "find a rat or two." The
immediate questions that readily pop up regarding any translation
involve issues of "accessibility" and "authenticity": Who is it for?
Has it been true to the original? Answers to such questions are
attempted in the introduction provided by the translator.
Alam makes it clear that his projected audience includes the "lovers of
poetry outside the Bengali-speaking world" and his objective is to
share with his audience about the grandeur and range of Jibanananda Das
(5). About the second issue of authenticity, Alam refers to Jibanananda
Das's correspondence with his publishers and friends to point out the
poet's "insistence on retaining the flavor of the original, for
example, by preserving the Bengali names wherever possible, by avoiding
the pitfalls of being overly 'logical' or clear or literal in English
renderings of his poetry, and by honoring his desire of being
represented by translations" (13). Alam has certainly been true to his
purpose. And the timing of the publication could not have been better!
In this year of the birth centenary of the "rhinoceros-poet," Alam's
desire to present Jibanananda Das before a larger audience is
appreciable. Born in 1899, Jibanananda Das appeared in the Bengali
literary scene that was absolutely mesmerized by Rabindranath Tagore.
No wonder, writing in a style contrary to Tagore, Jibanananda was soon
to be compared to the gandaar (rhino) by his contemporaries who feared
that their canonical china-house was in jeopardy.
This century, however, has been extremely enterprising of this gandaar-
poet who has found his niche in the minds of Bengali readers.
Jibanananda Das's poems are alive with the poetics of oral magic in
modern forms. His poems brim with the imagery drawn from familiar
Bengali landscapes. Conversely, the sensuousness of imagery reminds one
of Keats. Then again the hybrid nature of his pictorial detail calls to
mind of Donne, Shelley, the pre-Raphellites, Edgar Allan Poe Yeats,
Eliot and so many others. After all, no poet stands alone. The genius
of a poet lies in his or her ability to include and exclude others in
order to locate himself or herself in the confluence of best minds.
Alam has taken care to point out some of these allusions used by
Jibanananda Das. The footnotes and glossary of Alam's volume is
designed to meet the curiosity of an average reader. Concurrently,
these critical annotations invite and challenge serious readers to be
more engaged with the text. A serious reader, for that matter, is
expected to ponder over the relationship between Helen in Edgar Allan
Poe's "To Helen" and Jibanananda Das's title-character in "Banalata
Sen." While Poe draws his allusion from Greek classics, Jibanananda Das
drafts his own classic by identifying Banalata Sen in Natore and then
immediately distancing her with the use of a farfetched imagery of the
ancient city, Vidisha in India. By providing clues like these Alam
incites his readers to simultaneously inject and reject a possible
relationship.
On quite a few occasions, Alam even provides parallel texts that are
said to have influenced Jibanananda Das's writings. For example, he
cites Keats's sonnet, "Happy is England" as a potential source for "Go
Wherever You Want to" (49) and "He Reproves of Curlew of Yeats for "Ah,
Kite" (69). In some other cases, Alam just adds a footnote to the title
to suggest a source for the poem: "Ode to a Nightingale" of Keats is
mentioned for "The Sea Stork" (87), "The Love Song of J Alfred
Prufrock" for "Loken Bose's Journal" (117).
Since Alam's introduction deals mainly with issues of translation, one
feels that these references should have been a little more detailed and
specific. For instance, in "Loken Bose's Journal" "One wants to roll up
the universe into a ball" (1.35, p.118) alludes to Eliot's "To have
squeezed the universe into a ball" (Prufrock, 1.94). Then again this
particular line echoes Donne in his 'Good Morrow.' The indecisive
lover, the silent sea of sands, the reference to great artists in the
poems contribute to the possibility of a relationship between Eliot and
Jibanananda. On the flip side of the coin Loken Bose's realisation that
love is not love has a different connotation for Prufrock. Additional
notes on the allusions and imagery of Jibanananda Das would certainly
enrich the volume.
The language of translation flows well. Alam has been cautious about
his word-choice and diction. His review of other translators shows that
he has been benefited from whatever he finds amiss in the translation
of others. Alam has discreetly selected 80 poems from a wide range of
Jibanananda Das's writings including some of his uncollected poems. The
poems are well representative of a poet who has been known as a nature
poet, a surrealist poet, a turbulent soul, and a true poet.
However, Alam's decision to exclude the first publication of
Jibanananda Das, Fallen Feathers (Jhora Palok) is intriguing (30). A
representative poem from the jubilant writings of young Jibanananda
could have been included in the volume to add to the other objective of
the translator: to trace the growth of the poet's mind.
Fakrul Alam's capacity as a student and teacher of literature has
certainly honed his critical perspectives. Admittedly, he is not a poet
but he has tried his best to capture "the poet's literary sensibility
and the poet's signature" (22). He has decided to leave some of the
plant and animal names in their original form. Understandably, the
connotation carried by the Shankhachil or Shalik is not to be
reproduced in their translation. But when the translator translates the
Chil for the Kite, one wonders why!
The Bengali words transcribed in the book could have been depicted in
International Phonetic Alphabet to give non-Bengali speaking poetry
lover a more precise taste of Bengali pronunciation. For example,
writing "bat" to suggest bat (the banyan tree) or "rat" to be read as
rat (night) is confusing. A pronunciation guide at the end of the
glossary would certainly help non-Bengali speakers for whom this
translation is primarily designed.
The introductory note also makes a case for the idiosyncratic use of
punctuation mark of the poet, and their relevance in conveying the
emotion. While the translator prescribes the use of punctuation, e.g.
long dashes, he is left to his own devices while translating, "Because
I have Seen Bengal's Face." In this poem, he lists the names of the
trees without the en-dashes found in the original.
One of the major attractions of the book is the faux-naif motif of the
illustration. Laila Sharmeen's childlike simplicity creates an
unfamiliar mysterious landscape in which Jibanananda Das's poems are
set. Thanks are also due to the publishers, UPL, for the neat
production of the book. However, for the local market, Tk 290 seems
pricey for this 156-page offset print book. To wind up, one cannot
agree more with Sudeep Sen, who appears on the back flap of the book,
who adds: "It is evident through Fakrul Alam's new translations that
there is great generosity in his endeavor. This book will be invaluable
to both scholars and general lovers of poetry - and how can one
possibly not recommend Jibanananda Das's genius."
The reviewer is Assistant Professor, Department of English,
Jahangirnagar University.
[Reprinted from THE DAILY STAR, OCt. 30, 1999]
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