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Digging for cultural heritage
Bangla Academy’s folklore department manuscript editor, Saymon Zakaria says ‘I am passionate about finding out the cultural history of Bangladesh.’ The academician turned poet, dramatist and researcher recently spoke to Dyuti Monishita about his books, research and philosophy
photo by Momena Jalil
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New Age: You research the history and origins of theatrical drama in Bangladesh; tell us something about your work.
Saymon Zakaria: What I do is something very creative; I research on the folk culture of villages all over Bangladesh. I observe their folk drama, music and dance. I familiarise myself with their culture, their style and how much passion they put in. A performance in the city may continue for about an hour or so, but amazingly, a village performance goes on for six to seven days. They have been able to hold on to the old style of theatrical drama.
If you want to know just old our culture is, you don not have to look very far. When the Prophet Mohammad was in Arabia, Bengal was already a very strong and culturally rich state. My travels in the country over the past fourteen years have only reinforced my belief in this, and that ancient Bengal has a heritage to rival any other of the region.
NA: What is your method of work?
SZ: I have learned and discovered most of my findings through field work, and am a true believer in first hand experience. But most of all, I do not like to see forced performances from theatre groups; I like them to be spontaneous. The performers should not know of or feel my presence, because that would influence them. That is why I go to these places in disguise in order to blend in. I dress like the locals, talk like the locals and act like the locals. And I try to get the history down in documents, by interviewing the theatre leaders. Their stories and history have been passed down from generation to generation. In this way, I can bring out 200 years of history.
NA: So why this subject in particular?
SZ: Many say that our cultural history has not been there for long. This is ridiculous! There was a form of theatrical performance called the ‘Buddha Natya’ which used to be performed by the locals in this region when Gautama Buddha was alive and spreading his teachings. There are other forms to this as well; around 300 BC, this took the shape of ‘Dig Bijoy’, and later it was transformed into ‘Bihar Jatra’. And during the reign of Emperor Asoka, the theatre was called the ‘Dharma Jatra’. It received the name ‘jatra’, meaning journey, from the fact that the groups used to travel all over the country spreading their message. This alone shows how far our culture goes back and I want to tell the world about out cultural heritage and correct the misconceptions.
Peter Brooke, the British film and theatre director so imprudently claimed that the age of Bangladeshi theatre drama is only two hundred years old. But I have personally studied an ancient manuscript where there is evidence of theatre drama dating back at least a few thousand years.
NA: How would you define a writer’s popularity?
SZ: At present, there are a lot factors involved when a writer becomes popular, and one of them is the media. But I must also admit that it does not always work like that. The majority of readers are either in their adolescence or early adulthood; intellectuals and professionals do not get the time to read. The young people are always looking for something that they can relate to, and a very popular topic is romance. For example, how will two lovebirds meet during the state of emergency? RAB is everywhere! Popular writers are very smart in the sense that they understand that they need to write in the present context.
NA: Internationally, what is the position of Bangla literature?
SZ: This is not known to everyone, but Bangla literature is being researched all over the world, but sadly, there is no international market for it; this is because there is no publicity. And our main weakness is that we do not have good translators. If we get the opportunities to have our works translated and receive good publicity, they will receive a lot of recognition.
NA: Do you have any upcoming books?
SZ: Yes, two actually. One is Bangladesher Loko natok Bishoy O Angik Boichitro and another is Shada Anander Shangshare. The latter is a book of poetry; I have been writing poetry from very early on. I think I can set a new trend in Bangla literature. I grew up in Kushtia, in the midst of Lalon philosophy, so I have completely merged with it. This is reflected in my poems.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
* Shuru Kori Bhumir Naame: a drama about the 1971 War, published in 1996 by Bangla Academy Tarun Lekhak Prakalpa.
* Pronomohi Bangla Mata: field work related research text, published in three volumes. The fourth volume will be launched in the Boi Mela.
* Prachin banglar Buddho Natok: published in 2007 by Bangla Academy.
* Compilation of poems by Farhad Mazhar.
U Selim Al-Din Rachana Shomogro
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