‘New young publishers have
the spirit of Ekushey’
Azfar Hussain is, amongst other things, critic, theorist, editor, poet and translator. He talks to Sanam Amin about his six new books out in the last week of the Ekushey book fair
photo by Momena Jalil
|
It is a confusing series of twists and turns to the small and slightly dilapidated building that houses North South University’s English Department. Dwarfed by the imposing towers that the rest of NSU’s buildings are, the former residential structure contains the faculty offices, including that of Dr Azfar Hussain, who has completed six books and is still correcting proofs of the last one. They are all due to be out in the last week of the Ekushey book fair. He taught English, cultural studies and comparative ethnic studies at Washington State University and Bowling Green State University in the United States before shifting to Dhaka and taking up a teaching post in NSU in 2006.
‘The Wor(l)d in Question is a collection of essays I wrote between 2003 and 2004. Here I theorise the world as affected by four macrostructures: capitalism, imperialism, racism and patriarchy,’ he says of the first of his six books. In his view, these structures of power are more interlinked than ever before in the sense that though certain aspects of each had overlapped before, they did not necessarily have links with each other. ‘Right now, in 2008 they are all based on each other and cash in on each other. It’s a carnival of linkages.’
Two of the essays in this collection had bee published before; most of them were written when Dr Hussain was teaching at Washington State University. ‘This book makes use of my own experience in directly taking part in the anti-war movement,’ he adds.
As for the second book, The Politics of Subjects, Sites and Scenes, Dr Hussain describes it as a collection of thirty essays on relatively ignored historical figures and subaltern literatures as well as his take on postcolonial theory and contemporary politics in Bangladesh. This includes his Edward Said Memorial lecture given in 2003 and several of his Micronarratives columns. Asked for a few examples of ignored historical figures, he mentions Maulana Bhashani and Che Guevara as well, despite or because of the popularity of Che merchandise.
The other four books are in Bangla. ‘Shamrajjobad o Sankskritik Rajniti (Imperialism and Cultural Politics) is not a rehash of Edward Said’s work,’ he says in reply to my question. ‘I’m interested in examining the politics of culture and the culture of politics in the era of contemporary imperialism. These are my most recent writings in Bangla, most of which have been published here in Dhaka.’
As for Pathan: Shabda o Naishabder Rajniti (Readings: The Politics of Sound and Silence), this book offers a cluster of political and cultural readings of a range of figures in the history of Bangla literature and culture, from Lalon Fakir to Nazrul Islam. It covers an era stretching from the end of the 18th century up to the 1930s and 1940s. ‘I tried to politicise literary criticism to point out that it is no longer a bourgeoisie practice. I do interdisciplinary readings of a range of literary and cultural figures chronologically,’ he says.
‘Number five is Keramatnama (Chronicles of Keramat), published by Pathsutro. Keramat Khan is a persona through whose eyes I examine society’s cultural practices, mostly of the middleclass.’ He read aloud a short section where the central character, Keramat Khan, decides to never again allow a single English word to taint his Bangla conversation. ‘Here I’m making fun of puritanical nationalists who act as if one word will smear their patriotism. I as a writer am very distant. Keramat Khan himself is middleclass and I satirise him a good deal.’
As for the last of the six, Chinho Bhashay Obosheshe (Signs Float At Last), it is a travelogue published by Jatiyo Sahitya Prokash, a manuscript Dr Hussain grudgingly gave after insistence on their part. ‘Some big figures in publishing have approached me but I prefer the new young publishers. I think they deserve our support, I believe they have all the youthfulness, experiments and courage that I associate with the spirit of Ekushey. They are the people who will lay down the foundation of the country,’ he says.
This sudden burst of books, Dr Hussain says, was in the works for a long time. ‘They are all getting published now because my readers and friends all wanted me to do this. And I had a lot of pressure from my publishers,’ he says humorously.
|
Also
|
