Author: Taslima Nasreen
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Translator(s): Debjani Sengupta
Publisher: Srishti
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 158
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8188575283
Description
Taslima Nasreen’s Nirbachita Kalam (Selected Columns) came out in 1992 ana a second volume in 1993 called Nashto Meyer Nashto Gadya (Fallen Woman’s Fallen Prose). These two volumes of Nasreen’s prose have earned her a distinct place in the galaxy of south Asian feminist writings. Awarded the Ananda Puraskar, Nirbachita Kalam records the writer’s varied experiences of childhood, her growth as a writer and an outspoken spokesperson for all the oppressed and exploited women of her country.
Through her unsentimental and unadorned style, Nasreen shows vividly how women have always been treated as objects in a patriarchal society, how religious diktats continuously strive to chain her further and how every social and familial relationship is marred by male lust for power and domination. Through her indomitably candid prose, Nasreen takes us on a tour of Bangladesh’s history to pinpoint the high points of women’s exploitation, be it the Liberation War of 1971 or the more current years before her exile. This volume is of enduring interest to all those interested in feminist theory and politics, in society and in the questions of justice and equality.
AUTHOR
TASLIMA NASREEN was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh in 1962. After completing her MBBS degree in Dhaka Medical College she turned her hand to writing. She has published several volumes of poetry and non-fiction among which Nirbachita Column has won her wide acclaim. Among her novels, Lajja established her international reputation as a fiery feminist. She has also published memoirs, Amar Meyebela, UttalHawa & Dwikhandita. Her novel Shodh has been translated in English.
She has received several prestigious awards from both India and abroad. Her works have been translated into several Indian as well as European languages. She lives and writes in exile in Europe.
DEBJANI SENGUPTA teaches literatures in English at Indraprastha College, Delhi. She has edited the translation of Suchitra Bhattacharya’s novel Dahan and also translated & edited an anthology of stories Mapmaking: partition stories from two bengals.
REVIEWS
Dr Nasrin's voice is the voice of humanism everywhere.
- Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate in literature
It is possible for young women to reach within themselves and nurture their own spiritual life inspite of the physical and emotional pain that men-and tradition-bound societies-can inflict upon them.
- Nora Boustany, The Washington Post
Taslima foregrounds hitherto repressed knowledges about female desire.
-Saiyeda Khatun, Genders
By reconstructing and rearticulating her own and other women’s experience of humiliation, abuse and discrimination. Nasrin connects the personal (or social) identity to the larger context of social relations.
-Ali Riaz, Voice and Silence
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