8 months ago
Mahasweta Devi's Centenary: Why No Major Bengali Literary Prizes?
Mahasweta Devi was a very famous writer from West Bengal, India.
She wrote over 100 books and won important awards like the Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpith.
However, she never won the big prizes in her own state, like the Ananda Puraskar, Rabindra Puraskar, or Bankim Puraskar.
Some people think this is because her stories were about poor and marginalized people, which didn't fit the usual style of the time.
Others think it might be because she was very political and critical of the government.
Despite this, she is still considered one of the greatest Bengali writers of the 20th century.
She might not have cared much about these prizes, as she had a strong and independent personality.
Mahasweta Devi, a prolific Bengali writer, never won major state literary prizes despite her significant contributions.
She won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1979 and the Jnanpith Award in 1997, India's highest literary honor.
Her work focused on marginalized communities, using their language and perspectives, which was unconventional for her time.
The Bengali literary establishment, including the Ananda Bazaar group and the West Bengal government, did not award her major prizes.
Possible reasons for the snub include her political activism, anti-establishment themes, and personal conflicts with the literary elite.
- Who
- Mahasweta Devi, a prominent Bengali writer
- What
- The absence of major Bengali literary prizes despite her significant contributions
- Where
- West Bengal, India
- When
- During her lifetime and in the context of her centenary year
- Why
- Potential reasons include her anti-establishment themes, political undercurrents, and personal conflicts with the literary establishment
Key facts
- Mahasweta Devi's Works
- More than 100 novels, 350 short stories, and numerous non-fiction writings
- Sahitya Akademi Award
- 1979 for 'Aranyer Adhikar'
- Jnanpith Award
- 1997, India's highest literary lifetime achievement prize
- Ananda Puraskar
- Not awarded to Mahasweta Devi
- Rabindra Puraskar
- Not awarded to Mahasweta Devi
- Bankim Puraskar
- Not awarded to Mahasweta Devi
- Notable Contemporaries
- Sunil Gangopadhyay, Buddhadeva Bose, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
- Literary Style
- Anti-style, focusing on marginalized voices and settings
Quotes
Ganesh Devy
A scholar of language and a close associate of Mahasweta Devi.
“"During her lifetime, whenever I visited Bengal and met various literary persons, I noticed that they did not speak of her with much respect. There was a shade of character assassination."”
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“"In any case, the pain in the loss of home and love was also the source of her literary imagination. However, towards the last years of her life, there were occasions when I attended some literary events/meetings with her, and I saw that she was being treated with very high esteem."”
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Ajoy Gupta
Editor of Mahasweta Devi’s complete works and a notable figure in the Bengali literary scene.
“"Besides the Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpith awards, Mahasweta Devi has won multitudes of awards from across India. The curious thing is that in the state where she lived and the language she wrote in, she did not win any major prizes… One might say that neither the literary establishment, nor the state celebrated her work."”
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Sumana Roy
A writer and critic who has written about Mahasweta Devi's work.
“"In spite of her coming from great cultural capital, a family of writers and artists, including a film director, Mahasweta Devi’s writing was ignored by the Calcutta literary establishment, because of the choice of subjects, the settings, and the language she chose to write in. Her anti-style would have made her writing seem like a critique of the established and admired literary styles of the time, particularly male Bengali writers."”
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Samik Bandyopadhyay
A theatre and literary critic, English translator of Mother of 1084, and a collaborator of Mahasweta’s on Oxford University Press’s Bengali school reader project.
“"Prizes represent not the literary establishment, but the establishment."”
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Mahasweta Devi
A prominent Bengali writer and activist.
“"My state has disappointed me very much in the matter of denotified criminal tribes. There is no state that promotes itself [as progressive] as much as this state does."”
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