This study looks at the rich literature that has been spawned through the historical imagination of Bengali-speaking writers in West Bengal and Bangladesh through issues of homelessness, migration and exile to see how the Partition of Bengal in 1947 has thrown a long shadow over memories and cultural practices. Through a rich trove of literary and other materials, the book lays bare how the Partition has been remembered or how it has been forgotten. For the first time, hitherto untranslated archival materials and texts in Bangla have been put together to assess the impact of 1947 on the cultural memory of Bangla-speaking peoples and communities. This study contends that there is not one but many smaller partitions that women and men suffered, each with its own textures of pain, guilt and affirmation.

The book is focused on the impact of Partition on the eastern part of India - West Bengal and Bangladesh.

About the Author
Debjani Sengupta teaches in the Department of English at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi. Her publications include an anthology of Partition short fiction titled Mapmaking: Partition Stories from Two Bengals (2003, 2011) that she edited, and articles on Bangla science fiction, Bangla theatre and the Bengal Partition in anthologies and journals. She has contributed translations from Bangla to The Essential Tagore and The Oxford Anthology of Bengali Literature.

Reviews
'This work is substantive not merely because of the political and literary elements Sengputa brings into her narrative but also because of the focus she places on the roles of such individuals as Ashoka Gupta, Renuka Ray and Renu Chakravartty in promoting communal harmony in Bengal.' Syed Badrul Ashan, Asian Affairs



Book Information
ISBN 9781107061705
Author Debjani Sengupta
Format Hardback
Page Count 283
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 540g
Dimensions(mm) 238mm * 159mm * 23mm