Essay on the influence of English on Bengali Literature

Modern Bengali Literature, i.e. literature that in a broad sense has developed since 1850, is the product of English education, the cultivation of the English language and the study of English literature.

The literature before this was largely dominated by religious and feudal ideas. It followed certain set patterns and conventions, which were worked with tiresome repetition as in the Vaishnaba Lyric verses and the Mangal Kavyas. There was no want of strong lyrical feeling, or narrative skill. But wit and ingenuity rather than imagination dominated their literary style.

Above all, there was no prose literature, — prose being reserved only for the utilitarian purpose of writing private letters or official documents. The purpose of poetry also was extremely limited; it was written either to tell religious stories,-mostly of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata or to convey religious instruction to people at large.

Into this somewhat medieval world of letters, the influence of English proved to be revolutionary and far-reaching”. It started with the work of the missionaries. The works of William Carey with Ramram Bose and Mritunjoy Vidyalankar proved extremely fruitful. But the development of style came with the use of prose for religious polemics and social propaganda by Rammohan Roy. The structure and idiom, on the whole, remained vernacular.

The valuable pioneering work was done by the scholars of the Hindu College, particularly the pupils of Derozio and Richardson. They wrote introductory books on science, biography, history and geography etc. They added to the resources of the language and extended its expressive qualities and dimensions. They read Shake­speare and Milton, Pope and Dryden, Byron and Scott. Tentative efforts were made to translate or adapt the plays of Shakespeare, Experiment in the simpler forms of lyrical measure were made.

There were two whose contributions were of incalculable value. They were-Vidyasagar and Michael Madhusudan. Vidyasagar laid the foundations of literary prose. Certainly Bengali prose in his hand acquired something of the measured rhythm of Johnson’s style. Without Vidyasagar it is difficult to conceive of the prose of Bankimchandra and his school.

Bankimchandra was profoundly read in Shakespeare and the influence of the English dramatist was as great on him as of Kalidas and Bhababhuti. He had genius and imagination and a knowledge of European literature. Whatever he touched, he enriched and made it his own. He opened the floodgates of Western literature. Since then the stream of ideas has continued to flow in. The influence of Scott and Byron on the poetry of Rangalal and Nabinchandra was as great as that of Shakespeare and Milton on Michael and Dwijendralal. Augustan satire certainly taught Hemchandra a thing or two. Occasionally there are echoes of also Wordsworth and Keats.

Bankimchandra created the Bengali novel. He was admittedly influenced by Walter Scott. He moulded the art of the novelist to delineate Bengali society and character. He was followed by Ramesh Chandra Dutta, whose narrative skill was also great.

It is in the field of the lyric that the influence of English literature was most striking. It was most discernible in the early poetry of Rabindranath. The growth of the national spirit had served to stimulate his emotions. The imagination of youngmen was touched with the concept of romantic love. In this respect the novels of Bankimchandra proved immensely influential. Rabindranath’s nature poetry and love poetry undoubtedly owe something to Shelley, Keats and Wordswroth but the catalytic agent was Bankimchandra’s novels with their sensitive description of nature and the subtle depiction of the emotions.

The influence of Western thought was also considerable. Mill, Spencer and Comte were popular. The ideas of liberty, equality and democracy gained widespread currency and entered into Bengali literature in various ways and struck roots here. A new concept of womanhood as envisaged by Victorian novelists also arose, which was expressed in the novels of Rabindranath.

The conflict between Western liberalism and Hindu orthodoxy had a two-fold effect. In poetry it developed satire in the hands of Hemchandra and Dwijendralal and their followers like Indranath Banerjee. It also had a powerful effect on the evolution of social comedy; the influence of Sheridan and Goldsmith is noticeable in the sentimental comedies of Rabindranath and the social comedies of Amritalal and Girish Chandra. Jotirindranath Tagore’s drama bore the distinct stamp of French comedians like Moiliers. It also imparted to prose a vigour and a robust quality, Promotho Choudhury and his disciples brought something of Gallic wit and Shavian paradox into Bengali prose.

Post-war Bengali literature has been much affected by passing fashions and modes. At one time the English ‘mataphysicals’ twisted and tortured the imagination of younger poets to the point of obscurity. The influence of Eliot and Ezra Pound as also of Baudlarine of France was irresistible on modern poets like Bishnu Dey, Sudhin Dutta and Buddhadeb Bose and Amiya Chakravarty. They sought to make up for their lack of depth by cultivating an esoteric mannerism.

The influence of the West had done its job; it had enlivened Indian literature with ideas and enriched it with new thoughts. It seems we are now on the threshold of a new age where the genius of the people will speak out in clear, loud and unborrowed language.