Razia Khan Amin: Bangladeshi English Writer

As a scholar, I often share with my students my writings related to the courses I teach. I also encourage you to read my other works, enjoy the joy of sharing, and participate in the production and dissemination of knowledge. When I was a student in the Department of English at the University of Dhaka, our educators were not.

On the contrary, among the teachers in this department there were some very talented writers who were both creative and critical. Like most writers, they had an urge to share their work with others. For example, when I was doing my PhD in the UK, I came to Bangladesh on vacation in 2002 and contacted several academics to discuss my PhD work and get their feedback. Kala of Dhaka University He visited the office of Manzur Sah (Professor Saeed Manzur Islam) in Babang (Art Building). When Rokeya told him that he was studying Hossein’s feminist writings, he quickly picked one of his books from the bookshelf and ran to the dean’s office. rice field. He wrote the essay “Subaltern’s World View: A Reading of Sultana’s dream(Firdous Azim and Niaz Zaman ed. endless variety: Women in Society and Literature [1994]) and handed it to me. It was very helpful for my research.

I first came to know Razia Khan Madam when she was a Bangladeshi English writer working on her PhD. Subsequently, Professor Mohammad A. Quayum of Flinders University, Australia, and I embarked on his three major research projects on Bangladeshi literature written in English: one book and two special issues of his magazine. did.

But when I was studying for my first degree at the University of Dhaka in the 1990s, none of my teachers taught me essays or books. discouraged indulging in the act of sharing writing, which could be construed as self-promotion. The flip side of this otherwise admirable strategy of not sharing their work was that I was almost completely ignorant of their writing careers. As strange as it may sound, I didn’t know at the time that some of my teachers were good writers.

The strangest case was that of my teacher, Professor Razia Khan Amin (1936-2011). I used to attend her tutorials and her groups during both my undergraduate and postgraduate studies. If I can claim merit as her student, I was one of her favorite students (I hope this is not interpreted as arrogance on my part). I once visited her residence.

Despite all this, I didn’t know that Rajia Khan Madam produced her debut novel Bottler Upannayash At the age of 18 (published in 1958), I began writing critical and journalistic works long before I was born.

I first came to know Razia Khan Madam when she was a Bangladeshi English writer working on her PhD. Professor Mohammad A Quayum of Flinders University, Australia, and I then embarked on his three major research projects on Bangladeshi literature written in English: one book and two special issues of his magazine. . As I began to immerse myself deeply in this literary tradition, I became familiar with Rajia Khan Madam’s iconic status as a Bangladeshi writer in English.

in our introduction Bangladeshi Literature in English: An Important Anthology (2021), Professor Mohammad A Quayum and I write: Zaman (1941-), Feroz Ahmed-ud-din (1950-), Kaiser Haq (1950-)”.The book includes an interview with my co-editor in his essay “A Highbrow ‘Hijra’: Kaiser Haq in Conversation with MA Quayum”, in which the interviewee said: 1936-2011) should be mentioned first”. Its editor, Prof. Mohammad A. Qayyum, and I are “disappointed” that the book does not include a chapter on her.

In the introduction of the special issue, Postcolonial Writing Journal On Bangladeshi Literature in English by (Routledge) Professor Mohammad A Quayum and I said:

Renowned writer from Bangla, Rajia Khan, began writing in English in the early 1950s. But her two-volume poem, Argus under anesthesia and Cruel April appeared in 1976 and 1977 respectively. She also wrote her two novels, The Enchanted Delta and The Tamarind Tree, published posthumously in 2020. Her work generally focuses on gender, nationalism and multiculturalism, with a deep sense of pride in Bangladesh’s history, culture and identity, and the empowerment of women.

Regarding the achievements of Madam Rajia Khan, her colleague and my teacher Professor Serajul Islam Chowdhury said: He evaluates her literary career as follows:

I have collected all of Razia Khan Madam’s posthumously printed English writings in two great volumes. Razia Khan: Collected Poems (2014) and Rajia Khan: Omnibus Edition (2020). These two titles helped me come up with the idea of ​​using it for my primary research. In that sense, this essay can be seen as a precursor to my future efforts on her research.

Razia Khan Madam is a professor of English and in this essay, based on my reading of her critical essays, I have introduced her mainly as a prominent Bangladeshi English writer, but also a writer of Bangladeshi literature and my Our cultural heritage was wide and deep. And this suggests that she was an avid reader of both Bangla and English literature. When she read her important works, she was amazed by her valuable insight into various Bengali writers and their works.

For example, in an essay published in 1970, she said: -), Begum Sufia Kamal (1911-) and Mahmuda Hatun Siddiqa (1910-) [poetic] It is primarily a romantic and decorative genre that is idealized.”[W]Where Farouk Ahmed, like Nazrul Islam, uses subject matter, language, and moods that give his poetry a Middle Eastern character, he uses them with vitality and wisdom, making these imports generally Their work, her contribution as a literary figure, is as remarkable as her career as a creative writer.

The Razia Khan Madam is part of a rich and diverse literary heritage. We need dedicated, competent and self-confident researchers, especially from within Bangladesh, to analyze, assess and explore the full extent of its breadth and depth. It is my hope that we, current and future researchers, will be able to bring justice to the legacy of Madam Rajia Khan and her ilk.

Dr. Md Mahmudul Hassan I teach English and postcolonial literature at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Email: mmhasan@iium.edu.my