Description
Book SynopsisSharatchandra Chattopadhyay has been the most popular writer of novels and short stories in his native Bengaland in India at large. Despite this, he remains unrecognized in the English speaking world. Narasingha P. Sil fills this void by presenting a historical critical assessment of his upbringing and the experiences that influenced his masterful and magnificent work. The Life of Sharatchandra Chattopadhyay rescues the authentic man, a caste-conscious and patriarchal Brahmin of colonial Bengal, from the cuckoo land of gratuitous praise and panegyric showered on the Aparajeya Kathasilpi, the “invincible” wordsmith. The author exposes Sharatchandra’s innate conservative worldview and his romantic platonic concept of human sexuality that inform all his love stories. In many respects Sharatchandra resembles his formidable European forbear, Jean Jacques Rousseau of Enlightenment France. The concluding chapter of Sil’s biographical study introduces this pioneering comparison between the two men—a veritable tour de force.
Trade ReviewDrifter and Dreamer is a copiously researched and elegantly written biography . . . This book ought to be translated in Bengali for there is no biography of Sharatchandra in Bengali that can match Sil's comprehensive and excellent life history of the famed author and storyteller. -- Dilip K. Basu, professor of history and founding director of Satyajit Ray Archive, University of California, Santa Cruz
I really enjoyed Drifter and Dreamer . . . The spread is just right for the subject, the depth impressive, and the language is Sil's signature—taken all together—outstanding. -- Sumit Roy, former head of Wireless Technologies, AT&T Bell Laboratories, New Jersey
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Translation, Transliteration, Orthography, Bengali Calendar Chapter One Prolegomena Political and Social Condition of Late Colonial India Chapter Two Sharatchandra’s Parents: Matilal and Bhubanmohini Chattopadhyay Sharatchandra’s Childhood and Early Youth Sharatchandra’s Physical and Emotional Makeup Chapter Three The Making of a Literary Career: the Beginnings Chapter Four Sharatchandra in Rangoon: A Nonresident Nobody from Bengal Low Life in Rangoon: “A Season in Hell” Chapter Five Literary Career during Rangoon Days Chapter Six Baje Shibpur: Return of the Prodigal Son Panitras: Sharat the Glowing Moon Calcutta: End of Journey Chapter Seven Treasures of the Invincible Wordsmith [Aparajeya Kathasilpi] Pallisamaj, Arak?a?iy, Dena Paona, Ba?adidi, Debdas, Caritrahin, Srikanta, Se?prasna Chapter Eight Sharatchandra’s Caste and Gender Consciousness Shartchandra’s Male and Female Characters Sharatchandra’s Caste consciousness Chapter Nine Bankim-Rabindranath-Sharatchandra Bankimchandra Rabindranath Rabindranath and Sharatchandra: An Episode of Elegant Misunderstanding Chapter Ten Sharatchandra’s Political Ideas and Activities Sharatchandra’s Pather Dabi Chapter Eleven Sharatchandra’s Enduring Popularity Chapter Twelve Sharatchandra and Jean Jacques Rousseau: A Tour de Force Glossary Bibliography Index About the Author
