Kallol

Kallol(Bengali:কল্লোল) refers to one of the most influential literary movements inBengali literature,which can be placed approximately between 1923 and 1935.^{[citation needed]}The nameKallolof theKallol groupderives from a magazine of the same name (which translates as 'the sound of waves' inBengali^{[citation needed]}).Kallolwas the main mouthpiece for a group of young writers starting their careers around that time includingPremendra Mitra,Kazi Nazrul Islam,andBuddhadeb Basu.A number of other magazines that followedKallolcan also be placed as part of the general movement. These includeUttara(1925),Pragati(1926),Kalikolom(1926), andPurbasha(1932).^[1]

History

In 1921,Gokulchandra Nag,Dineshranjan Das,Sunita Debi, and Manindralal Basu set up the "Four Arts Club" at Hazra Road inKolkatato discuss and practice literature, painting, music, and drama. The four members published an anthology of short stories in 1922 namedJhorer Dola( "The Sway of the Storm" ).^[2]

The Four Arts Club did not last, but Dineshranjan Das and Gokulchandra Nag established a magazine and a literary circle in 1923, which they namedKallol.The regularadda,or literary discussion, would be held at Dineshranjan's house at Patuatola Lane, Kolkata.^[1]The magazine folded in 1935.^[3]^[4]

Influence

TheKallolcircle was perhaps the first conscious literary movement to embracemodernisminBengali literature.However, the general literary atmosphere was not entirely receptive of such a radical break from the critically and popularly acclaimedhumanismof Tagore.^[1]Another major literary establishment of the day,Shanibarer Chithi,began a famousliterary feudwith the youngKallolmembers which lasted for years. Tagore himself joined the debate and published an essay inKallolwhere he mentioned that he appreciated the literary effort, but found that the demand for realistic literature was just "the flaunting of poverty" combined with the "unrestraint of lust".^[1]He described the literary squabbles of the day inShesher Kabita,where the protagonist Amit Ray is a modernist who abhors Tagore's humanism but espouses it later. TheKallolmembers, on the other hand, heavily influenced bySigmund FreudandKarl Marx,did not deny that they loathed an idealist's version of a "higher" individual.^[1]The discussions of theKallolcircle provided ideas for many of the progressive writers of the age.^[5]

Perhaps, one of the greatest achievements of theKallolgroup was in establishing a new generation of writers and thinkers inBengal.^{[according to whom?]}When writing forKallol,Kazi Nazrul Islamwas only twenty-five,Premendra Mitraunder twenty, andBuddhadeb Basufifteen.^[1]Nazrul would establish a rebellious streak in Bengali poetry, Mitra, aChekhoviangrasp of the short story and Basu would inspire a generation of poets with his little magazine groupKabita.

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fGhosh, Tapobrata (1990). "Literature and Literary Life in Calcutta: The Age of Rabindranath". InChaudhuri, Sukanta(ed.).Calcutta: The Living City.Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. p. 230.ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.
^Ghosh, Tapobrata (1990). "Literature and Literary Life in Calcutta: The Age of Rabindranath". InChaudhuri, Sukanta(ed.).Calcutta: The Living City.Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. pp.229–230.ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.
^"Avant-garde and modernist magazines".Monoskop.15 August 2014.Retrieved3 October2023.
^Bulson, Eric (2016).Little Magazine, World Form.New York: Columbia University Press.doi:10.7312/columbia/9780231179768.003.0002.ISBN 9780231542326.
^Ray, Pratap Kumar (1990). "The Calcutta Adda". InChaudhuri, Sukanta(ed.).Calcutta: The Living City.Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. p. 248.ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.

[Ghosh1990p230-1] Ghosh, Tapobrata (1990). "Literature and Literary Life in Calcutta: The Age of Rabindranath". InChaudhuri, Sukanta(ed.).Calcutta: The Living City.Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. p. 230.ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.

[2] Ghosh, Tapobrata (1990). "Literature and Literary Life in Calcutta: The Age of Rabindranath". InChaudhuri, Sukanta(ed.).Calcutta: The Living City.Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. pp.229–230.ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.

[3] "Avant-garde and modernist magazines".Monoskop.15 August 2014.Retrieved3 October2023.

[4] Bulson, Eric (2016).Little Magazine, World Form.New York: Columbia University Press.doi:10.7312/columbia/9780231179768.003.0002.ISBN 9780231542326.

[5] Ray, Pratap Kumar (1990). "The Calcutta Adda". InChaudhuri, Sukanta(ed.).Calcutta: The Living City.Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. p. 248.ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.

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