PRAKALPANA LITERATURE : Songs of
Kobisena
by Steve LeBlanc
Genre-bending in Calcutta
with Prakalpana Literature
In 1969, Calcutta Poet Vattacharja Chandan teamed up with
two fellow writers to invent a new kind of literature, one that drew on all
genres of writing : poetry, fiction, drama, essays. The co-conspirators dubbed
their assault on culture "Prakalpana Literature" and set their
energies to churning out literary magazines and organizing public readings to
announce their revolutionary find to the world. They buttressed their new
literature with such detailed and mysteriously-named ingredients as
"Sarbangin", "kobisena", "Flow verse", and
"music effect". More than 20 years later Chandan and his associates
are still at it. Version 90 interviewed Chandan with the assistance of the US
and Indian postal services
Mention Calcutta to most westerners and the first thing
that springs to mind is poverty—abject poverty—Mother
Theresa-size poverty. After that image flows, in no particular order, a litany
of perennial societal ills—disease, political turmoil, overcrowding,
noise, in short, all the cliched images of a third world metropolis forever
struggling against chaos.
Calcutta, as in the black hole of.......
For all the cliches, deserved or not, and despite its
ponderous social problems, Calcutta has, for the past 20 years or so nurtured a
tiny literary revolution by the mysterious name of Prakalpana Literature.
Championed by its founder and chief conspirator, Vattacharja Chandan, Prakalpana
Literature—the name of the movement and the title of its own
bilingual (Bengali and English) chapbook lit-zine has tried to define a whole
new kind of writing, one that draws from all genres, drama to poetry to
fiction. For an obscure literary movement, Prakalpana has drawn fans far
outside the borders of India including underground American writers and mail
art fans from around the globe. The word itself is layered with
meaning. In both Bengali and Sanskrit, Prakalpana translates as
"proper imagination". For Chandan, this proper imagination is
expressed through whatever genre is most appropriate at the moment, be it
fiction, poetry, novel, essay, play, opera, visual art, etc. The amalgam of
these styles, often within a single "poem" or short work, is the true
experience of "proper imagination". Instead of attempting to express
a concept through drama which would best be expressed in form of an essay,
Prakalpana accepts the essay form, combining it with any other form deemed
appropriate by the writer.
"Prakalpana is neither poetry, nor story, nor essay, nor
novel, nor play, but the essence of all of these, exotically and subtly blended
into a new, fresh form," Chandan explained in a recent mail interview.
"So we first de-form all the forms we use, only to reform them into
Prakalpana. For example, you may see the Prakalpanas in Prakalpana Literature."
Prakalpana has a more literal etymology as well, one that
reflects the genre's fascination with wordplay and visual literature (one which
at first glance mimics the western avant-garde, particularly concrete
poetry). Prakalpana is derived, quite literally, from a convergence of
various forms of writings and the words that signify these forms. In
other words : Prakalpana = PRA from prabandha (essay) + KA from kabita (poetry)
+ LPA from galpa (story) + NA from naatak (drama).
If the word Prakalpana, with its layered meanings, describes
the form of the writing, other, equally complex words define the writing's rich
meaning and context. In order to separate prakalpana from collage poetry and
other forms of experimental literature, Chandan introduces the concept of
"Sarbangin Kobita"—poetry that grows out of proper
imagination, feeling and realization. Sarbangin Kobita reveals what
Chandan describes as chetanavyasism (wholeness of cosmic matter and revealed
sense) while utilizaing the "wholesome and artful repetition of words and
visuals, sonorous and mathematical effects in Flow Verse Rhythm". The term
Sarbangin itself derives from Chandan's poem "Kobitaay Sarbangin
Arnritakharan" and an accompanying theoretical essay "Sarbangin
Kobita Jagga" published in Kobisena, a sister publication to
Prakalpana Literature.
"Poetry to us is neither the pursuit of conventional
meters nor free verse. Nor do we merely draw a picture or structure or cut and
paste photos and lines in arranged or deranged manners and call that
poetry," Chandan explained. "So apart from chetanavyas which is
inherent in all, poetry should be sonorous and musical through Word Effect
(choice of new/appropriate words), Repetition Effect (repetition of selected
word and lines like music), Flow Verse (sound and tune in rhythm) and Visual
Effect (signs and symbols used well proportionately)."
Flow Verse, as Chandan sees it, is central to the spirit of
Prakalpana. Unlike earlier poetic forms, Flow Verse does not rely on
meter or more prosaic forms of verse, but reflects, according to Chandan, the
"concord and discord of the universe and life itself, which flows
incessantly like wave, wind, the rhythm of heart beats and the rhythm of the
universe."
"The theories of Prakalpana concern wholeness—wholeness
of combined forms, wholeness of meter, wholeness of cosmic matter and universal
sense. In practice absolute wholeness is unattainable, but our idea and
imagination should be on the whole as broadbased as possible. Chetnavyasism
observes the driving force hidden behind the day to day world as the
interaction between the whole conscious subjective well-imaginative world of
mind and sense (chetana) and the active/passive objective rotating habitual
(avyas) world of matter."
1969
On an average September evening, Calcutta's Harish Park is
filled with families and residents enjoying the open space, but in the fall of
1969, terrorist actions by Maoist insurrectionists ripped the country apart and
drove most residents from public places like the park. It was into this
deserted area that Chandan and friends wandered one evening, having just
returned from the Mukta Mela (free fair) in the Calcutta Maidan. Chandan had
read his poems at the open air festival and admired the work of other poets and
painters. On a bench in Harish Park Chandan and his friends discussed the
possibility of publishing a journal dedicated to the new and unusual in
literature. Friends Dilip Gupta and Ashis Deb passed the idea on to Chandan who
suggested inventing an entirely new way of writing, one that began as a story,
then abruptly switched to poetry, then drama, then essay—depending upon
what the author was trying to communicate.
A few days later the three met at Deb's apartment where they
came up with the name Prakalpana. Having hit on what they considered an
entirely new form of communication, the three set about searching for an
appropriate vehicle to disseminate the literature they were sure would follow
their idea. But first, the three needed a name, something to suggest the attack
on established forms of Writing that they saw Prakalpana waging.
Gupta suggested Swatotsar, the Indian word for
sword. According to Chandan, Swatotsar, which was literally
published in the shape of a sword blade, was meant to publish literature which
would "axe at the root of conventionalism." In addition to Swatotsar,
the three began to publish a second chapbook called 'Kobisena' (poetry-troop,
the marchers of poetry), dedicated strictly to Sarbangin poetry, as they
defined it, by 1977, however, Chandan and his associates decided that a single
magazine was needed to publish all forms of Prakalpana and Sarbangin poetry and
began printing Prakalpana Sahitya / Prakalpana Literature.
From the very beginning, the magazines were printed
irregularly, whenever there was enough material and inspiration to warrant
another issue. According to Chandan, they were afraid that "if we go on
rapidly, we might be finished rapidly." The desire to print quality works
was not the only factor which slowed the magazine. Like small press publishers
around the world, Chandan found himself fighting familiar battles with printers
unsympathetic to the magazine's complex typography and the literature's strange
layout, as well as having to rely on cheap, outdated equipment.
"We have been printing through letterpress as it is
cheaper. But no press here is interested in printing us, as they consider our
printing unusual and hence difficult to compose and hence unprofitable for
them, while some of them considered our writing obscene so they didn't want to
print it lest they should be harassed by the cops," Chandan said.
"Most of our signs and symbols cannot be typewritten and computer printing
is still a costly dream for us. The printing press has always been our severest
obstacle which also accounts for our irregularity."
Ironically, and perhaps unintentionally, Chandan's reliance
on "obsolete" letter-press technology, though frustrating, may
actually make his publications more appealing than he thinks. In the west,
inundated with slick magazines and thousands of computer generated fanzines,
where even a company newsletter looks suspiciously over-produced, Prakalpana
Literature, printed in fine letter-press on thin paper is a revelation,
a fragile literary missive lovingly produced, a message from one human being to
another.
Printing woes are ultimately a function of money, another
resource Prakalpana Literature is hard-pressed to find. They
receive no government funds and rely exclusively on sales, subscriptions, and
mail orders from around the world. In the US, interest in Prakalpana
Literature has relied in large part on word of mouth, the mail art
network and reviews in magazines like Factsheet Five and Flatland
Distribution. Despite more than 20 years of publishing, Prakalpana
Literature remains an obscure movement inside and outside India.
According to Chandan, even established modern poets Jike Ghalib, Tagore, Nazrul
and Bharati are relatively unknown.
Part of this obscurity may be blamed on the image of Calcutta
in the west, one with which Chandan and his associates are familar. He
equates the western impression of Calcutta to the Indian legend of the blind
men describing an elephant solely through the sense of touch or to a visitor
assuming that Harlem represents the true and full picture of New York as a
city. But part of this view of Calcutta is based on historical factors. Since
the partition of India in 1947, Calcutta has been flooded with Pakistani and
Bangladesh) refugees. Despite the influx, the city still accepts all who wish
to enter, all refugees, poor, down-trodden, homeless. "Therefore / Like
everywhere/here are also/ virtue & vice and good & evil / poverty,
hunger & pleasure, splendor," Chandan writes of his homeland.
PRAKALPANA
INTERNATIONAL
One of the hallmarks of Prakalpana Literature,
which Chandan insists is an international movement, is its bilingualism.
Everything in the chapbook is printed both in English and Bengali, making it
available to the widest possible audience. Printing in two languages can have
its pitfalls, of course. Although the actual translation is not difficult,
Chandan said, finding a competent translator, one willing to work without
compensation, can be tricky. The dual translation also doubles the thickness of
the book—increasing printing costs—and limiting the number of
works that can be included. In addition, translators are not only called on to
translate what is to be printed, but also to translate submissions and help the
publishers respond to writers in their own language. "Double language,
double trouble." Chandan acknowledges.
Another signature of the magazine is the form, literally, of
its submissions. Much of the work seems to mimic concrete poetry or the work of
e.e. cummings. Such resemblances, Chandan explains, are only on the surface.
The visual element is important but not crucial. Chandan, for example,
has developed his own key of signs and symbols which he routinely uses in
writing, symbols which, he says, help distinguish Prakalpana from other forms
of writing.
"In other words, what speciality you can find in any
other writing, it is possible to find that in Prakalpana. But what speciality
you can find in Prakalpana, is not generally found elsewhere", Chandan
said. As for cummings, Chandan finds both resemblances and distinct
differences. "As a reader, I am fond of his poems, but as a poet I don't
like to write like him as I think his unconventional approach is mainly limited
to typography only, which we are not, and his traditional and romantic subject
matter and meter do not suit his superb unconventional form. This is like a
woman clad in man's clothing."
"Undoubtedly, a poem's 'look' on the printed page is
important to us. But this importance is secondary. As in literature, language
and the word is primarily important As a Sanskrit proverb says, 'Shabdah
Brahma' meaning words/sound is the ultimate god".
Chandan said that while cummings is a relatively familiar
name in India, early sound poem experimenters like Tristan Tzara, Hugo Ball,
and the dadaists and futurists are virtually unknown, even among Chandan's
circles. More contemporary, western avant-garde writers and art/anti-art
movements such as William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, the lettrists and
situationists are similarly obscure. Government regulations restrict the easy
flow of books into the country, Chandan said, further limiting access to
western authors, even to those interested in them. So the influence, if any, of
western avant-garde writers on their Indian counterparts is rare", he
said, adding, however, that more traditional contemporary western writers have
had a considerable influence on modern Indian authors. While names like
Burroughs and Kathy Acker remain a mystery, and although his knowledge of
American writers is, by his own admission, incomplete, Chandan admires some
western writers. Among his favorites are names like Gertrude Stein, Charles
Olson and beats like Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg. He also
notes some writers on the contemporary underground network.
As a result, Chandan said, the avant-garde literary scene in
India is very small. He has tried to counter that in a number of ways. For
several years Chandan published yearly date-books which included bits of
Sarbangin poetry and Prakalpana literature. Chandan's idea was to introduce his
experimental literature to average people by offering it to them in a consumer
item which many people need. In addition, Chandan has sponsored and regularly
attends public readings, one of the few ways to spread the Prakalpana gospel,
which is all but ignored in the popular press. Nearly all of the literary
journals published in Calcutta, and there are quite a few published in Bengali,
are conventional, he said, even the ones which claim to be anti-establishment.
In fact, according to Chandan, there is little overt
experimentation in Indian arts, other than the theater, which supports a number
of small avant-garde groups that stage experimental work. Chandan restricts
himself to poetry and Prakalpana literature, although he occasionally composes
music to accompany his works.
The isolation of Indian writers and western writers must come
to an end if both are to prosper and learn from each other, Chandan
maintains. Prakalpana is a perfect vehicle for such change, he added,
"It is not at all an Indian movement. True, it was originated and is based
in India, but if we get better opportunities elsewhere, the base may be moved.
I'd not make tall tales that we are successful, only that we are successful,
only that we are striving to be international, or more accurately,
universal."
To ensure this interaction between avant-garde writers,
Chandan proposes the following three steps : an international avant-garde
workshop in the United States where Indian and American writers can meet face
to face; an open exchange of news, literature and art among the two groups, and
an international avant-garde writers conference every year with writers from
all over the world.
STREET CREDIBILITY
The history of Prakalpana is also a history of public
readings and other attempts to reach outside the group's small coterie of
friends and associates to the ordinary Indian citizen, who may know nothing of
avant-garde literature and may only have a passing interest in poetry.
"Public appearances are vital to us. First, there is no
other alternative for us to reach the masses directly. And secondly, I myself
always want to be tested by the average non-intellectual masses, who will not
generally buy little mags or want to understand poetry and avant-garde works.
They may be patient enough to listen to your reading out of sheer curiosity, of
course only if you can attract, impress and infuse them by your words. Neither
conventional free verse nor rhymes can do that well.
Sarbangin poetry with its sharp, candid, turbulent, enjoyable
language, sometimes accompanied by musical instruments, some lines tuned and
sung, sometimes chanted like hymns and mantras, but all the time in slow,
steady, fast, soft, savage, easy, cozy incessant flow verse, can do that
better" Chandan said. He explained that sometimes the readers dress up in
painted hats and special clothes to attract further attention.
"Probably you'll compare it with pop music, but with
deep language, more restrained movements. Very little of our poetry is tuned as
music may be apart of Sarbangin poetry, but not the whole of it. In fact it is
not music, but musical effect", he said. "So through public
appearances, we can reach more people at a time when people think of poets as
emotional, impractical and useless".
In addition to more traditional venues, Prakalpana Literature
has performed in a number of unlikely locations, many on the spur of the moment
:
* ln December of 1973, to protest "conventionalism
in literature", Prakalpana organised a silent procession of poets and
writers with posters and festoons to challenge established, traditional
speakers at the government-sponsored East India Cultural Conference. Because of
the protest, the speakers packed up and left the stage open to other,
unconventional writers and speakers, who opened up the discussion.
* Since 1972 Chandan and friends have been convening
readings in front of book stalls and other locations, including the Bengal
Cultural Conference, the Calcutta Art fair, the Calcutta Book Fair. As the
readings hampered the sales of adjacent stalls, the holders of those stalls
tried to shout down the readers or call the authorities to move them along.
Chandan said that on a number of occasions the readers appealed to the crowds
directly to surround them and allow them to continue. Even when the readings
were disbanded, they often started up at other locations.
* On Sept.6, 1980, the anniversary of the day Chandan
and Deb and Gupta sat on the park-bench in Harish park—a day they
declared "Prakalpana Day", they organised a reading under the
'emperor of literature' Bankim Chandra. Other outdoor readings have taken place
on a merry-go-round, in remote villages, in public halls and in the Banga
Sanskriti Sammelan ground.
"We go in front of the public to present poetry to them,
not to confront them. In fact, we love and regard them", he said. "I
think that he who does not love the public should not be involved in anything
that ultimately concerns the public, like drawing, writing, or singing."
"In fact, from my experience of trying to present poetry
to the public, I can confidently say that if you can write in a new way that
appeals to the brain of the intellectuals and the heart of the people—and
if you can deliver your poetry before the masses in an attractive way, not just
the same typical, sleepy readings, poetry can also be popular and
profitable", he said.
Chandan would like to see poetry introduced into all aspects
of life, integrated in such a way that poetry itself would be barely
distinguishable, not as a way to diminish poetry, but as a way to uplift life.
"Write and exhibit poetry on neon roadside signs. Ads
may be written in poetry. Arrange exhibitions of writing or printing of poetry
in big calligraphic letters with sketches or drawings in halls, parks, streets.
Write poetry in files, bills, vouchers ... in match boxes, packets of
cigarettes, spices, contraceptives, soaps, wine bottles ... as patches in
dresses, albums on trains, on atomic reactors, tents, aircraft. To make them
more easy to memorize, write formulas in poetry, write applications in poetry,
make love in poetry, dream in poetry. Write poetry on toilet paper, vests,
panties, bras, trees. In each and every stanza of day to day life let there be
poetry.
"Sounds crazy? But if it succeeds, even a little, then
also it is sure that there will be suspicion regarding the academic quality of
that poetry. If in the heat of light verse, self-centred, rocky wo/man bends to
some extent toward humanity, then gradually, step by step, s/he may tend toward
deeper poetry for spirit, inner joy."
NEW
VERSE
One driving fact behind the evolution of Prakalpana
Literature was the realization that earlier forms of poetry had little relation
to the modern world. The weight of that history, especially in a country so
rooted in traditions, was not easy to overcome for young poets, struggling to
re-define their craft.
"Gone are the days of rhymed verse which attracted
people. Gone are the days of telling interesting stories in verse, as in the
Ramayan or Mahabharat. Gone are the days of preaching religious gospels and
hymns and political propaganda in poetry. Due to all these, average people lost
all attraction to modern poetry", Chandan said. "When I began to
understand this condition in the late '60s. I thought that in order to bring
poetry back to the people, they must be made curious and attracted to poetry—of
course without any compromise in quality, form and content."
To rouse interest Chandan began using hieroglyphic-style
symbols in his first book of poetry, in part as decoration and ornamentation in
order to make it look beautiful or remarkable. He first detailed these in his
1974 book, Saral Karo : Valobasa. Chandan takes care to
distinguish his symbols, and the way they are used, from other types of writing
and poetry which also rely on symbols, including visual and concrete poetry.
"My
main purpose behind using symbols was that these ideographic symbols help rouse
the imagination and extend the meaning of the words / ideas they highlight.
That is, we should use visuals only to emphasize the dimensions of words which
are primary in the case of literature", Chandan said. "Last, we do
not want to attach undue importance to visualism and signs and symbols which
are only one of the ingredients of sarbanginness and the introductions of which
into poetry will be fulfilled only when there are flesh and blood and life of
poetry sonorous and musical through words, sounds, repetition and combined flow
verse rhythm of prose and verse; visibly meaningful through visual signs and symbols
with feelings, emotions and abstractions of the soul".
ADDENDUM
Courtesy: Steve LeBlanc. Version 90, PMS
Café Press, Alston, MS, U.S.A. Extracted for academic and non
profitable purpose only.
Pictures: Could not be reproduced.
Afterwords by Chandan : Since the
interview appeared a few years ago, I've thought to rectify a few errors which
could not be clarified as Version 90 had interviewed me through
mail. Even in 1997 summer when I visited Boston for a shortwhile, I intended to
contact Steve LeBlanc to talk about this but I didn't have his current
whereabouts or phone number. So it is republished here as it was, with this
addendum that includes a few rectifications.
1. SwatotsaR does not
mean 'sword' in Indian language / Bangla. It means spontaneous. SwatotsaR was literally published not in the shape of
sword-blade but in the shape of an axe-blade, as I had suggested, to axe at the
root of conventionalism, as a symbolic gesture.
2. Among the 3 of us who had started SwatotsaR,
Ashish Deb left Swatotsar and gave up writing after the very first issue. So he
was not there among those who were with me when kOBISENa was started,
but he resurfaced again in the Movement for a short while in 2005.
3. 6th September was declared as
Prakalpana Day many years before in 1969. We 3 did not meet at Harish Park on
Sept. 6, 1980. Rather a reading was organised by kOBISENa on that
Prakalpana day under the statue of Bankirnchandra where many others were
present excepting Dilip Gupta and Ashish Deb.
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