Manzu Islam, Song of Our Swampland

Jackie Kabir (Independent Scholar - Asia)

Ed. by Niaz Zaman, Independent University Bangladesh
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.2: Pakistani and Bangladeshi Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Sarker Hasan Al Zayed (Independent University Bangladesh), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Muneeza Shamsie (Independent Scholar - Asia), Niaz Zaman (Independent University Bangladesh)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2010

Places

Bangladesh (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Manzu Islam is an expatriate Bangladeshi writer who has been living in the United Kingdom since the mid-1970s.

Song of Our Swampland

(2010) is Islam’s second novel, written against the backdrop of the Liberation War of Bangladesh. The novel is about the atrocities committed during the war, including the killing of unarmed people, abductions and rapes, the destruction of shanties and the demolition of villages. A few Bengalis and Biharis – the generic name given to migrants from eastern parts of India during the Partition of 1947 – collaborated with the Pakistani military. All Biharis got a bad name after Bangladesh independence and, in the novel, Islam questions the prejudice against Biharis through the character of Kulsum. He also focuses on the many unanswered questions and…

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1546 words

Citation: Kabir, Jackie. "Song of Our Swampland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 December 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39262, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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