The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics

The World Readers

by Meghna Guhathakurta (Editor), Willem van Schendel (Editor)

Bangladesh is the world's eighth most populous country. It has more inhabitants than either Russia or Japan, and its national language, Bengali, ranks sixth in the world in terms of native speakers. Founded in 1971, Bangladesh is a relatively young nation, but the Bengal Delta region has been a major part of international life for more than 2,000 years, whether as an important location for trade or through its influence on Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim life. Yet the country rarely figures in global affairs or media, except in stories about floods, poverty, or political turmoil. The Bangladesh Reader does what those portrayals do It illuminates the rich historical, cultural, and political permutations that have created contemporary Bangladesh, and it conveys a sense of the aspirations and daily lives of Bangladeshis. Intended for travelers, students, and scholars, the Reader encompasses first-person accounts, short stories, historical documents, speeches, treaties, essays, poems, songs, photographs, cartoons, paintings, posters, advertisements, maps, and a recipe. Classic selections familiar to many Bangladeshis—and essential reading for those who want to know the country—are juxtaposed with less-known pieces. The selections are translated from a dozen languages; many have not been available in English until now. Featuring eighty-three images, including seventeen in color, The Bangladesh Reader is an unprecedented, comprehensive introduction to the South Asian country's turbulent past and dynamic present.

Genres: Bangladesh, History, Nonfiction

568 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Meghna Guhathakurta is Executive Director of Research Initiatives, Bangladesh, a research organization working with marginalized communities.

Formerly she was Professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Currently she is in the process of translating from Bangla into English, the memoirs of her mother Basanti Guhathakurta's Ekatoorrer Smriti (Memories of the 1971 War of Liberation).

Reviews

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting reader covering the history and politics of Bangladesh. It is a compilation of primary sources, ranging from pre-colonial through to the present day. A large amount of attention is placed on the war of politics, as well as the development of Bangladeshi identity. It specifically focuses on the intersection of culture and politics in the country, specifically the clash between the Bengali and Bangladeshi identities, in a country where there are two competing identities based on religion and language. A large amount of attention is also given to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the groups of people who fall outside both the Bengali and Bangladeshi identities, sharing neither language nor religion with the dominant groups in the country.

[Seung-Hee Jeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly thorough overview of the country.