69.117.207.56 at 18:45, 13 May 2021

2021-05-13T18:45:46Z

New page

{{short description|1960s literary movement in the Bengali language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=July 2020}}
{{Synthesis|date=January 2011}}
}}
The '''Hungry Generation''' ({{lang-bn|হাংরি জেনারেশান}}) was a literary movement in the [[Bengali language]] launched by what is known today as the '''Hungryalist quartet''', ''i.e.'' [[Binoy Majumdar]], [[Shakti Chattopadhyay]], [[Saileswar Ghosh]], [[Malay Roy Choudhury]], [[Samir Roychoudhury]] and [[Debi Roy]] (''alias'' Haradhon Dhara), during the 1960s in [[Kolkata]], [[India]]. Due to their involvement in this [[avant garde]] cultural movement, the leaders lost their jobs and were jailed by the incumbent government. They challenged contemporary ideas about literature and contributed significantly to the evolution of the language and idiom used by contemporaneous artists to express their feelings in literature and painting.<ref>Dr Uttam Das, Reader, Calcutta University, in his dissertation 'Hungry Shruti and Shastravirodhi Andolan'</ref>

The approach of the Hungryalists was to confront and disturb the prospective readers' preconceived colonial canons. According to Pradip Choudhuri, a leading philosopher and poet of the generation, whose works have been extensively translated in French, their counter-discourse was the first voice of post-colonial freedom of pen and brush. Besides the famous four mentioned above, [[Utpal Kumar Basu]], [[Binoy Majumdar]], [[Sandipan Chattopadhyay]], [[Basudeb Dasgupta]], [[Falguni Roy]], Subhash Ghosh, [[Tridib Mitra]], Alo Mitra, Ramananda Chattopadhyay, [[Anil Karanjai]], Saileswar Ghosh, Karunanidhan Mukhopadhyay, and Subo Acharya were among the other leading writers and artists of the movement.

==Origins==
The origins of this movement stem from the educational establishments serving Chaucer and Spengler to the poor of India. The movement was officially launched, however, in November 1961 from the residence of [[Malay Roy Choudhury]] and his brother [[Samir Roychoudhury]] in [[Patna]]. They took the word ''Hungry'' from [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s line "In Sowre Hungry Tyme" and they drew upon, among others, [[Oswald Spengler]]'s histriographical ideas about the non-centrality of cultural evolution and progression, for philosophical inspiration. The movement was to last from 1961 to 1965. It is wrong to suggest that the movement was influenced by the Beat Generation, since Ginsberg did not visit Malay until April 1963, when he came to Patna. Poets [[Octavio Paz]] and [[Ernesto Cardenal]] were to visit Malay later during the 1960s. The hungry generation has some of the same ideals as [[The Papelipolas]] and the [[Barranquilla Group]], both from [[Colombia]], and the Spanish [[Generation of 68]].

== History ==
[[File:Bhookhi Peedhi Andolan ke kavi evam lekhak.jpg|thumb|Writers of Hungry generation. From the top left moving clockwise: [[Saileswar Ghose]], [[Malay Roy Choudhury]] and [[Subhas Ghose]] [[Basudeb Dasgupta]], David Garcia and [[Subimal Basak]].]]

This movement is characterized by expression of closeness to [[nature]] and sometimes by tenets of Gandhianism and Proudhonianism. Although it originated at Patna, Bihar and was initially based in [[Kolkata]], it had participants spread over North Bengal, [[Tripura]] and [[Benares]]. According to Dr. [[Shankar Bhattacharya]], [[Dean (education)|Dean]] at [[Assam University]], as well as Aryanil Mukherjee, editor of Kaurab Literary Periodical, the movement influenced [[Allen Ginsberg]]{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} as much as it influenced [[American poetry]]{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} through the Beat poets who visited Calcutta, Patna and Benares during the 1960-1970s. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, now a professor and editor, was associated with the Hungry generation movement. [[Shakti Chattopadhyay]], [[Saileswar Ghosh]], [[Subhas Ghosh]] left the movement in 1964.

More than 100 manifestos were issued during 1961–1965. [[Malay Roy Choudhury]]'s poems have been published by Prof [[Purushottama Lal|P. Lal]] from his [[Writers Workshop]] imprint. [[Howard McCord]] published Malay's controversial poem ''Prachanda Boidyutik Chhutar'' (i.e. ''Stark Electric Jesus''} from Washington State University in 1965. The poem has been translated into several [[languages]] of the world. Into German by Carl Weissner,in Spanish by Margaret Randall, in [[Urdu]] by Ameeq Hanfee, in Assamese by Manik Dass, in Gujarati by Nalin Patel, in [[Hindi]] by [[Rajkamal Chaudhary]], and in English by Howard McCord.

== Impact ==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| width = 180

| image1 = Malay Roychoudhury in Holland.JPG
| width1 = 180px
| caption1 = [[Malay Roy Choudhury]]

| image2 = 
| width2 = 220px
| caption2 = [[Shakti Chattopadhyay]]
}}
The works of these participants appeared in Citylights Journal 1, 2 and 3 published between 1964 and 1966, edited by [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]], and in special issues of American magazines including ''Kulchur'' edited by [[Lita Hornick]], ''Klactoveedsedsteen'' edited by Carl Weissner, ''El Corno Emplunado'' edited by Margaret Randall, '' Evergreen Review'' edited by Barney Rosset, ''Salted Feathers''edited by Dick Bakken, ''[[Intrepid (magazine)|Intrepid]]'' edited by Alan De Loach, and ''San Francisco Earthquake'', during the 1960s. ''The Hungry Generation'', also known as ''Hungryalism'', challenged the mainstream literary genres. The group wrote poetry and prose in completely different forms and experimented with the contents. The movement changed the literary atmosphere of Bengal altogether. It had influences in [[Hindi]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]] and [[Urdu]] literatures.

== Hungryalists and Krittibas ==
There is a misconception that the Hungryalists and the Krittibas group were the same and that the ''Krittibas'' magazine was a Hungryalist platform. This is incorrect as the Krittibas was a group from the fifties. The Hungryalist movement was a sixties decade phenomenon. ''Krittibas'' magazine in its editorial had openly declared that they have no relations with the movement and that they do not approve of the philosophy of the movement.

==See also==
* [[List of underground newspapers of the 1960s counterculture]]

== References ==
<references/>

== Sources ==
*The autobiography of [[Malay Roy Choudhury]] is available in Vol 215 of "Contemporary Authors" published by Thomas Gale. ({{ISBN|0-7876-6639-4}})
*There are Hungry Generation Archives in [[Northwestern University]] in Illinois as well as [[Bangla Academy]] in Dhaka, Bangladesh. At Kolkata the Little Magazine Library and Research Centre run by Sandip Dutta has a separate section on the [[Hungryalist]] publications as well as trial papers of the famous Hungry generation case in which some of the colleagues of Malay turned against the movement and gave undertakings to have withdrawn from the movement. Trial papers are archived in [[Bankshall Court]], Kolkata (9th Court of Presidency Magistrate), Case No. GR. 579 of 1965; State of West Bengal Vs [[Malay Roy Choudhury]]
*''Hungry Kimbadanti'' written by [[Malay Roy Choudhury]] and published by De Books, Kolkata (1997)
*''Hungry Andolon'' issue of ''Haowa 49'' magazine (2003) edited by [[Samir Roychoudhury]] and Murshid A. M.
*''Hungry Andolon O Drohopurush Kotha'' written by Dr. Bishnu Chandra Dey and published by Sahayatri, Kolkata 700 009 (2013)
*''Chandragrahan Hungry Andolon Special issue'' edited by Pranabkumar Chattopadhyay2, Dumdum, Kolkata 700 030 (October 2014)

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02g37qq BBC Documentary on Hungryalist movement]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830799,00.html The Hungry Generation (TIME 1964)]
*[http://www.kaurab.com/english/bengali_poetry/Hungry-Generation/ Hungryalist Movement: A Photo-Text Album]
*[http://hungryalistgeneration.blogspot.com/ Hungry Generation (blog)]

{{Avant-garde}}
{{Schools of poetry}}
{{hippies}}
{{Youth Empowerment}}
{{Bengali Hindu people}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungry Generation}}
[[Category:Hungry generation| ]]
[[Category:Culture of Kolkata]]
[[Category:Bengali-language literature]]
[[Category:Bengali language]]
[[Category:Indian literary movements]]

Hungry generation - Revision history

69.117.207.56 at 18:45, 13 May 2021