Postmodern Fiction and Syed Mansoorul Islam’s Prem O Prarthonar Golpo

Abstract

This dissertation will study Syed Manzoorul Islam's short fiction in order to fmd out the elements and aspects of postmodernism in his writings. Also, it hopes to comment in passing the condition of postmodernism in Bangladeshi literature. Syed Manzoorul Islam is a Bangladeshi fiction writer who has written many short fictions. His Stories of Love and Prayer is one of his best collections of short fictions that deal with social life, culture and reality. This book was first published in Ekushay Boi Mela in 2005 and won Prothom Alo Borsho Shera Award in 2005 and Kagoj Shahitto Award in 2006. The stories of this book are interesting and amusing but not traditional. The subject matter, style, pattern, prologue, mood and structure of his stories are quiet different from that of the traditional writers of Bangladesh. We see him experiment with new fonus and styles. In his writing there are postmodem elements and aspects. His short stories tell us about the hyperreality of our life which is one of the aspects of postmodemism. He writes about love but his treatment of love is different from traditional outlooks of love. In his writings he shows that self-love is one kind of love which is sometimes frigid and sometimes he tries to wear the mask oflove.