The Inhumans and Other Stories: A Selection of Bengali Science Fiction

by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay (Editor), Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay (Translator)

Overview

The first English translation of a cult science fiction favorite by Hemendra Kumar Roy, one of the giants of early Bangla literature, and other sf stories from the colonial period in India.

Kalpavigyan—science fiction written to excite Bengali speakers about science, as well as to persuade them to evolve beyond the limitations of religion, caste, and class—became popular in the early years of the twentieth century. Translated into English for the first time, in this collection you’ll discover The Inhumans (1935), Hemendrakumar Roy’s satirical novella about a lost race of Bengali supermen in Uganda. Also included are Jagadananda Ray’s “Voyage to Venus” (1895), Nanigopal Majumdar’s “The Mystery of the Giant” (1931), and Manoranjan Bhattacharya’s “The Martian Purana” (1931).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262378055
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	03/12/2024
Series:	MIT Press / Radium Age
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	188
File size:	373 KB

About the Author

Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay is Associate Professor in Global Culture Studies at the University of Oslo. He is the leader of CoFUTURES, an international research group on contemporary futurisms headquartered in Oslo. He is a World Fantasy Award–winning editor, translator, writer, and critic of speculative fiction, and the producer of Kalpavigyan: A Speculative Journey, the first documentary film on Indian science fiction.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
Series Foreword ix
Introduction: Hemendrakumar Roy and Bangla SF in the Radium Age xv
Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay

The Inhumans (1935) 1
Hemendrakumar Roy
1 The Hunter’s Heaven 1
2 The Night Guest 25
3 In the Lion’s Den 39
4 The Eyes in the Barrel 44
5 The Diary Begins 54
6 Sixteen Arms Long 57
7 The Kind Kamala 61
8 The History of the Juju Kingdom 64
9 The Human Egg 68
10 I Will Be a New Human 76
11 The Human Egg, Once Again 82
12 Looming Threats 87
13 Kamala’s Barrel 90
14 The Real Face of Bhomboldas 94
15 My Great Courage 96
16 The King’s Judgment 102
17 Exile 107

Voyage to Venus (1895) 111
Jagadananda Ray

The Mystery of the Giant (1931) 137
Nanigopal Majumdar
The Martian Purana (1931) 147
Manoranjan Bhattacharya
Notes 157

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The Inhumans represented a genuine moment of science fiction’s arrival in interwar Bengal—a region caught up in the brutality of imperial backlash against accelerating waves of enlightened self-determination.”
—Anindita Banerjee, author of Science Fiction Circuits of the South and East

“This anthology of Bengali science fiction captures the timelessness of human speculation. The stories explore and interrogate many of the same questions we have today, and Chattopadhyay’s translation perfectly evokes the language of the Radium Era.”
—S. B. Divya, Hugo- and Nebula-nominated author of Machinehood

Editorial Reviews

01/29/2024

The latest in MIT’s Radium Age series, which aims to champion “the best proto-sf novels and stories from 1900 to 1935 among scholars... as well as general readers,” is more likely to achieve the former goal. The ponderous title novella by Hemendrakumar Roy (1888–1963), along with three mild short stories from other authors, offer a valuable peak into genre history but limited entertainment value. Though Chattopadhyay, in his introduction, argues that “The Inhumans,” first published in 1935, subverts the colonial overtones of the Lost Race trope, the slow-moving narrative wastes a lot of time before reaching that plotline. Nanigopal Majumdar’s “The Mystery of the Giant” (1931) concerns a series of disappearances that may be connected to a spirit as “tall as two men, with a deformed face and a body covered in glass shards.” An encounter with an alien in “Voyage to Venus” by Jagadananda Ray (1895) turns out to have been only a dream, while “The Martian Purana” by Manoranjan Bhattacharya (1931) takes a satirical turn: a man’s efforts to buy a gemstone for his wife from a Naga, a “mythological half-human, half-serpent” underworld deity, are stymied because “the Electric Corporation had, out of sheer laziness, not yet managed to install power lines in the underworld.” While studying how sci-fi themes were treated by Bengalis is a worthwhile academic pursuit, lay readers won’t find much to hold their interest. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"The historical parallax provided by a book such as The Inhumans is . . . where the full potential of the [Radium Age] shines through. It is a very welcome addition to the series.”
—Locus Magazine

"Makes for a great introduction to this moment in SF history."
—Reactor Magazine

“The range of styles represented are compelling, both in the stories that they tell and in the way the authors represented in these pages blend the futuristic with unexpected dramatic elements. . . . A welcome expansion of speculative fiction for anglophone readers.”
—Words Without Borders

"Chattopadhyay’s collection will add to [the Bengali science fiction] canon in English and is sure to appeal to fans of sci-fi and general readers alike.”
—Kajal Magazine

"Chattopadhyay is an acknowledged authority. . . . [on] Bangala and science fiction stories from colonial India."
—The Bookseller

"Studying how sci-fi themes were treated by Bengalis is a worthwhile academic pursuit. . . . Offers a valuable peek into genre history.”
—Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating read. . . . shed[s] new light and complexity to the story that is science fiction.” 
—Transfer Orbit

“Mr. Chattopadhyay divines anti-colonialist sentiment within Roy’s satirical take on the strictures of civilization.”
—The New York Sun

“The Inhumans and Other Stories is a fine anthology, presenting four strange, funny, and above all memorable tales in slick and accessible translations. . . . For a book so full of experiments gone wrong, the inclusion of The Inhumans and Other Stories in the Radium Age series feels utterly right.”
—Strange Horizons

“Whether one loves sci-fi or simply enjoys a good story, this anthology offers a rewarding read that crosses linguistic barriers. I recommend this book to everyone.”
—Nature Physics

From the Publisher

05/01/2024

The 14th book in MIT's "Radium Age" series of early 20th-century science fiction serves up a curious mélange of tropes and genres in Chattopadhyay's translation of Hemendra Kumar Roy's adventure The Inhumans, together with English-language debuts of three other early Bengali science fantasies. Roy's eclectic novella veers from subversive tales of the stereotypical savage beasts and superstitious natives in African jungles—some lifted verbatim from a rip-snorting British safari yarn of the day—to a topsy-turvy satiric fable highlighting the foibles of a lost race of boneless nonbinary shapeshifters who roll busily about in barrels. A more straightforward 1895 tale by Jagadananda Ray depicts the uneasy relationship between disparate dwellers of the dark and light sides of Venus, while other stories mix myth and science in strange and striking ways. VERDICT Adopting yet subtly subverting the prevalent imperialist biases of their day, these popular tales offer a diverting glimpse of the cultural ferment and ambivalence of late colonial Bengal.

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