Comments on: From doorbells to fish-pills
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills/
Comments on MetaFilter post From doorbells to fish-pillsThu, 29 Jun 2006 16:57:40 -0800Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:57:40 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60From doorbells to fish-pills
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills
"When humans were busy fighting each other, the Ants had begun their preparations to take over the planet. Six feet tall, they had emerged from their hideouts in the Andes Mountain and had begun their assault in the year 7757."
- <a href="http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2006/05/early-bengali-science-fiction.html">Science Fiction in Bengal from 1882-1961</a> [<a href="http://www.nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/">via</a>]post:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:54:15 -0800brundleflysciencefictionbengalliteraturedeadlinkBy: amberglow
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1354982
sounds like great stuff---i wonder if any is translated and Gutenberged or anything?
related: a guy who was a pioneer in putting free sf online just died--<a href="http://www.baen.com/">Jim Baen</a>comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1354982Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:57:40 -0800amberglowBy: Malor
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355034
That might be worth a FPP, amberglow. What a major bummer.
As far as THIS FPP goes... it sounds like Bengali SF would be hard to translate.... from the description, it relies on wordplay, and that rarely comes across well. Between the age and the cross-language thing, it's probably not going to be interesting to most readers... but I'd certainly give it a try.
The "Miracurall" drug is amusing, curing everything except the common cold. :-)comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355034Thu, 29 Jun 2006 17:50:50 -0800MalorBy: LarryC
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355075
What a wonderfully strange place our world is! Great post.comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355075Thu, 29 Jun 2006 19:06:23 -0800LarryCBy: nickyskye
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355172
A delightful find, thank you brundlefly.
People from <a href="http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/westbengal/westbengallocation.htm">Bengal</a> are some of the most articulate and feisty<a href="http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/P_0157.htm"> brainiacs </a>I've ever met. It doesn't surprise me they were among the first to write <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction">science fiction</a>. <a href="http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/westbengal/">Bengal</a> has <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_people_of_West_Bengal">many exceptional </a>scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, writers and thinkers.
About <a href="http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/sirshendumukhopadhyay.html">Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay</a>.
About <a href="http://www.parabaas.com/translation/database/authors/texts/sukumarray.html">Sukumar Ray</a>, a little <a href="http://www.satyajitray.org/films/sukumarray.htm">more.</a>
<a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~twoeyesmagazine/issue2/rokintro.htm">Rokeya Hossain</a>, was a woman science fiction author and activist from Bengal. She wrote <a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~twoeyesmagazine/issue2/sultana.htm">Sultana's Dream </a>[full text, about 15 pages], a feminist utopia.comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355172Thu, 29 Jun 2006 23:27:14 -0800nickyskyeBy: languagehat
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355266
Fantastic post—I knew Bengal was the most Westernized part of India in the late 19th century, but it hadn't occurred to me that that might involve science fiction!
And nice additional links, nickyskye; I'm looking forward to reading "Sultana's Dream," which is summarized in one of the comments to the original link as follows: "Rokeya Sakhawat Hosain's story 'Sultana's Dream' where all the women rule and the men are in purdah..."
<em>
it sounds like Bengali SF would be hard to translate.</em>
No more than any other Bengali writing, and probably less, since the SF was modeled on English stories to begin with. If by "wordplay" you mean things like "Chillanosaurus (<em>chillano</em> means to shout)," I don't see why "Shoutosaurus" wouldn't do the job quite adequately.comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355266Fri, 30 Jun 2006 05:43:26 -0800languagehatBy: brundlefly
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355542
Thanks for the links, nickyskye!comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355542Fri, 30 Jun 2006 09:51:22 -0800brundleflyBy: tadellin
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355615
I, for one, welcome our new Ant overlords.comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355615Fri, 30 Jun 2006 10:55:52 -0800tadellinBy: bardic
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1355627
(Hi Deep!)comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1355627Fri, 30 Jun 2006 11:04:41 -0800bardicBy: amberglow
http://www.metafilter.com/52659/From-doorbells-to-fishpills#1356612
I wonder if Robinson stole from Sultana's Dream for Years of Rice and Salt?comment:www.metafilter.com,2006:site.52659-1356612Sat, 01 Jul 2006 21:18:30 -0800amberglow
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