Name - Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island
Written by - Nibedita Sen
Published by - Nightmare Magazine
Colonialism is a tragic part of history for a large portion of the populace of the world (me being a part of this being a Bengali). And for a long time fiction has aimed at attempting to describe some of the emotional impact of this invasion of culture and individuality. This curiously designed short, is yet another such attempt. But, what makes this one unique is the approach and the authors skillful attempt at making the readers guess what might be the truth of the whole affair.
'Nibedita Sen' uses a series of ten bibliographic entries of a sociology paper, to try to tell a story of a fictional group of indigenous people living in a secluded fictional island and their descendants. The approach is quite unique and the different perspective of the entries from people having varied opinion creates a sense of mystery regarding the actual facts which I am quite sure the author was aiming for.
And the overall experience comes to a satisfying end, while the author aiming another jab at the invaders of the island with a message that, no matter the amount of violation and invasion a culture can never be completely destroyed.
Despite being in a unique and unorthodox package, this one is short yet enjoyable and emotionally charged story.
My rating -
4.5 out of 5.
Link to the story -
http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/ten-excerpts-from-an-annotated-bibliography-on-the-cannibal-women-of-ratnabar-island/
