Novel
Nga Ba
ငဘ
Maung Htin · 1947
Synopsis
In a village in the Irrawaddy delta, Nga Ba is one peasant among many, at the mercy of landowners and the propertied. When the war drives out the British, he hopes with his neighbours that the Japanese soldiers, who come from an Asian country, will deliver Burma; but it is ruthless occupiers who arrive. From 1942 to 1945, the novel follows him from one power to the next, buffeted by events, in the tone of social satire.
Context
Written in 1945, the book appeared at the beginning of 1947, dedicated to the Nga Bas of Burma, who cannot decide their own fate. The narrative runs through the last colonial years, the government of Ba Maw and the end of the Burma campaign; the publisher of the Japanese version stresses its fidelity to the facts in rendering the politics and society of the time. Often reprinted, it has been translated into Chinese, Russian and Hindi; Shizuo Kawatoda put it into Japanese in 1992, and a 151-page English version appeared in 1998.
Who it is for
A short novel, 91 pages in the 1991 Burmese edition; no French translation. It is worth knowing the broad outline of the Japanese occupation of Burma during the Second World War.
Prizes and reception
A Burmese classic, included in 2020 in Sarpay Beikman's collection of one hundred classics.
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