Issn: 2395-4132 Search for New Canon in Indian Writers: Tagore, Premchand, Mulk Raj Anand and Prem Chand (original) (raw)

Constructing a New Canon of Post-1980s Indian English Fiction

Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2017

The literary canon implies the evaluation or estimation of certain literary texts as the most important during a particular time. The canon is not merely a set of texts; it is a set of standards, evaluative procedures and values. Belonging to a canon confers a guarantee of literary greatness. A canon is formed, by a particular group, to channelize cultural hegemony over others, or, can be constructed, by a governed group, to bring about cultural symmetry. The rise of diverse literatures in English in different parts of the world after the colonial rule of England was the consequence of an urge to articulate a cultural equilibrium or an urge to strike back. The process of canon formation is also a focused and bigoted act, and is always carried out to accomplish certain self-centred objectives. It is commonly accepted that canon formation is executed to accomplish or naturalize certain ideological functions. In the sphere of Indian English literature, Indian English fiction after the end of the 1980s has emerged as a new “canon”. This book looks into the process of literary canon formation in Indian universities, and examines such fiction as an alternative literary canon and as an anti-imperialistic response to the British literary canon. The book ascertains the anti-imperialistic design involved in forming the canon of post-1980 Indian English fiction, examines the gradual emerging trends in such fiction, and discerns the role of language, culture, and native ethos in the formation of a canon. It also differentiates post-1980s Indian English fiction from British fiction, bhasa fiction, and even from pre-1980s Indian English fiction.

Literary Canon Studies: An Introduction

N. S. Patel Arts College, Anand, 2014

This monograph serves as a brief introduction to literary canon studies, a critical approach that evaluates text as an amalgamation of literary and aesthetic values. The notion of literary canon has undergone revision time-to-time to pace with contemporaneous change in the sociocultural practices. It also advocates an independent status of the post-1980s Indian English fiction as a literary canon. The six essays of this monograph deal with the constituents of literary canon as well as the Indian English literary canon, role of language in canon formation, role of canon in nation building, diverse literary canons of India, and the association of theory, social movements and literary canon formation.

The Indian Literature in English: A Journey from Nationalism to the Search of Nation

Historically, the East India Company was formed by some leading London merchants. With a purpose to trade with India, the British came here and after it as we all know they dominated Indian subcontinent for more than 200 years. By the beginning of the 19 th century the British felt the need for educating and civilizing the natives for various purposes. That is why a token grant of rupees one lakh per year was made for education. In reality, their idea was to promote only Oriental education and to prepare human resource which could them in administration. They established the private schools that imparted English educationsuch schools have been started as early as 1717 at Cuddalore near Chennai. They also established printing presses in different parts of the country. The motif behind all these development was to dominate, control and to spread the oriental authority in Asia. Articulating the goals of British colonial imperialism most succinctly, Thomas Macaulay said in his infamous ‗Minute on Indian Education' (1835) that-We must do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, words and intellect." 1 Thus after reading, speaking and comprehending English, Indians soon started writing also. Simultaneously, Indian writing in English had to range from the most utilitarian prose to the most ambitious verse-epics. It emerged as a new creative force of resistance. It resisted the injustice and cruelty of the colonizers and manifested what we often referred to as the literary renaissance. So from a sapling to a strong rooted banyan tree with multiple new branches, Indian Literature in English now has emerged as a major voice of the nation. Indians, however, did not start writing in English in a dayit took several historical events. Many distinguished personalities had tried hard to bring Indian writing in English to its present eminence. Historical Perspective is an effort to contextualize the growth and rise of Indian English Literature, from its inception to its present glory. This paper discusses thematically the journey of Indian Literature from the colonial to the post-colonial period and from resistance to the search of the roots. Literature reflects the emotions and attitudes of the people of the country. It is a powerful mean to express the writer's thinking and his/her approach. In India, the English

Introduction to Indian English Literature

Literature views reality critically. Literature presents the essence of reality linking things together. As art is the negative knowledge of the actual world, it exists in the real world and has a function in it. Yet, it offers a knowledge that negates a false condition.

History without Footnotes: The Paradoxes of the Paradigm Shifts in Indian English Writing Literature

Abstract Indian English Writing has been suffering from various Paradigm shifts right from the colonial period to the present day. No other country’s literature has gone into various labels or misnomers as Indian Literature. Indian Writing in English has been termed by many paradigms Indo‐Anglo Literature, Indian Writing in English, Commonwealth Literature, Third World Literature, Diasporic Literature, Post‐colonial Literature and India Studies. Keywords: Indian English Writing, Colonial, Paradigms and Post‐colonial.

Indo-English literature in an Indian context

KITAAB CONNECTING ASIAN WRITERS WITH GLOBAL READERS, 2022

Dr. Ramlal Agarwal’s essay captures the journey of Indo-English Literature from 1857 when it started to date with great emphasis on the various milestones and important contributors to this journey.

RETROSPECTING INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE: TEXTS, CONTEXTS AND CONSEQUENCES

This paper deals with Indian sensibilities that appeared to be the subjects of primary concerns and sites of ideological, cultural confrontations and religious contestations, particularly in the literary texts that were being experimented in Indian English. It takes up three novels Untouchable, Train To Pakistan and That Long Silence by Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant Singh and a slightly later writer Shashi Deshpande to discuss the issues which became both explicit and implicit allusions in their texts and drew the world's attention to such a new genre.

G.S. Amur 2012: Transgressions: Studies in Indian Literature in English

Atlantis: Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies, 2013

Th e emergence of Indian literature in English as an object of study is a landmark in the history of English Studies in India.1 One need not reiterate the space it has occupied in English Studies curricula and research over a period of more than fi ve decades, although the pioneering work undertaken by eminent Indian teachers of English from the early generation —K.R. Srinivasa Iyangar, C.D. Narasimhaiah, G.S. Amur and M.K. Naik among them— in promoting the fi eld and attaining international recognition should be acknowledged. Th ey trained several generations of students in the fi eld through their courses, their extensive research and abundant publications. Of these pioneers, G.S. Amur stands out as unique,2 for his sheer profundity and range of engagement not only with Indian literature but also with American and postcolonial literatures and, more prominently, Kannada literature. He initiated interest in the fi eld by conceiving the idea of a book on Indian literature in English,...

What is in the name?: Problematic of Anglo-Indian Literature

Though English does not find a place in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution yet the use of English has been allowed for various purposes under Articles 210, 343(2), 345, and 348(3)(iii). As the burden of history is too heavy to be overthrown, in at least five Indian states English enjoys the status of official language. Studies in English Literature continue to be promoted in a big way in all the universities of the country and graduating in English is considered socially valuable and prestigious. Gandhi used English and published in it prolifically in the heydays of nationalistic fervour. Nehru himself an exuberant user of English, argued for its inclusion in the list of languages to be patronised by Sahitya Akademi, the national body for Indian literature. Whether the literature written in this language in India is unique and if it deserves a special treatment in the country is a debatable issue as has been made out also by Salman Rushdie's assertion in his book, The Vintage Book of Indian Writing, -… the ironical proposition that India's best writing since independence may have been done in the language of the departed imperialists is simply too much for some folks to bear‖ (xiv) though Rushdie goes to correct himself in the very next sentence: -It ought not to be true, and must not be permitted to be true.‖ (Idem) If the awards given by Sahitya Akademi are any proof, the record of English is excellent as no book worthy of an award has been found only in twelve years (1961, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 74, 95, 97 and 2008; 1960's may be treated as an exception as the anti-English movement was at its peak) since 1960 (the year English was included in the list). Therefore, Salman Rushdie's observation, -. . . the prose writingboth fiction and non-fiction-created in this period by Indian writers working in English, is proving to be a stronger and more important body of work than most of what has been produced in the 16 ‗official languages' of India, the socalled ‗vernacular languages', during the same time; and, indeed, this new, and still burgeoning, ‗Indo-Anglian' literature represents perhaps the most valuable contribution India has yet made to the world of books‖ (x) appears to be quite valid and genuine. However, there are others who refuse to accept anything written in this language as authentic Indian as -English is not the language in which most of the writers dream in.‖ However, there is no denying the fact that a vast literature in India exists in English despite the debate about the genuineness of the literature. ) provides the following information: -… Raja Rammohan Roy began publishing his work [in English] in 1816, and recent research has shown that Indians were contributing to English-language periodicals in India before the end of the eighteenth century. The first book so far known to have been published in English by an Indian was Sake Deen Mahomed's Travels (1794). Since English-language education started in India as early as 1717, it is possible that Indo-English literature was published even earlier. This needs concerted research which has simply not been done so far.‖ (312) B J Wadia is right when he writes: -… all that is written by Indians in the English language cannot be called ‗literature'.‖ (Iyengar 1945 ix) and therefore utmost care has to be taken in deciding the starting point of this literature.

Two literary conventions of classical India

1991

I The centuries around the middle of the first millennium of the Common Era are extraordinarily important for the study of Indian culture. These centuries saw, among other things, the rule of the Guptas over large parts of India, and it is very likely that the peace and stability imposed by these rulers, along with their tolerance and encouragement, gave rise to a cultural renaissance. In the realm of literature, a large number of texts which we now consider classical attained their definite forms in this period. It is true that our knowledge of the chronology of Indian literature is very incomplete, yet it is not impossible that, for example, the great epic of India, the Mahåbhårata, reached in these centuries the form which has been brought to light in the critical edition of this text. 2 It appears that this was a time of collecting and codifying. The Jaina canon of the Ívetåmbaras was collected in this period. The classical texts of several schools of philosophy date from this period, such as the Nyåya Bhå∑ya of the Naiyåyikas, and the Padårthadharmasaµgraha, or Praßastapådabhå∑ya, of the Vaiße∑ikas. The Såµkhya system found its classic exposition in the Såµkhya Kårikå, the Yoga in the Yoga Bhå∑ya. The M¥måµsakas codified their system in the Íåbara Bhå∑ya, and Sanskrit grammar produced its most important, and perhaps first, commentary on the Mahåbhå∑ya, by Bhart®hari. But also other kinds of works have been brought in connection with the Gupta period, such as the Kåma SËtra, the Artha Íåstra, and the Manu Sm®ti. Also the non-Brahmanical religions were productive. I may mention here only a few of their literary productions: the Tattvårthådhigama Bhå∑ya of the Ívetåmbara Jainas, and the Abhidharmakoßa Bhå∑ya of the Sarvåstivåda and Sautråntika Buddhists have remained classic expositions of these sects. [211] This enumeration is of course not complete. Nor do I wish to give a complete survey of the literature of this period. What I wish to emphasize is that for the study of pre-Gupta India we are often to a large extent dependent upon texts which reached their definite form in the centuries now under consideration.