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Modern Indian Literature
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In most of the countries of the world, literature has always been influenced by conflicts between the orthodox and the unorthodox, & between the ossified and the dynamic. However in India, because the new impulse was identified with an alien culture and foreign domination, the clash of loyalties has been more pronounced. The very impact of Western thought stimulated a nationalist consciousness which resented the foreign imposition and searched for the roots of self-respect and pride in its own heritage, culture and religion. In the process, India has produced many literary stalwarts in various Indian languages.
The new era of modern Indian literatures may be said to begin in 1800, when Fort William College was established in Kolkata and The Baptist Mission Press in Serampore, near Kolkata. The college was founded by the East India Company to provide instruction to British civil servants in the laws, customs, religions, languages, and literatures of India in order to cope with the increasing demands of fast-growing administrative machinery. Thus, the British themselves, unwittingly became the source of a future national resurgence for Indians! Reading material, during this time, was translated from the Sanskrit classics as well as from foreign literature, and dictionaries and grammars were compiled. William Carey, who was also one of the founders of the Baptist Mission Press, himself wrote a Bengali grammar and compiled an English-Bengali dictionary as well as two selections of dialogues and stories.
2.0 THE BEGINNINGS
The establishment of Hindu College in 1817 and the replacing of Persian by English as the language of the law and the increasing use of Bengali were other landmarks which encouraged the introduction of modern education and the development of the language of the people. It was Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) who laid the real foundation of modern Bengali prose. The form which he gave to Bengali prose revealed its rich potentiality in the hands of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) and Akshay Kumar Datta (1820-1886), both of whom were primarily social reformers and educationists. Because they were men of serious purpose who had much to say, they had little use for the flamboyance and rhetoric natural to a language derived from Sanskrit, and they chiselled a prose that was both chaste and vigorous.
Being iconoclasts (tradition-breakers) rather than creative artists, they standardized the medium which their younger contemporary, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-94), turned with superb gusto and skill into a creative tool for his novels and stories. He is known as the father of the modern novel in India and his influence on his contemporaries and successors, in Bengal and other parts of India, was profound and extensive. Novels, both historical and social, the two forms in which he excelled, had been written before him in Bengali by Bhudev Mukherji and Peary Chand Mitra. Mitra’s ‘Alaler Gharer Dulal’ was the first specimen of original fiction of social realism with free use of the colloquial idiom, and anticipated, however crudely, the later development of the novel. But it was Bankim Chandra who established the novel as a major literary form in India. He had his limitations - he was too romantic, effusive, and didactic, and was in no sense a peer of his great Russian contemporaries, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. There have been better novelists in India since his day, but they all stand on his shoulders.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873) was the pioneer who, turning his back on the native tradition, made the first conscious and successful experiment to naturalize the European forms into Bengali poetry by his epic in blank verse ‘Meghnadbadh Kabya’, based on a Ramayana episode unorthodoxly interpreted, as well as by a number of sonnets. He led the way but could not establish a vital tradition, for his own success was a tour de force of a rare genius.
3.0 FAMOUS PERSONALITIES OF INDIAN LITERATURE
3.1 Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore was a great poet, philosopher, music composer and a leader of Brahmo Samaj, who took the Indian culture and tradition to the whole world and became a voice of the Indian heritage.
Rabindranath Tagore wrote eight novels and a number of poems and most of his creations are in the Bangla language. His most acclaimed works in novel genre are Ghare Baire, Shesher Kobita, Char Odhay, Gora, Jogajog, and Dak Ghar. Aside from fictions and autobiographical works, he also wrote essays, lectures and short stories on various topics ranging from history to science and arts. As a prolific musician, Tagore influenced the style of such musician such as Amjad Ali Khan and Vilayat Khan. He composed the words and music of the Indian national anthem Jana Gana Mana, which was accepted as the national anthem in 1950.
Ghare Baire or The Home and the World, (which was also released as the film by Satyajit Ray, Ghare Baire) examines rising nationalistic feeling among Indians while warning of its dangers, clearly displaying Tagore's distrust of nationalism - especially when associated with a religious element. In some sense, Gora shares the same theme, raising questions regarding the Indian identity. As with Ghare Baire, matters of self-identity, personal freedom, and religious belief are developed in the context of an involving family story and a love triangle.
Though his novels remain under-appreciated, they have recently been given new attention through many movie adaptations by such film directors as Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Tarun Majumdar. The recent among these is a version of Chokher Bali and Noukadubi directed by the Late Rituparno Ghosh, which features Aishwariya Rai (in Chokher Bali). A favorite trope of these directors is to employ rabindra sangeet in the film adaptations' soundtracks.
Among Tagore's notable non-fiction books are Iurop Jatrir Patro ("Letters from Europe") and Manusher Dhormo ("The Religion of Man").
3.2 R.K.Narayan (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami)
R.K. Narayan is one of the most famous and widely read Indian novelists. His stories were grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.
R.K. Narayan was born on October 10, 1906 in Madras.
He began his writing career with Swami and Friends in 1935. Most of his work including Swami and Friends is set in the fictional town of Malgudi which captures everything Indian while having a unique identity of its own. R.K. Narayan's writing style was marked by simplicity and subtle humour. He told stories of ordinary people trying to live their simple lives in a changing world.
Narayan accepts the social system prevailing in the country and portrays it realistically without making an attempt to castigate the ills of the society. He deals with the middle class which he knows very intimately, as also the plight of the underdog. The distinguishing deature of his work is that he makes no attempt to present India in an exotic light for the sake of foreign readers.
R.K. Narayan's famous works include The Bachelor of Arts (1937), The Dark Room (1938), The English Teacher (1945), The Financial Expert (1952), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961), The Vendor of Sweets (1967), Malgudi Days (1982), and The Grandmother's Tale (1993).
R.K. Narayan won numerous awards and honors for his works. These include: Sahitya Akademi Award for The Guide in 1958, Padma Bhushan in 1964 (later Padma Vibhushan), and AC Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature in 1980. R.K. Narayan was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1982. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1989. Besides, he was also conferred honorary doctorates by the University of Mysore, Delhi University and the University of Leeds. He passed away in 2001.
Nirad Chandra Chaudhuri (born November 23, 1897, Kishorganj, East Bengal, British India [now in Bangladesh]-died August 1, 1999, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England), was a Bengali author and scholar who was opposed to the withdrawal of British colonial rule from the Indian subcontinent and the subsequent rejection of Western culture in independent India.
He was an erudite and complex individual who seemed to have been born at the wrong place and in the wrong time.
He dedicated his first book, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian (1951), to the memory of the British Empire. He strongly believed that "all that was good and living within us was made, shaped, and quickened by the same British rule." Needless to say, this sentiment was far from popular in a newly independent nation trying to grapple with its insecurities and where anticolonial sentiment was rampant. Chaudhuri's book was excoriated, and he was hounded from his job as a broadcaster and a political commentator for All India Radio (AIR).
In the 1970s Chaudhuri chose to leave India for England. There he settled in the university town of Oxford. He had envisioned this move as a homecoming of sorts, but he found a much different place than the England he had idolized. He proved to be as much an oddity in England as he had been in India: the English, who, unlike the bulk of his countrymen, respected him, did not understand his unique combination of proud "Indianness" coupled with a deep nostalgia for the past glory of the British Empire. By the same token, Chaudhuri could not accept the metamorphosis that the English had undergone in the years since the decline of the empire, and he was appalled by their total lack of commitment to the values that he believed had once made England a great nation. His disillusionment was reflected in his writings, and in the final volume of his autobiography, Thy Hand, Great Anarch (1987), which he produced at age 90, he wrote, "The greatness of the English people has passed away for ever."
He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1990 and an honorary CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II in 1992. The essays in his last book, Three Horsemen of the New Apocalypse (1997) published shortly before his 100th birthday - return to the subject of the decline of England as well as comment on what he saw as the degeneration of the leadership in India. Only in his later years did Chaudhuri win widespread acceptance and appreciation in his homeland. An elitist class that had risen in South Asia lauded the final volume of his autobiography. In addition to his autobiographies and his English-language essays, he wrote a number of works in Bengali.
The Adhunik Kaal or the Modern Period in Hindi literature commenced in the middle of the 19th century. The most decisive evolution of this period was the germination of khari boli prose and abundant use of this standard Hindi dialect in poetry instead of Braj bhasha. Modern Hindi literature has been divided into four phases, comprising: the age of Bharatendu or the Renaissance (1868-1893), Dwivedi Yug (1893-1918), Chhayavad Yug (1918-1937) and the Contemporary Period (1937 onwards).
The age of Bharatendu is exquisitely redefined by Bharatendu Harishchandra (1849-1882), considered the ‘Father of Modern Hindi literature’. He brought in a completely contemporary outlook to the Hindi literature. Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, ennobling the Dwivedi yug, later took up the vision of Bharatendu Harishchandra. Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi was an out-and-out reformist, who had ushered in an elegant and graceful style of writing in Hindi poetry, which later acquired a much deeper moral tone. This was the age of revival, when the stateliness and magnificence of ancient Indian culture was fully embraced to enrich modern life. Social, political and economic problems were gradually mirrored in poetry, while songs that were composed, emoted a theme of social awakening.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan was considered the most exalted poet of this school of thought alongwith Prasad, Nirala, Pant and Mahadevi, who were known as the four pillars of the Chhayavad yug in the Adhunik kaal of Hindi literature. After the downfall of this movement, the leftist ideology began to raise its head in a chronological sense, which found voice in two opposing styles of Hindi poetry. One was Progressivism and Prayogavada or later referred to as Nai Kavita. The other was called Pragativad. The former was an effort of translating Marx’s philosophy of social realism into art. The most notable figure of this movement was Sumitranandan Pant. The latter had religiously made efforts to safeguard artistic freedom and brought in a new poetic content and talent, which reflected modern perceptivity. The pioneers of this trend were Agyeya, Girija Kumar Mathur and Dharamvir Bharati. Another style called Personal Lyrics also had made an appearance, aiming at free and spontaneous human expressions with Harivansh Rai Bachchan serving as the leader of this trend. Harivansh Rai Bachchan indeed had bettered the world of Hindi poetry with his three exquisite collections comprising, Madhushala (1935), Madhubala (1936) and Madhukalas (1936). Bachchan’s poetry was considered wholly dissimilar from the romanticism of Chhayavad and the ebullience of the Pragativad. His kind of poetry in Hindi contemporary period is sometimes referred to as ‘Hridayvad’ or the poetry of passion.
The period of incessant and contemporary growth in the Adhunik kaal of Hindi literature is represented by Jayshankar Prasad (Chhaya, Akash Deep), Rai Krishna Das and Mahadevi Varma. Munshi Premchand (1880-1936) was the greatest name in the field of fiction. His immortal works in fiction comprise: Sevasadana, Premasrama, Nirmala, Kayakalpa, Rangabhumi, Gaban and Godan. His last novel Godan was translated in all the possible languages of India. Other important fictional Hindi writers of the contemporary period comprise: Jainendra Kumar (Sunita and Tyagapatra, Sukhada, Vivarta), Phanishwar Nath Renu (Maila Anchal), Satchinanda Vatsyayan (Sekhar Ek Jivani), Dharamvir Bharati (Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda), Yash Pal (Dada-comrade, Desh Drohi, Divya and Manusya Ke Rupa), Jagdamba Prasad Dikshit (Murdaghar) and Rahi Masoom Raza (Adha Gaon). Dr. Nagendra and Dr. Namwar Singh are the most respectable names in the arena of literary criticism. Upendranath `Ashk`, Jagdish Chandra Mathur (Konark), Lakshminarayan Lal (Sukha Sarovar) and Mohan Rakesh (Asadha Ka Ek Din, Lahraon Ke Rajahamsa and Adhe-Adhure) are renowned modern playwrights in Hindi.
4.1 Progressive realism in Hindi literature
Progressive realism in Hindi literature was compounded by a number of factors, prime among them being the atmosphere during the nationalist struggle. Mahatma Gandhi had tried to lessen the tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities by supporting Hindustani as the national language instead of Hindi or Urdu. Urdu had encouraged Hindu-Muslim separatism and kept the two communities disunited.
Gandhi’s contention was that since Hindustani was spoken by both the Hindu and the Muslim populace, it would prevent dissensions and promote national integration. However this Hindustani was to be in Devanagari and nor Arabic. This move caused immense disaffection among progressive intellectuals - both Hindu and Muslim. This disillusionment was further fuelled by Gandhi’s strategy of non-violence. For many people, especially those on the left, non-violence had not shown conclusive results. The upsurge of anti-colonial nationalist ideas, World War I, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and continuing colonial exploitation created a mood of active political engagement. Influenced by Marxist ideas and inspired by the success of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, writers shifted their earlier Gandhian stance in favor of a more revolutionary ideology. This led to Progressive Realism in Hindi literature.
There were a number of disillusioned intellectuals and writers who initiated the formation of the Progressive Writers’ Association in 1936, with Munshi Premchand as its pioneering member. Defining the banner of "progressive" as "all that arouses in us the critical spirit," writers proposed to turn literature into a weapon in the struggle against colonialism. The aim of the progressive writers was to portray an authentic picture of the problems of the marginalized masses through a realistic expression. This literature was to be expressed in a language easily understood by the masses. This brought about a shift from the "high" or Sanskritized Hindi propagated by the orthodox Hindu nationalists to a literature that used Hindustani. A move to realism also established the novel as the chief medium of expressing the political commitment of writers.
In this changing context, Premchand emerged as a key figure in exposing the evils of colonialism through a progressive, realistic style exhibiting the influence of Marxist ideas in stories such as Katil. Katil reveals an ideological shift from the non-violent path suggested by Gandhi to a revolutionary one. Premchand’s novel Premashram (1922) also focused upon issues concerning colonial exploitation through long descriptions of forced labor and the exploitation and use of poor peasants and their women at the hands of rich landlords.
The Progressive Writers’ Association also strengthened the Hindi short story, a medium that had already been explored by Premchand and Jaishankar Prasad. As compared to full-length novels, the short story could convey the political message in a shorter space. Seen as a feasible means of communicating political messages, some writers, such as Yashpal, adopted this form for expressing their revolutionary views.
While prose remained the dominant form of expression during the 1930s and 1940s, progressive drama, too, played a significant role in attempting to dismantle existing power structures. Upendra Nath “Ashk” wrote plays such as Chhata Beta, Jai Parajai, Aadi and Marg. Others, such as Pandit Laxmi Narayan Mishra, expressed their socio-political estrangement through "problem plays" such as Sanyasis, Rakshas Ka Mandir, Mukti Ka Rahasya, Rajyoga, and Sindoor Ki Holi (Nagendra 1988, 645). Protest against problems of farmers, landlords, police, and inter-caste marriage, among others, came from Premchand in plays such as Sangrama and Prem Ki Vedi (1933).
The latter half of the 1920s and the decade of the 1930s saw the proliferation of one-act plays in Hindi, a number of which were also published in various journals, an example of which is Prasad’s Ek Ghunt. Hans, a journal edited by Premchand, published a special number on one-act plays in 1938. The shift from full-length plays to one-act plays was symbolic of a formalistic struggle that progressive playwrights waged against the power structures. On the one hand, it represented a break from the classical, full-length Sanskrit dramas that had acquired popularity because of the efforts to produce Sanskritized Hindi dramas by Hindu nationalist writers.
The Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) set up a Hindustani squad that performed numerous plays on topics ranging from British imperialism, to fascism in Europe, to landlord problems, to exploitation of workers in factories, to the Bengal famine of 1943 and the cholera epidemic of 1944. Balraj Sahni and K. A. Abbas wrote and produced plays such as Zubeida, Yeh Amrit Hai etc. The influence of Marxist ideas on Hindi writing continued into the 1940s. With their progressive outlook, writers such as Sohanlal Dvivedi and Sumitrananadan Pant, among others, continued to attack capitalist exploitation and the evils of imperialism and landlordism.
The most scathing attack was launched on the imperialists after the Bengal famine of 1943, which, as politically committed writers believed, was created by the British government after the Quit India Movement of 1942. The famine had a crippling effect, and millions of lives were affected. Yashpal dealt with these themes in his novels Dada Comrade, Deshdrohi, Party Comrade, and Manushya Ke Rup. Thus Progressive Realism in Hindi Literature was a rather revolutionary step and marked a distinct switch from the literary styles of the earlier ages.
4.2 Famous Hindi poets
Makhanlal Chaturvedi: Born on April 4, 1989, in Bavai village of Madhya Pradesh, Pandit Makhanlal Chaturvedi was an eminent poet of Hindi literature. He was the editor of national journals like ‘Prabha’ and ‘Karmaveer’. The collection of his poems include, ‘Him Tarangini’, ‘Samarpan’, ‘Yug Charan’, ‘Dip se Dip Jale’, ‘Sahitya Devta’, ‘Kaisa Chand Bana Deti Hai’, and ‘Pushp Ki Abhilasa’. He was the first recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademy Award, for his work ‘Him Tarangini’, in 1954. He passed away on January 30, 1968.
Maithilisharan Gupt: Born in Chirgaon, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on August 03, 1889, Maithilisharan Gupt was a distinguished poet of modern Hindi literature. It was he who introduced Khari Boli – a dialect – in Hindi writing. His striking verses are ‘Saket’, ‘Rang Mein Bhang’, ‘Bharat Bharti’, ‘Plassey Ka Yuddha’, and ‘Kaaba Karbala’. He was also briefly associated with Indian politics. He breathed his last on December 2, 1964.
Harivansh Rai Bachchan: This torch-bearer of Chayavad (romantic) generation was born on November 27, 1907 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He is known for ‘Madhushala’ – a book of verses. He worked very hard in promoting Hindi as the official language of India. During his stint at the External Affairs Ministry, he translated some of the major works into Hindi, including Othello, Macbeth, Bhagawad Gita, Rubaiyat and the works of W.B. Yeats. Apart from his other acclaimed works, the four-part serial biography, ‘Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon’, ‘Need Ka Nirmaan Phir’, ‘Basere Se Door’, and the last ‘Dashdwaar Se Sopaan Tak’, also need a mention. He died on January 18, 2003.
Mahadevi Verma: She was one of the prominent poets of romanticism in Chhayavad era. Born in 1907, in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, Mahadevi Verma was popularly known as Modern Meera. The poet was the first headmistress of the Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth. Some of her poetry work includes, ‘Deepshikha’, ‘Himalaya’, ‘Neerja’, ‘Nihar’ and ‘Rashmi Geet’. Her outstanding poetry collection, ‘Yama’, received the prestigious Jnanpith award in 1940. She was deeply influenced by Buddhism. She died in 1987.
Sumitranandan Pant: He was born on May 20, 1900 in Kumaon, Uttrakhand. Belonging to a place so enriched with flora and fauna, it was natural for Sumitranandan to develop an inclination towards nature. He took to poetry at a very young age. At some point of time, he was under the influence of Sri Aurobindo. In 1961, he was honored with a Padma Bhushan and a Jnanpith Award in 1968 for his most famous poems ‘Chidambara’. Apart from ‘Pallav’, ‘Veena’, ‘Granthi’ and ‘Gunjan’, his other acclaimed work is ‘Kala aur Burha Chand’, for which he received the coveted Sahitya Academy Award. He died on December 28, 1977.
Jaishankar Prasad: Born on January 30, 1989, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Jaishankar Prasad was like a father-figure of modern Hindi literature. His mahakavya (epic poem) ‘Kamayani’, needs a special mention. Human love is beautifully depicted in the poem. The range of Jaishankar Prasad’s poetry varied from the romantic to the patriotic. Prasad was deeply influenced by the Vedas. He died on January 14, 1937.
Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’: He pioneered the Chhayavad movement, along with Pant, Prasad and Mahadevi Verma. Nirala was born on February 16, 1896 in Midnapur, Bengal. While growing up, he was inspired by some great personalities such as Ramkrishna Paramhans, Swami Vivekanand and Rabindranath Tagore. Originally educated in Bengali medium, Nirala later moved to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh where he started writing in Hindi. Some of his works include, ‘Saroj Shakti’, ‘Kukurmutta’, ‘Dhawani’, ‘Ram Ki Shakti Puja’, ‘Parimal’ and ‘Anamika’. He breathed his last on October 15, 1961.
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar: He was born on September 23, 1908, in Simariya, Bihar. His writings from pre-independence era were rebellious in nature. Because of his patriotic creations, he was given the title of Rastrakavi (national poet). Being a poet of Veer Rasa (courage) style, he’s vouched in favour of the war in ‘Kurukshetra’, giving reasons that though war is destructive, the Mahabharata war was inevitable so as to protect freedom. His major works are ‘Rahmi-rathi’, and ‘Parashuram Ki Pratiksha’. He died on April 24, 1974.
Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khana: Born on December 17, 1556, in Lahore, Mughal period (now in Pakistan), he’s popularly known as ‘Rahim’. He is believed to be a descendant of Lord Krishna from his maternal side. He was one of the navratans (nine gems) in Mughal emperor Akbar’s court. The translation of his one among many couplets is: “Don’t let the thread of love to snap; once it snaps, it cannot be joined again and if you do rejoin it, there is a knot in it.” Rahim died in 1627.
Kabir: Kabir was a spiritual poet born in 1440, in India. Popularly known as Sant Kabir, his writings have strongly influenced the Bhakti movement, Sikhism, Sant Mat and Kabir Panth. His poetic works include Bijak, Kabir Garhwali, Sakhi Granth and Anurag Sagar. He was the first Indian saint to bring communal harmony among both Hindus and Muslims through his couplets. Kabir has advocated in his philosophy that life is interplay of two spiritual doctrines, the personal soul (Jivatma) and God (Parmatma). It is Kabir’s ideology that salvation is the process of bringing these two entities into union. Sant Kabir died in 1518.
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