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Which India?
Modern India
India before partition
India before the British
India before the Moghuls
Pre-historic India
Literature(s)? Written, Oral, religious, mythological
Modern forms (mass media, digital)
29 states, 7 Union territories and 1 NCR (National Capital Region)
440 to 780 languages in India and more than 1500 dialects (National Census of India, 2001).
Hindi and English are official languages of the country and 20 other languages are recognized by the constitution.
Of the 1.1 billion people in India, 51% are literate, i.e more than 500 million.
More than 85000 newspapers (National Registrar of Newspapers, 2011).
India is the third largest publisher of books (16000 after U.S.A and U.K) and 1st in readership of papers (350 million).
Brief History – early India
Sanskrit Literature
Advent of Muslim India
The British Influence
Modern and Postmodern Indian literature
The Omani-Indian cultural encounter
5000-1500 BCE Harappa and Mohenjadaro
1500-900 BCE Arrival of Aryans
600 BCE-50 CE Buddha, Mahavir Jain,
Alexander
300-550 CE Peak of Sanskrit literature
1000-1750 CE The Islamic Influence
1800-1947 CE The British Influence
1947- Present The Modern Period
While regional languages have been vital at different points in history, there has always been a reference to the entirety of India, “Hindustan” or land of the river Indus.
India literature can be seen as a mosaic – parts of one whole. This is emphasized in all literatures as well as modern media.
• The Vedas (4
Vedas or
instructions of the
pure life)
• The Upanishads
(prayers)
• This is the period
when Sanskrit
sees its rise under
the priests
• It leads to the
culmination of
the 2 major epics
of Indian
literature
Early Sanskrit Religious Writing
With the growth of Buddhism and Jainism, other languages were coming to play such as Pali which was the languages of the common people. Sanskrit was now the language of the elite and privileged. It thus loses its stature.
This was also the time for the growth of other languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.
The first Muslim convert is said to be CheramanPerumal who went to Mecca and died on his way around 650 CE. His tomb is said to be in Salalah. The mosque he instructed to be built is in Kerala around 700 CE.
This is considered the Golden Age of Islamic art, architecture and literature.
It was a culmination of the artistic trends which had been influenced by Persia, The Abbassids and the Caliphate, merged with existing Indian influences.
By 1600, there were translations of the epics into Persian, which continued until 1800s.
Persian remained the official language of North India until the Mughal rule ended.
By 1750, Persian was interspersed with Hindi which was spoken by the common people. This led to the rise of Urdu.
Muslims felt they needed to re-assert themselves and stay relevant after the fall of the Mughals. They used Arabic and Persian loan words to give Urdu more credence.
In 1791, the Koran was translated into Urdu.
It was the most popular language of the educated working class in North India.
Asadullah Khan Ghalib and Mohammed Ibrahim Zauqare the leading poets of this time. Both were influenced by Sufism and the suffering of the common man.
Sir Syed Ahmad started the Aligarh movement which introduced critical self awareness into Urdu literary movement.
(You say) It is not love, it is madness My madness may be the cause of your fame Sever not my relationship with you If nothing then be my enemy
Heart it is, not a brick or stone Why shouldn't it feel the pain? Let none tyrannize this heart Or I shall cry again and again
Urdu is one of the national languages of the Indian constitution.
Urdu continues to be popular in some parts of North India (Lucknow, Kanpur, Awadh).
The film industry (Bollywood) continues to have an important link with Urdu.
The early British traders learnt to speak in Persian, Urdu, Bengali and Hindi.
By 1835, Lord Macaulay introduced the official languages Act in which English was made the language of instruction in order to create a class which could work for the government.
Early work of Indians in English was in newspapers and for social reform (Raja Ram Mohan Roy who sought to change social custorms)
Henry Derozio (1809-1831):
My country in thy days of glory past
A beauteous halo circled round thy brow
And worshipped as a deity, thou waste
Where is thy glory, where that reverence now?
Indian English Literature after 1980
Rushdie can be seen
to have re-defined
the way in which
India has begun to
‘own’ English and
used it to express
particularly Indian
experiences.
Writers of the Indian Diaspora
Rushdie
Naipaul
Jhumpa Lahiri
Chitra Divakaruni
Meena Alexander
Vikram Seth
Amitav Ghosh
Meera Syal
Kiran Desai
With more than 16, 000 publishing houses, the literary scene is very vibrant in most Indian languages.
This is partly because of international publishing houses entering the market and the low penetration of the internet.
The phenomena of regional writers becoming hugely popular after 1980 has been commented on recently.
In the English writing scene, this is very controversial.
Critics and writers are confident about the future, in spite of challenges such as technology and other diversions. Adaptation is important.
In India, the reading public is increasing exponentially and reading is seen as an aspirational goal.
An important reason for this is the way that Indian literature absorbs outside influences and creates its own literatures out of it.
Thank you.