Critical Response To Literatures In English

The Present Book Contains A Varied Selection Of Essays Ventured Upon As Exercises In Critical Evaluation Of Texts That Are Relevant In The Existent Literary Context. These Essays Are Certainly Not A Random Pick For Each Of The Works Chosen For Analysis, Whatever Be The Genre Of Writing, Represents The Literature In English Produced By The Native Writers Of A Particular Country. The Two Major Literatures In English Are Indisputably Those Of England And America But There Are Many Other Countries Like Africa, Australia, India And Pakistan Whose Authors Chose To Write In English Because They Felt That English, Despite Being An Alien Language, Would Better Verbalize Their Creative Urge And Lend Itself To An Exploration Of The Immense Possibilities Therein. Most Of The Authors Taken Up For Study In This Book Are Those Who Belong To The Fraternity Of Indian English Writers, Namely Mulk Raj Anand, Shashi Deshpande, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Mahesh Dattani And Manju Kapur. Catering To A Revival Of Interest In The Partition Of India As A Theme In Fiction Are Two Essays Which Deal With The Issue. Other Write-Ups Are On Works (Some In Translation) By Native Writers Of Hitherto Marginalized Countries That Have Now Chosen To Aggressively Assert Themselves Through Their Respective Literatures.The Book, Comprehensive And Rich In Its Contents, Is Highly Informative And Would Prove An Asset To Those Interested In The Diverse Manifestations Of Literature In English. It Would Be Of Particular Appeal To Those Who Wish To Explore The Works Of Indian English Writers Of Repute.

The Present Book Contains Some Fact-Finding Critical Essays Devoted To Some Of The Literary Stalwarts Of Indian English Literature, Such As, Sri Aurobindo, Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand, Kamala Markandaya, Arundhati Roy And Manoj Das. A Modest Attempt Has Been Made To Go Deep Into The Problem And Offer Text-Based Criticism. These Articles Have Been Written To Stimulate A Genuine Desire In The Readers For Deeper Studies In Indian English Literature.This Book Is Expected To Be Of Considerable Interest And Use To The Students As Well As The Teachers As The Critical Articles Throw More Light On Some Of The Unexplored Areas Of Studies.

" ... Documents the history and development of [Post-colonial literatures in English, together with English and American literature] and includes original research relating to the literatures of some 50 countries and territories. In more than 1,600 entries written by more than 600 internationally recognized scholars, it explores the effect of the colonial and post-colonial experience on literatures in English worldwide.

"This book is a statement of my views on a number of problems in literary theory and contemporary criticism. But it is also - as any theoretical study must be - a progress report, a record of inquiry that has not yet concluded. In a sense, a book on "theory" cannot really end. At a certain point, work on it ceases, even though one continues to think critically and skeptically about the problems - and the solutions - that the book contains." -- Preface. p. xi.

Anita Desai And Her Novels Have Been An Enigma For Decades. Scholars, Critics, Researchers And Students Have Never Stopped Marvelling About Supremacy Of Idea Over Matter In The Works Of This Gifted Novelist. The Philosophical Mood, The Realization Of A Grand Design, The Presence Of Unsaid, Unarticulated Realities All These Have Forever Teased The Mind Of The Discerning Reader. In The Present Volume, Anita Desai Has Been Extensively And Intensely Probed. As The Reader Will See, The Thrust Has Been More On Psychological And Intellectual Facets Of Her Fiction, Rather Than Social, Cultural Or Physical Areas. This Is The Trend Of Criticism These Days And It Is Rightly So. The Fine Subtleties, The Small But Significant Turn Of Events, The Role Of Place In The Formation Of Mental Scene, The Vitality Of Characters, The Force Of Their Personalities, The Intricate Web Of Relationships All These Have Been Examined And Expressed In Words That Are At Once Easy To Understand As Well As Graceful To Aesthetic Sense.

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan, 1906-2001, Indo-English novelist; contributed articles.