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English Literature
Indian English Literature refers to the body of work by writers in India who
write in the English language and whose native or co-native language could be
one of the numerous languages of India. It is also associated with the works of
members of the Indian diaspora, especially people like Salman Rushdie who was
born in India. It is frequently referred to as Indo-Anglian literature. (Indo-Anglian
is a specific term in the sole context of writing that should not be confused
with the term Anglo-Indian). As a category, this production comes under the
broader realm of postcolonial literature- the production from previously
colonised countries such as India.
English literature in India has a relatively recent history, it is only one and
a half centuries old. The first book written by an Indian in English was by Sake
Dean Mahomet, titled Travels of Dean Mahomet; Mahomet's travel narrative was
published in 1793 in England. In its early stages it was influenced by the
Western art form of the novel. Early Indian writers used English unadulterated
by Indian words to convey an experience which was essentially Indian. Raja Rao's
Kanthapura is Indian in terms of its storytelling qualities. Rabindranath Tagore
wrote in Bengali and English and was responsible for the translations of his own
work into English. Dhan Gopal Mukerji was the first Indian author to win a
literary award in the United States. Nirad C. Chaudhuri, a writer of
non-fiction, is best known for his The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian where
he relates his life experiences and influences. P. Lal, a poet, translator,
publisher and essayist, founded a press in the 1950's for Indian English
writing, Writers Workshop.
R.K. Narayan is a writer who contributed over many decades and who continued to
write till his death recently. He was discovered by Graham Greene in the sense
that the latter helped him find a publisher in England. Graham Greene and
Narayan remained close friends till the end. Similar to Thomas Hardy's Wessex,
Narayan created the fictitious town of Malgudi where he set his novels. Some
criticise Narayan for the parochial, detached and closed world that he created
in the face of the changing conditions in India at the times in which the
stories are set. Others, such as Graham Greene, however, feel that through
Malgudi they could vividly understand the Indian experience. Narayan's evocation
of small town life and its experiences through the eyes of the endearing child
protagonist Swaminathan in Swami and Friends is a good sample of his writing
style. Simultaneous with Narayan's pastoral idylls, a very different writer,
Mulk Raj Anand, was similarly gaining recognition for his writing set in rural
India; but his stories were harsher, and engaged, sometimes brutally, with
divisions of caste, class and religion