The Indian literary tradition is primarily one of verse and is also essentially oral. The earliest works were composed to be sung or recited and were so transmitted for many generations before being written down. As a result, the earliest records of a text may be later by several centuries than the conjectured date of its composition. Furthermore, perhaps because so much Indian literature is either religious or a reworking of familiar stories from the Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and the mythological writings known as Puranas, the authors often remain anonymous. Biographical details of the lives of most of the earlier Indian writers exist only in much later stories and legends.
In every branch or various sections of literature- be it fiction, drama, biography, poetry, drama, novels, short stories, literary criticism, Indian literature has a tremendous variety to offer. Nearly every major Indian language has a rich tradition of literature. Tales from the Puranas, the Jatakas and the Panchatantra folk tales, fairy tales and ghost stories have made India a vast storehouse of literature. Non-Literary work on a variety of themes like law, health, astronomy, grammar, administration also form a part of the Indian literary heritage. India has given birth to it's own distinct set of littérateurs and literature.
The earlier forms of Indian literature was religious. They include the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aryankas, the Upanishads, the Sanskrit Epics- Ramayana and Mahabharatha, the Brahmashastras, the mythological writings known as Puranas. The literature of this period are in Sanskrit Pali Prakrit. Sanskrit literature has a special place in our civilization. It extended from about 1400 BC to AD 1200 and reached its height in the period from the 1st to the 7th centuries AD. The two major epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha, Abhigyanashakuntalam, Meghadutam by Kalidasa, are the best examples. Later in the 14th century, Kabir Das, Surdas and Tulasidas, a poet of the common people were popular. Tulasidas's 'Rama-charita-manas' (1575) is considered as an immortal classic by all Hindus.
In the second half of the 16th century, books in Tamil and other Dravidian languages began to be printed. Many foreign missionaries learnt the languages of the people. They not only translated the Bible and wrote Christian Puranas but also rendered considerable service to the languages by compiling the first modern grammars and dictionaries. Although the printing-press came to south India much earlier and the foreign missionary enterprise functioned much longer and more zealously than in Bengal, the impact of Western learning as such was comparatively slow and the resurgence of literary activity bore fruit in its modern form much later than in Bengal.
It is interesting to note that Tamil Literature is supposed to be the least sanskritised among all Indian languages because, it had a classical tradition of its own. Urdu and Sindhi are other exceptions, having arisen out of an Islamic background. Mirza Ghalib's couplets, written around mid-19th century, Ghazals written by Amir Khusro etc are popular even today.
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.
The era of Indian modern literature began in the late nineteenth century. With the establishment of vernacular schools and the importation of the printing press, a great impetus was given to popular prose, with Bengali writers perhaps taking the lead. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand etc rank among the world's best literary figures. Tagore's own translation of 'Gitanjali' into English brought him international fame when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913. His 'Gora' is considered to be a very outstanding novel in Indian literature.
The modern Indian literature is the representation of each aspect of modern life. Happily, despite this clamour of sophistry, patriotic piety, and political bias, good literature continues to be written and, as it justifies itself, it helps to sharpen the reader’s sensibility. Since the time of Tagore a growing minority of intelligent critics well versed in the literary traditions of their own country and of the West have bravely maintained a more wholesome approach that is neither overwhelmed by the burden of the past nor overawed by the glamour of the latest fashion. This healthy trend of the modern Indian literature should gain in strength with a growing realization that, in the republic of letters as in that of men, a sensitive and well-trained critical apparatus and its judicious and fearless exercise are a prerequisite of happy results.
In every branch or various sections of literature- be it fiction, drama, biography, poetry, drama, novels, short stories, literary criticism, Indian literature has a tremendous variety to offer. Nearly every major Indian language has a rich tradition of literature. Tales from the Puranas, the Jatakas and the Panchatantra folk tales, fairy tales and ghost stories have made India a vast storehouse of literature. Non-Literary work on a variety of themes like law, health, astronomy, grammar, administration also form a part of the Indian literary heritage. India has given birth to it's own distinct set of littérateurs and literature.
The earlier forms of Indian literature was religious. They include the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aryankas, the Upanishads, the Sanskrit Epics- Ramayana and Mahabharatha, the Brahmashastras, the mythological writings known as Puranas. The literature of this period are in Sanskrit Pali Prakrit. Sanskrit literature has a special place in our civilization. It extended from about 1400 BC to AD 1200 and reached its height in the period from the 1st to the 7th centuries AD. The two major epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha, Abhigyanashakuntalam, Meghadutam by Kalidasa, are the best examples. Later in the 14th century, Kabir Das, Surdas and Tulasidas, a poet of the common people were popular. Tulasidas's 'Rama-charita-manas' (1575) is considered as an immortal classic by all Hindus.
In the second half of the 16th century, books in Tamil and other Dravidian languages began to be printed. Many foreign missionaries learnt the languages of the people. They not only translated the Bible and wrote Christian Puranas but also rendered considerable service to the languages by compiling the first modern grammars and dictionaries. Although the printing-press came to south India much earlier and the foreign missionary enterprise functioned much longer and more zealously than in Bengal, the impact of Western learning as such was comparatively slow and the resurgence of literary activity bore fruit in its modern form much later than in Bengal.
It is interesting to note that Tamil Literature is supposed to be the least sanskritised among all Indian languages because, it had a classical tradition of its own. Urdu and Sindhi are other exceptions, having arisen out of an Islamic background. Mirza Ghalib's couplets, written around mid-19th century, Ghazals written by Amir Khusro etc are popular even today.
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.
The era of Indian modern literature began in the late nineteenth century. With the establishment of vernacular schools and the importation of the printing press, a great impetus was given to popular prose, with Bengali writers perhaps taking the lead. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand etc rank among the world's best literary figures. Tagore's own translation of 'Gitanjali' into English brought him international fame when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913. His 'Gora' is considered to be a very outstanding novel in Indian literature.
The modern Indian literature is the representation of each aspect of modern life. Happily, despite this clamour of sophistry, patriotic piety, and political bias, good literature continues to be written and, as it justifies itself, it helps to sharpen the reader’s sensibility. Since the time of Tagore a growing minority of intelligent critics well versed in the literary traditions of their own country and of the West have bravely maintained a more wholesome approach that is neither overwhelmed by the burden of the past nor overawed by the glamour of the latest fashion. This healthy trend of the modern Indian literature should gain in strength with a growing realization that, in the republic of letters as in that of men, a sensitive and well-trained critical apparatus and its judicious and fearless exercise are a prerequisite of happy results.
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