Handbook of Twentieth-Century Literatures of India

Nalini Natarajan

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Year: 1996
• Print ISBN: 9780313287787
• eBook ISBN: 9780313032677
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

India has a rich literary assemblage produced by its many different regional traditions, religious faiths, ethnic subcultures and linguistic groups. The published literature of the 20th century is a particularly interesting subject and is the focus of this book, as it represents the provocative conjuncture of the transitions of Indian modernity. This reference book surveys the major regional literatures of contemporary India in the context of the country's diversity and heterogeneity. Chapters are devoted to particular regions, and the arrangement of the work invites comparisons of literary traditions. Chapters provide extensive bibliographies of primary works, thus documenting the creative achievement of numerous contemporary Indian authors. Some chapters cite secondary works as well, and the volume concludes with a list of general works providing further information. An introductory essay overviews theoretical concerns, ideological and aesthetic considerations, developments in various genres, and the history of publishing in regional literatures. The introduction provides a context for approaching the chapters that follow, each of which is devoted to the literature of a particular region. Each chapter begins with a concise introductory section. The body of each chapter is structured according to social and historical events, literary forms, or broad descriptive or analytic trends, depending on the particular subject matter. Each chapter then closes with an extensive bibliography of primary works, thus documenting the rich literary tradition of the region. Some chapters also cite secondary sources as an aid to the reader. The final chapters of the book address special topics, such as sub-cultural literatures, or the interplay between literature and film. A list of additional sources of general information concludes the volume.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Regional Literatures of India—Paradigms and Contexts Nalini Natarajan
• 1. Twentieth-Century Assamese Literature Mahasveta Barua
• 2. Twentieth-Century Bengali Literature Sudipto Chatterjee and Hasan Ferdous
• 3. Twentieth-Century Indian Literature in English Alpana Sharma Knippling
• 4. Twentieth-Century Gujarati Literature Sarala Jag Mohan
• 5. Twentieth-Century Hindi Literature Nandi Bhatia
• 6. Twentieth-Century Kannada Literature Ramachandra Deva
• 7. Twentieth-Century Malayalam Literature Thomas Palakeel
• 8. Twentieth-Century Marathi Literature Shripad D. Deo
• 9. Twentieth-Century Panjabi Literature Atamjit Singh
• 10. Twentieth-Century Tamil Literature P. S. Sri
• 11. Twentieth-Century Telugu Literature G. K. Subbarayudu and C. Vijayasree
• 12. Twentieth-Century Urdu Literature Omar Qureshi
• 13. Dalit Literature in Marathi Veena Deo
• 14. Parsi Literature in English C. Vijayasree
• 15. Sanskrit Poetics Arasu Balan
• 16. Perspectives on Bengali Film and Literature Mitali Pati and Suranjan Ganguly
• Selected General Critical Bibliography
• Index
• About the Contributors