Development of the Indian English Novel
By Indian English Writing, we mean that body of literature which is written by Indians in English. It could be in the form of poetry, prose, fiction or drama. English is not our mother tongue and we are not native speakers of
English, yet when in the early decades of the nineteenth century, English was introduced as the medium of instruction in our educational system, Indians were able to read Western literature that was available in English. They found the language and the literature versatile and some intellectuals took to conveying their social and religious thoughts in this language. The writings of people like Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and others started pouring in and gave rise to a body of prose literature having great socio-cultural relevance. Soon poets like Romesh Chandra Dutt, Toru
Dutt and many others took to writing poetry in English. But this literature was highly influenced by the style and content of English literature. When Sarojini
Naidiu wrote poetry while in England and showed it to Sir Edmund Gosse, he advised her to write about her own culture/country so that the outsiders would also come to know of India.
When Indians started using the English language creatively there were critics who felt that since English was not our native tongue, this writing did "not belong to the soil." But, scholars like K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar and C.D.
Narasimhaiah spotted great potential in it. Iyenger's books Indo-Angliun
Literature, (1943) and The Indian Contribution to English Literature, (1945) gave credibility to Indian writing in English. His Indian Writing in English
(1962) was the first comprehensive history of this literature. C.D.
Narasimhaiah categorically stated in his The Swan and the Eagle (1969), "Indian writing in English is to me primarily part of the literature of India." General Introduction
According to
English, yet when in the early decades of the nineteenth century, English was introduced as the medium of instruction in our educational system, Indians were able to read Western literature that was available in English. They found the language and the literature versatile and some intellectuals took to conveying their social and religious thoughts in this language. The writings of people like Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and others started pouring in and gave rise to a body of prose literature having great socio-cultural relevance. Soon poets like Romesh Chandra Dutt, Toru
Dutt and many others took to writing poetry in English. But this literature was highly influenced by the style and content of English literature. When Sarojini
Naidiu wrote poetry while in England and showed it to Sir Edmund Gosse, he advised her to write about her own culture/country so that the outsiders would also come to know of India.
When Indians started using the English language creatively there were critics who felt that since English was not our native tongue, this writing did "not belong to the soil." But, scholars like K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar and C.D.
Narasimhaiah spotted great potential in it. Iyenger's books Indo-Angliun
Literature, (1943) and The Indian Contribution to English Literature, (1945) gave credibility to Indian writing in English. His Indian Writing in English
(1962) was the first comprehensive history of this literature. C.D.
Narasimhaiah categorically stated in his The Swan and the Eagle (1969), "Indian writing in English is to me primarily part of the literature of India." General Introduction
According to