Indian English Literature: Changing Trends and History
INTRODUCTION
Indian English novels refer to the various novels 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, such as V. S. Naipaul, Kiran Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri and Salman Rushdie, who are of Indian descent. It is frequently referred to as Indo-Anglian literature. As a category, this production comes under the broader realm of postcolonial literature-the production from previously colonised countries such as India.
With the arrival of the British in India and the spread of English language through education, was born and since its birth had been blooming and changing with time. Most of Indian English writers are bi-lingual, some equally proficient in English and the mother tongue, and some more in one than in the other. The background and the situations are usually Indian but the characters may often be drawn from bilingual milieus. Expressing the heartbeats of one culture in the language of another poses its own problems and it is doubtless that there is an inner urge to render in English the rhythms, images, idioms and proverbs of the local speech. Thus one of the most outstanding and interesting characteristics of Indian writing in English is that the background is Indian and the language though foreign has adopted itself to the needs of the Indians. Today Indian English as well as Indian writing in English has got its own identity and charm.
HISTORY
Indian English novels have 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. Early Indian writers used English unadulterated by Indian words to convey an experience which was essentially Indian. Raja Rao 's Kanthapura in terms of its storytelling qualities was
Indian English novels refer to the various novels 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, such as V. S. Naipaul, Kiran Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri and Salman Rushdie, who are of Indian descent. It is frequently referred to as Indo-Anglian literature. As a category, this production comes under the broader realm of postcolonial literature-the production from previously colonised countries such as India.
With the arrival of the British in India and the spread of English language through education, was born and since its birth had been blooming and changing with time. Most of Indian English writers are bi-lingual, some equally proficient in English and the mother tongue, and some more in one than in the other. The background and the situations are usually Indian but the characters may often be drawn from bilingual milieus. Expressing the heartbeats of one culture in the language of another poses its own problems and it is doubtless that there is an inner urge to render in English the rhythms, images, idioms and proverbs of the local speech. Thus one of the most outstanding and interesting characteristics of Indian writing in English is that the background is Indian and the language though foreign has adopted itself to the needs of the Indians. Today Indian English as well as Indian writing in English has got its own identity and charm.
HISTORY
Indian English novels have 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. Early Indian writers used English unadulterated by Indian words to convey an experience which was essentially Indian. Raja Rao 's Kanthapura in terms of its storytelling qualities was
Bibliography: * http://www.virtualsalt.com/lit/noveltyp.htm * http://revel.unice.fr/cycnos/index.html?id=1081 * Williams, H.M., Indo Anglian Literature 1800-1970, (Orient Longman eBooks, 1976) p.90 * http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/4414-tracking-the boom.html * http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16139580.html