This book on Indian literature offers a critique of the aesthetics and politics of modernity as embodied in Indian bhasha literature of the past two centuries. It discusses the complex ways in which the bhasha imagination, even as it reshaped the history of colonial modernity, simultaneously allowed itself to be shaped by it in turn.

Modernism when viewed through the spectacles of Marxian aesthetics emerges as a problematic artistic movement, especially when placed within the context of social structures that define the cultural practices at any given point in time. The much discussed debate within the Marxist canon regarding the dialectic relationship between society and art in the context of modernism had stalwarts of Marxist criticism deliberating this relationship between art and society. From Europe, modernism spread to other parts of the world, including India where it captured the imagination of the writers of regional languages as well. In Kerala, with its staunch Marxian perspectives and its supporters including a faithful political network of leaders and followers, modernism invited heated debates of a similar nature. A debate was triggered off challenging the ideological frameworks of modernist aesthetics with a large part of the intelligentsia actively participating in it. Kerala Kaumudi magazine published these arguments as a series, leading to further discussions in the cultural and political discourses that shaped the sensibility of the times. This book is an attempt to explore this relationship with these debates and discussions as referral points. To substantiate the arguments, four texts that emerged as iconic texts are studied - O V Vijayan's The Legends of Khasak (1969)and The Saga of Dharmapuri (1985)and M Mukundan's On the Banks of Mayyazhi (1974) and God's Mischief (1989).

Authors, Texts, Issues By The Author Of The Highly Acclaimed Indian Literature: Positions And Propositions Brings Together Ten Essays Concerning Major Aspects Of Indian Literature. The Essays In The First Part Examine Some Of The Specific Anxieties Of Contemporary Indian Poetry In The Context Of Nation And Region, The Democratizing And Modernizing Forces And Processes In Post-Independence Indian Literature, And The Concept Of The Diaspora In The Context Of Indian Writing. The Essays In The Second Part Look At Some Specific Authors From Fresh Perspectives: Sarojini Naidu Is Re-Evaluated As An Indian Poet Sharing The Bhasha Traditions; Saratchandra Chatterjee Is Looked At From The Point Of View Of His Reception In Different Languages, And Sarala Dasa'S Mahabharata Is Examined For Its Subaltern Elements. The Third Part Looks At The Social Dynamics And Poetics Of Bhakti, The State Of Autobiography As A Genre, The Theoretical Status Of The Concept Of Orientalism Today, And The Activity Of Translation From An Indian Perspective. The Book Is Essential Reading For Academics Dealing With Indian Literature, Students, Researchers And Readers Broadly Interested In The Issues Of Indian Literature And Culture.

This volume, published in association with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is a commemorative work on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary year of India's independence. It presents a comprehensive picture of the developments in different aspects of national life over the past half century.