1. Prepare a project on any three Indian writers/poets , their work and contribution in the field of English Literature:
Options : Kamala Das, Nissim Ezekiel,Mulk Raj Anand, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Girish Karnad, Raja Rao.
Answers
Answer:
Several terms Indo-Anglian Literature, Indian Writing in English, Indo-English Literature
and Indian English Literature have been used to denote original creative writings in English by
Indians. However the term Indo-Anglian Literature is more apt as it implies the historical origin of
such literature “as a product of fruitful encounter between Britain and India”. Thus Indo-Anglian
Literature may be defined as a literature originally written by Indians with the ability to express
themselves in English.
The term Indo-Anglian was first used by J.H.Cousins in 1883 to refer to the publication
“Specimen Compositions from Native students”, a collection of essays written by Indian students in
English and published in Calcutta. However, it was Professor K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar, who gave
the term ‘currency’ and ‘authenticity’ by giving the tittle ‘Indo-Anglian Literature’ to his first book on
the subject.
Indo-Anglian Literature excludes the works of English authors on Indian themes, like Edwin
Arnold, Rudyard Kipling, EM.Forster and M.M.Kaye. It further excludes translations from the several
Indian languages into English as they are not primarly written in English. V.K.Gokak observes that
Indo-Anglian writing is ‘direct and spontaneous’ and the Indo-Anglian writer uses English for ‘self
expression.’
English writings by Indians attracted public attention during the first quarter of the 19th
century. However, it finds its roots in the Renaissance among the Bengali elite during the last
quarter of the 18th century. This ‘awakening’ began with the introduction of English education by
the British in India. Private schools imparting English education were established in Cuddalore
(1717), Bombay (1718) and Calcutta (1720). India’s first newspaper “Hicky’s Bengal Gazette”
began publishing in 1780. The Calcutta Madrasa was established by Warren Hastings in 1871. Sir
William Jones, an eminent and enlightened Englishman, organised the Royal Asiatic Society of
Bengal in 1784, where the Indian classics were studied and discussed in depth by eminent
Englishmen John Wilson, Sir Edwin Arnold, and Sir William Hunter, to mention only a few, whose
writings about India generated great interest in England. Enchanted by the Indian classics and the
Sanskrit language, Sir Jones published English translations of Hindu classics like ‘Sakuntala’ and
‘Hitopadesa’. He also wrote several odes to Hindu deities and a verse tale based on a Mahabharata
story entitled “Enchanted Fruit”. Another, Englishman Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit
College at Benares. Two Englishmen David Hare and Sir Edward Hyde collaborated with Raja