About the basics of Indian Writing in English

1. INDIANWRITING IN ENGLISH
COURSE CODE -UEN2115

2. K R SRINIVASA IYENGAR
The person who coined the term Indian Writing
in English.
Kodaganallur Ramaswami Srinivasa Iyengar
(1908–1999) Indian writer in English, former
vice-chancellor of Andhra University. He was
given the prestigious Sahitya Akademi
Fellowship in 1985.

3. • E. F. Oaten -essay on Anglo- Indian Literature- later published it as a book-the Cambridge History of English
Literature -confined himself to the writing of Englishmen in India on Indian themes.
• Professor P. Seshadri gave a lecture at the Osmania University on Anglo-Indian Poetry-included both English
writers on Indian subjects and Indian writing in English; so did Dr. Bhupal Singh in his Anglo-Indian Fiction .
• The term-Anglo- Indian literature?

4. SOME OTHER NAMES!
• Anglo Indian Literature
• Indo Anglican Literature
• Indian English literature
• IndianWriting in English

5. WHY INDIANWRITING IN ENGLISH?
• it is in literature that the heart-beats of a nation are heard, and it is through the medium of a commonly
inspired and shared literature that we can exchange pulses as it were, and realize that, while the differences
are on the surface, the sense of unity flows.
• Indian writing in English is Indian literature, even as the work of aThoreau or a Hemingway is American
literature. But Indian literature comprises several literatures — Indian writing in English is but one of the voices
in which India speaks.
• It is a new voice, no doubt, but it is as much Indian as the others.

6. • English education was introduced in India in the 19thcentury. English education was made available to
vast Indian community. By introducing English education, Britishers wanted to create and maintain a class
of administration officers, clerks, and civil servants to govern this huge country properly.
• According to K. R. S. Iyenger, there are three types of Indian writers in English.
• “First, those who have acquired their entire education in English schools and universities.
• Second, Indians who have settled abroad, but are constantly in touch with the changing surroundings and traditions
of their country of adoption.
• And finally, Indians who have acquired English as a second language.”

7. • One can notice ‘Indianness’ in Indian Writing in English. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar has rightly commented in this
regard:
• “What makes Indo-Anglian literature an Indian literature And not just a ramshackle outhouse of English
literature Is the quality of its ‘Indianness’ in the choice of its subjects, In the texture of thought and play of
sentiment, in the Organisation of material and in the creative use of language.”

8. • IndianWriting in English has witnessed few controversies in its evolvement. It has to prove itself on the
grounds of superiority and inferiority compared to literature produced in other Indian languages.
• It has also witnessed accusations of being superficial, imitative, shallow etc.
• IndianWriters in English have also been criticized of being not real socio-cultural ambassadors of India.
They have been said to get themselves uprooted from the authentic Indian sense.
• The new generation of IndianWriters in English has handled the wide range of themes and the subject
matters. Shashi Deshpande, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Arvind Adiga, Chetan Bhagat and Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni have written on variety of themes.
• For these writers English is a medium of expression of their creative urge, through which they can reach to the
international readers.

9. IWE
Prof. M. K. Naik remarks “one of the
most notable gifts of English
education to India is prose fiction for
though India was probably a fountain
head of story-telling, the novel as we
know today was an importation from
the west”.

10. COURSE OUTCOMES
Classify the major
genres in Indian
Writing in
English.
Analyze and
appreciate the
unique features
of IndianWriting
in English.
Evaluate the
nationalistic and
postcolonial
aspects of Indian
Writing in English
Evaluate the
major class/caste
issues in the
context of Indian
Literature.
Analyze the use
of myth in Indian
Writing in English
and its
contemporary
relevance.

11. SYLLABUS
Module 1 Poetry (25 hours)
Sarojini Naidu: Love and Death
Keki N. Daruwalla: Pestilence in Nineteenth Century Calcutta
Nissim Ezekiel: A Farewell Party to Ms. PushpaT S
Jayanta Mahapatra: Hunger
Kamala Das: An Introduction
MeenaKandasamy: Amnesia
HarindranathChattopadhyaya: Shaper Shaped

12. Module 2: ESSAYS (5 hours)
Jawaharlal Nehru: ―ATryst with Destiny
Khushwant Singh: ―Resolution and Independence
Module 3: FICTION (20 hours)
Mulk Raj Anand: A Pair of Mustachios
Jhumpa Lahiri: Interpreter of Maladies
R K Narayan : Swami and Friends
Ruskin Bond:TheThief

13. Module 4: Novel (20 hours)
Rohinton Mistry:A Fine Balance
Module 5: Drama (20 hours)
Girish Karnad:Yayati