Writings of eight Indian authors in English, their potrayal of modern India and what their works suggest about the country form the crux of a new book by noted literary critic Bruce King.
"Rewriting India: Eight Writers" is a journey into the literary worlds of Arun Kolatkar, K N Daruwalla, Amit Chaudhuri, Pankaj Mishra, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Tabish Khair, Susan Visvanathan, and Jeet Thayil, who epitomise the thematic shifts Indian literature has undergone since Independence.
King emphasises the importance of place, personal experience, and social contexts to these and many prominent writers as well as recent Indian writing.
Responding to those who regard the literatures of the former colonies and dominions as continuing to write back against the British Empire, he explores how these modern Indian writers map the complexities and contradictions of a dynamic nation.
The book, published by Oxford University Press, examines writings of the eight authors after discussing what was unique about the modern Indian poets in English and their relationship to later prose writers.
"My generalisations are really conclusions that have come from reading the works of authors, and others. My main concern, however, is with the work of the eight authors rather than any specific theme, topic, or argument. This is not a history, it is mainly about the work of authors whose writing interests me and who, I feel, should interest the reader," says King.
The book begins with a chapter on Kolatkar, known for his poetic works "The Boatride", "Jejuri" and "Kala Ghoda Poems".
According to King, Kolatkar created a body of poetry that honours and enjoys the sceptical here and now as opposed to the dogmatic, idealising, and ideological.
"Kolatkar's poetry can be understood as a cultural statement that is also political. His is a poetry of reality, of places and people, of the variousness of life, of saying that the world is as it is, of colloquial language and the present, in contrast to the idealisation of traditions, their literature, ancient Indian languages, symbols of official Indian cultural nationalism, and the Hindu revivalist movement with its militant politics," he says.
