Indian Literature

The Indian literature would be oldest in the world. The India officially cash 17 Language S, a great quantity of works was produced, in these various languages, with the wire of time. The forms oral and written are as important one as the other.

The traditional literature Hindu holds a great place in the Indian culture. Thus, except the Veda which are texts crowned as much as a corpus of knowledge, India produced epopees like the Râmâyana or the Mahâbhârata , of the treaties of Architecture like the Vaastuśhâstra or even of the treaties of political science like the Arthaśhâstra .

The Hindu Theater dévotionnel, the Poetry and the songs are found in all the Indian sub-continent. Among the most famous works, one counts those of Kâlidâsa, poet and playwright of the end of the 4th century, or Tulsî Dâs, poet and philosopher of the 16th century, author of the Râmcharitmânas , an epopee with the glory of Râma.

One will note the existence continues of a traditional literature, made up in one of the traditional languages of India (Sanskrit, tamoul traditional, etc), preserved and transmitted through several centuries (or several millenia), generally within the framework of a situation of Diglossie where an erudite language and a vernacular language coexist.

One can distinguish several Indian literatures:

Literature in Sanskrit

The most famous works are Hindu texts crowned (Veda, the Upanishad , the Mânavadharmaśhâstra ) but also of great epopees (the Râmâyana and the Mahâbhârata ).

It is the grammairien Pânini which fixed, in its treaty entitled Ashthâdhyâyî , the phonology and, phonetics grammatical rules of the Sanskrit, and this, before the beginning of the Christian era.

Kâlidâsa, considered as the Shakespeare of the Sanskrit, wrote very famous parts like Râghuvamśha or Shâkuntalâ .

One can also quote works of the playwrights Shûdraka ( Mrichhakatikâ ), Bhâsa ( Pancharâtra , Pratimânâtaka , Svapnavâ-savadattâ ) and of the king Harshavardhana ( Ratnâvalî ). Other famous works were also written in Sanskrit like the Kâmasûtra of Vâtsyâyana, the treaties on the art of the policy ( Chânakyanîtishâstra , Vriddhachânakya …) of Chânakya or a famous treaty of hippology ( Ashvavaidyaka ) of Jayadatta.

Literature in Prâkrit

The most famous prâkrit is the pāli in which many works such as philosophical or religious writings were written, in particular Buddhist, poetry or of the treaties of grammar.

It should however be noted that the suttas (word are equivalent to the Sanskrit Sûtra ) of the gun pāli of Buddhism are not literary works as we hear them aujourd'hui ; these suttas is indeed speeches which were transmitted in oral form during several hundred years before being lying on paper (see also the article on the Textes of Buddhism).

Literature in traditional Tamoul

The tamoul is regarded (after the Sanskrit) as the second traditional language of India. The government of India comes besides, in 2004, to grant to him the official statute of “Classical Language”. Some affirm that the literature tamoule is old of more than 2500 years, but the only things which can be dated with precision are the epigraphic traces . It is also often marked that the oldest work is a treaty of Grammar and Poetic, the Tolkāppiyam (allotted to Tolkāppiyaār), but it is possible that Tolkāppiyam such as we have it today is the result of a process of accretion, where parts composed by distinct authors would have been gathered by an ultimate writer.

The golden age of this literature, and in particular poetry, are probably between IE and IVe century but few things is known in an unquestionable way. A legendary account of character, which is in the introduction of the comment on the Kaaviyal ea Iaiyaār Akapporu , explains why the poets met in academies called cakam (to pronounce “sangam”). This is why one indicates often today the traditional literature tamoule by the name of “Littérature of Sangam”. The texts which compose it are of inspiration not-nun for the majority. They were joined together in anthologies on a badly given date. These anthologies have gathered they-even in a super-anthology , which is called Had Tokay “the Eight Collections”. In the same way, one can also quote of other regroupings of works like the Pattup Pāu “Ten (long) Songs” and the Patie Kīkkaakku , a collection of 18 works of which most famous is the Kua .

It is only as from the 6th century that the literature took as a starting point the religion, in particular through the worships of Shiva or of Vishnou.

See: traditional Literature tamoule

Literature in modern Tamoul

One generally makes begin the modern literature tamoule at the XIXe century. One of the conditions which made it possible was the free use of the printing works which until had been used there only by the missionaries and the colonial government.

Whereas the traditional literature (in fact if not in intention) was reserved for an elite well-read man, could be included/understood only thanks to one special drive and functioned in a system of Diglossie, the modern literature could undoubtedly be characterized by the fact that it aimed at a different public, much vaster, although it during very a long time used exclusively the formal tamoul. The XXe century will first of all see the appearance of the tamoul spoken (dialectal or standard) in the dialogs and sometimes in the narration.

See: modern Literature tamoule

Literature in Hindi

See detailed article: Literature Hindi

Traditional literature

The literature in Hindi is abundant as of the 11th century, although the language is yet only one dialect. The first literary text considered as important is the Prithirâj Râsau , written by Chand Bardâî at the 12th century. It is necessary to wait the 15th century so that the language is fixed, in particular by works of the philosophers Kabîr or Râmânanda.

Modern literature

Chhâyâvâd

The modern literature, as for it, knew various movements like the Chhâyâvâda - school known as " ombriste" - indicating poetry Symbolist of the Years 1920 and 30

Pragativâd

The Pragativâda, or school of the progressists, influenced by the social Realism of Marxist inspiration , is born at the end of the Thirties. The writers of this movement, strongly impregnated of the gandhien spirit, describe rural realities of their time without any kindness. The setting in light of the exploitation of the country classes, the denunciation of their work condition are the subject of long descriptions. The writers progressists meet for the first time at Lucknow in 1936. This congress is directed by the famous novelist Premcand. To denounce the social injustices of rural India becomes the explicit goal of this new generation of writers.

Prayogvâd

The school experimentalist or in Hindi " Prayogvâd ", founded by Agyeya, goes to discovered from the Existentialisme of Sartre and Camus.

Naî kavîtâ

The movement of the " Nai kavita" (New poetry) is born under the banner from the poet, short story writer and novelist Agyeya with the publication into 1943 of a compilation of texts of 7 young new poets, the " Tar saptak" (or higher octave), which preaches together a rupture of the esthetic codes and sets of themes traditional. The movement is inspired at the same time by the formal innovations instituted by poet T.S. Eliot and by the claims " individuelles" movement of the experimentalism (Prayogvâd). The poets most representative of the movement are Agyeya, Kedarnath Singh, Kunwar Narayan, Muktibodh and S.D. Saxena.

Naî kahânî

In the Fifties, the innovative movement of the Naî Kahânî, literally the " news nouvelle" , bénificie of a considerable impact in the literary field. One of the most important figure of this movement is celebrates it novelist, short story writer and playwright Mohan Rakesh.

Literature in Bengali

It is around the 10th century that the first works in Bengali were written, primarily of the texts of religious inspiration, like the Gîta Govinda . XIIe in XIVe century, the Moslem occupation carries a crushing argument to literary creation. But as from the 14th century, whereas the Sanskrit is the language of the religious writings, the Bengali become the language of knowledge, with authors like Krittibâs, Mâlâdhara Basu or Khâshirâm Dâs.

At the 17th century, the literature takes as a starting point the folklore and of the local divinities and the poems ( bânchâli ) are sung by bards itinerants, the Bâul S.

Lastly, British colonization will have an unquestionable influence on the Bengali literature which will become more “committed”, with in particular Rabîndranâth Tagore which receives the Nobel Prize of literature in 1913.

Literature in Urdu

The literature into Urdu is especially known for its poetry, and in particular the form of the Ghazal, commune with the Persan and the Arab .

One allots to Mullâ Vajhî the first poetic text written into Urdu at the XVIIe century ( Sab Ras ). At the XVIIIe century, many poets made the admiration of the courses mogholes with the center which the Urdu one was largely widespread.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of the Moslem writers of the north of India wrote into Urdu.

Literature in Panjâbî

It is only about the middle of XVIe century that a literature panjâbî appears, primarily nun. These texts, often written in the form of questions/answers, are called Janamsâkhî and are, for the majority, of the biographies of the gurû Nanak intended for many people.

With the passing of years, the writers panjâbî forsook the religious subjects to devote themselves to the narration of epopees sikhs, warlike accounts, fables and tales.

Literature in marathî

The literature marathî is known since XIIe century, in particular by works of the poets Toukaram, Nâmdev and Dnyaneshwar. It is especially famous for its warlike ballades ( pawada ) and its historical accounts ( bakhar ).

Other literatures in vernacular languages or other languages out of the Indies

Writers born of ascending Indians, in addition to the anglophone sphere, gave the works recognized in French language.

The originality of this writing born out of the Indies comes owing to the fact that new topics made their appearance, especially in the treatment from the sea, considered as spaces new creations, whereas as a Kala pani, water black, in the former Indian texts, she is regarded as taboo, therefore in charge of a negative symbolic system. Authors such as Khal Torabully, Natacha Appanah, Ananda Devi, Amal Sewtohul, Shenaz Patel or Umar Timol do not hesitate to register new mythological references, new linguistic forms and singular accounts in their texts.

Modern literature in English

At the XXe century, many Indian writers were characterized by their accounts from fiction in English language.

One can quote Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan, Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Rajah Rao, Khushwant Singh, Amitav Ghosh, Rohinton Mistry, Vikram Chandra, Mukul Kesavan, Shashi Tharoor, Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anita Nair or Bharati Mukherjee and Abha Dawesar

Modern literature in French

Authors of parents of Indian origin have, these two last decades, built an original work in the language of Molière. One can quote:

Khal Torabully

Natacha Appanah

Amal Sewtohul

Ananda Devi

Umar Timol

Yusuf Kadel

Issop Banian

Firmin Lacpatia

See too

Internal bond

List of the Indian writers

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