Indian writing in English is a new form of Indian culture. It is "one of the voices in which India speaks...it is a new voice, no doubt, but it is as much Indian as the others" (Iyengar). An accident in history brought India in contact with the English language and today it has been assimilated as a dynamic element of the Indian culture. During the 150 years of India’s association with the British Empire – India has marched to nationhood and Independence, and English language has become a part of the Indian soil and the breeze. The linguistic center of English has shifted and English no longer only represents the Judeo-Christian traditions and Western concepts of literary creativity. The ranges of English have expanded with the formation of varieties within a variety - Indian English being one of them. It is no more English or American than it is Indian today. As has been pointed out by Iyengar: ‘We have …reached the point where we are able to see Indian writing in English as a distinctive literature – a tree that has sprung up from hospitable soil from a seed that a random breeze had brought from afar.’ (Iyengar; Sterling: India, 2005).
Presently Indian Writing in English is much more than just a curious native explosion, a minor tributary of the parent English river. Undoubtedly all Indian writing has been greatly influenced by writing in England – India too has had its own Romantics, Victorians, Georgians and Modernists. But in its own way Indian English Literature too has contributed to the common pool of world writing. While Indian writers have been making significant contributions to world literature since Independence, the past five years have seen a massive flourishing of Indian fiction in the international market. Not only are the works of Indian authors soaring on the best-seller list, they are also receiving a great deal of critical acclaim. Starting from Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Toru Dutt to Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Allan Sealy, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Arundhati Roy,Vikram Chandra … the parade of fine Indian writers is long and lengthening. Today the empire is writing back.
Indians have conquered English literature. It no longer needs to explain itself to a foreign readership, to provide glossaries for native words and explanations for the sub continental oddities of life. Nor does it cower and apologize to an Indian readership for using English. Indian writing in English has evolved and grown over the ages and now from a little sapling … it has become a strong tree rooted deeply in the Indian soil – drawing its breath from India and spreading its fragrance all over the world.
Presently Indian Writing in English is much more than just a curious native explosion, a minor tributary of the parent English river. Undoubtedly all Indian writing has been greatly influenced by writing in England – India too has had its own Romantics, Victorians, Georgians and Modernists. But in its own way Indian English Literature too has contributed to the common pool of world writing. While Indian writers have been making significant contributions to world literature since Independence, the past five years have seen a massive flourishing of Indian fiction in the international market. Not only are the works of Indian authors soaring on the best-seller list, they are also receiving a great deal of critical acclaim. Starting from Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Toru Dutt to Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Allan Sealy, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Arundhati Roy,Vikram Chandra … the parade of fine Indian writers is long and lengthening. Today the empire is writing back.
Indians have conquered English literature. It no longer needs to explain itself to a foreign readership, to provide glossaries for native words and explanations for the sub continental oddities of life. Nor does it cower and apologize to an Indian readership for using English. Indian writing in English has evolved and grown over the ages and now from a little sapling … it has become a strong tree rooted deeply in the Indian soil – drawing its breath from India and spreading its fragrance all over the world.
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