UGC NET ENGLISH UNIT 6 English in India - Indian English Literature

Indian English Literature
UGC NET English Visual Guide

📌 Indian Writing in English at a Glance

Period	Characteristics	Major Authors
Early Phase (1850s-1947)	Imitative, colonial mindset, reformist themes	Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Toru Dutt, Sri Aurobindo
Post-Independence (1947-1980)	Search for identity, realism, social issues	R.K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Anita Desai
Contemporary (1980-present)	Global recognition, magical realism, diaspora	Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh

📜 Historical Timeline

1850s

Beginnings

Raja Ram Mohan Roy's English works; Henry Derozio's poetry

1876

First Indian Novel in English

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's "Rajmohan's Wife"

1930s

Gandhian Influence

Mulk Raj Anand's "Untouchable" (1935); Raja Rao's "Kanthapura" (1938)

1947

Post-Independence Era

R.K. Narayan's Malgudi novels; Nirad C. Chaudhuri's "Autobiography of an Unknown Indian"

1981

Midnight's Children

Salman Rushdie's Booker-winning novel marks new era

1997

Global Recognition

Arundhati Roy wins Booker for "The God of Small Things"

💡 Core Concept: Indian Aesthetics in English

How Indian writers adapted English to express Indian realities:

Feature	Description	Example
Indianisms	Local idioms and expressions in English	"What is your good name?"
Mythic Framework	Use of Indian epics and folklore	Raja Rao's use of Puranic style
Social Realism	Depiction of caste, poverty, rural life	Mulk Raj Anand's "Untouchable"
Linguistic Hybridity	Code-mixing and translation effects	Salman Rushdie's "chutnification of language"

📚 Major Authors & Works

R.K. Narayan (1906-2001)

Style: Simple prose, gentle irony, Malgudi universe

Work	Year	Significance
Swami and Friends	1935	First Malgudi novel; childhood in small-town India
The Guide	1958	Won Sahitya Akademi Award; spiritual journey theme
Malgudi Days	1943	Short stories capturing Indian middle-class life

"The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves."

- R.K. Narayan, The Guide

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)

Style: Magical realism, historical metafiction, linguistic play

Work	Year	Significance
Midnight's Children	1981	Booker Prize; allegory of postcolonial India
The Satanic Verses	1988	Controversial; led to fatwa against author
Haroun and the Sea of Stories	1990	Children's fable about storytelling

Rushdie's Contributions

• Pioneered "chutnification" of English - hybrid language mixing Indian and Western elements
• Blended history and fantasy in "Midnight's Children"
• Addressed migrant experience and cultural dislocation

Arundhati Roy (b. 1961)

Style: Lyrical prose, non-linear narratives, political themes

The God of Small Things (1997)

• Booker Prize-winning debut novel
• Set in Kerala; explores caste, love laws, childhood trauma
• Innovative language: "He was a viable die-able age"
• Non-chronological narrative structure

Non-fiction Works:

• The Algebra of Infinite Justice (2002) - Political essays
• Capitalism: A Ghost Story (2014) - Critique of neoliberalism

🎭 Literary Genres

Fiction

• Social Realism: Mulk Raj Anand, Kamala Markandaya
• Magical Realism: Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh
• Historical Fiction: Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy
• Diaspora Literature: Jhumpa Lahiri, Bharati Mukherjee
• Detective Fiction: Upamanyu Chatterjee

Poetry

• Early Poets: Toru Dutt, Sarojini Naidu
• Modernists: Nissim Ezekiel, A.K. Ramanujan
• Contemporary: Dom Moraes, Jayanta Mahapatra
• Themes: Cultural hybridity, urban alienation

Drama

• Girish Karnad's Tughlaq
• Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions
• Vijay Tendulkar's English translations

🎯 UGC NET Exam Tips

Question Type	How to Approach	Example
Author Identification	Recognize style and themes	"Which author created Malgudi?" (R.K. Narayan)
Thematic Analysis	Link works to postcolonial theory	"How does Midnight's Children represent history?"
Period Classification	Associate works with literary phases	"Is Untouchable pre- or post-independence?" (1935)

📌 Key Literary Movements

Movement	Characteristics	Representative Authors
Indian Renaissance	Reformist, nationalist themes	Bankim Chandra, Tagore (English works)
Progressive Writers	Socialist realism, anti-imperialism	Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao
Postmodern Indian	Metafiction, magical realism	Salman Rushdie, Vikram Chandra
Diaspora Writing	Migrant experience, cultural memory	Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Divakaruni

🔗 Connecting Themes for UGC NET

This topic links to:

• Postcolonial Theory - Hybridity, mimicry, subaltern
• World Literature - Global reception of Indian English works
• Cultural Studies - Representation of caste, gender
• Literary Criticism - Reception of Indian English literature