Wandering Writers in the Himalaya: Contesting Narratives and Renunciation in Modern Hindi Literature

Details

Ressource 1Download: BIB_4C6B76A94F47.P001.pdf (1350.61 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_4C6B76A94F47
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Wandering Writers in the Himalaya: Contesting Narratives and Renunciation in Modern Hindi Literature
Journal
Cracow Indological Studies
Author(s)
Pozza Nicola
ISSN
1732-0917
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2015
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
XVII
Pages
49-84
Language
english
Abstract
The Himalayan setting-especially present-day Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand-has fascinated many a writer in India. Journeys, wanderings, and sojourns in the Himalaya by Hindi authors have resulted in many travelogues, as well as in some emblematic short stories of modern Hindi literature. If the environment of the Himalaya and its hill stations has inspired the plot of several fictional writings, the description of the life and traditions of its inhabitants has not been the main focus of these stories. Rather, the Himalayan setting has primarily been used as a narrative device to explore and contest the relationship between the mountain world and the intrusive presence of the external world (primarily British colonialism, but also patriarchal Hindu society). Moreover, and despite the anti-conformist approach of the writers selected for this paper (Agyeya, Mohan Rakesh, Nirmal Verma and Krishna Sobti), what mainly emerges from an analysis of their stories is that the Himalayan setting, no matter the way it is described, remains first and foremost a lasting topos for
renunciation and liberation.
Keywords
Himalaya, Hindi, fiction, wandering, colonialism, modernity, renunciation, Agyeya, Nirmal Verma, Mohan Rakesh, Krishna Sobti
Create date
01/06/2016 13:13
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:00
Usage data