Critical Discourse in Odia

Part of the Critical Discourses in South Asia series, this volume brings together English translation of major writings dealing with literary criticism and theory, aesthetic and performative traditions, re-interpretations of primary concepts, categories and movements in Odia literature.

This volume forms part of the Critical Discourses in South Asia series, which deals with schools, movements and discursive practices in major South Asian languages. It offers crucial insights into the making of Odia literature and its critical tradition across a century. The book brings together English translation of major writings of influential figures dealing with literary criticism and theory, aesthetic and performative traditions, and re-interpretations of primary concepts and categories in Odia. It presents twenty-five key texts in literary and cultural studies from late-nineteenth century to early-twenty-first century, translated by experts for the first time into English. These seminal essays explore complex interconnections between socio-historical events in the colonial and post-Independence period in Odisha and the language movement. They discuss themes such as the evolving idea of literature and criteria of critical evaluation; revision and expansion of the literary canon; the transition from orality to print; emergence of new reading practices resulting in shifts in aesthetic sensibility; dialectics of tradition and modernity; and the formation, consolidation and political consequences of a language-based identity.

Comprehensive and authoritative, this volume offers an overview of the history of critical thought in Odia literature in South Asia. It will be essential for scholars and researchers of Odia language and literature, literary criticism, literary theory, comparative literature, Indian literature, cultural studies, art and aesthetics, performance studies, history, sociology, regional studies and South Asian studies. It will also interest the Odia-speaking diaspora and those working on the intellectual history of Odisha and Eastern India and conservation of language and culture.

Autorentext

Jatindra Kumar Nayak is former Professor of English, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. He is recipient of the Hutch-Crossword Book Award, 2004, and Katha Translation Award, 1997. He is a member of the English Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi. His English translations of classic Odia novels include Chandrasekhar Rath's Yantrarudha (Astride the Wheel, 2003), Fakir Mohan Senapati's Mamu (The Maternal Uncle, 2007) and J P Das's Desh Kal Patra (A Time Elsewhere, 2009). He has co-edited Reminiscences: Excerpts from Oriya and Bangla Autobiographies (2004) and Memory, Images, Imagination: An Anthology of Bangla and Odia Writings on Colonial Burma (2010).

Animesh Mohapatra teaches English literature at Delhi College of Arts & Commerce, University of Delhi, India. His research interests include literary history, modernity studies, translation and print culture. He has co-edited a selection of critical essays by eminent Odia critic Natabara Samantaray in English translation, which was published by Sahitya Akademi in 2017. He has recently contributed a chapter on Odia devotional songs to a volume titled Bonding with the Lord: Jagannath, Popular Culture and Community Formation (2020).

Inhalt

Introduction

1. Odia folktales

2. Village songs in Odia

3. Colophons of palm-leaf manuscripts in Odisha

4. Sudramuni Sarala Das: the author of Odia Mahabharata

5. Reflections on Sarala Das's Mahabharata: excerpts from Sree Bharata Darpan

6. The portrayal of women in Sarala Das's Mahabharata

7. Representations of the conflict between the city and the forest in Odia literature

8. An essay on Dinakrushna Das's Rasakallola

9. Baladeb Ratha and his experiments in poetry

10. Perso-Arabic influence on Odia literature

11. Michael Madhusudan Dutta and his Meghanadvadh Kavya

12. System of patronage and attribution of authorship in Colonial Odisha: the case of Gangadhar Meher

13. War of words: aspects of a literary controversy

14. The need for a literary periodical

15. Two Odia books: a review

16. Fakir Mohan Senapati's Mamu: a review

17. Literature and morality

18. Odia drama: a study of its social background

19. Accounting for literary change: a survey of modern Odia poetry

20. Netramani's diary

21. Rabindranath Tagore and modern Odia poetry

22. The commercial prospects of modern Odia literature

23. The poetry of Sachidananda Rautray

24. Odia literature: a historical enquiry

25. Literature and philosophy