Literature to Combat Cultural Chauvinism

Literature to Combat Cultural Chauvinism:
A Response

Shivani Jha

Introduction

In my response to Satya P. Mohanty’s interview, I am primarily interested in driving home the point that different Indian vernacular literatures need to be viewed and read as a part of Indian Literatures rather than as “Vernacular Literatures.“ Only then can the complexity, richness and variety that Indian society encompasses become apparent and at the same allow Indian literatures to become a part of World Literature. At the same time, it will allow students of literature to get a glimpse into the myriad hues of cultural and regional diversity that the world boasts of, rather than focusing on a few. But there are challenges, and the first part of my essay focuses on these challenges and how a united vision helps to overcome the same.

In the second part of the essay, I go on to discuss how different texts belonging to various languages of the Indian literary heritage should be read in order to depict similarities cutting across regional/national/international boundaries. I emphasize the role of the reader as critic, not of the text but of the reality that it portrays. Lastly, I underline the role of the author, who in presenting an imperfect reality aims at change, a change which is not possible without a critical reception by the reader. In the process of writing and interpreting, both the reader and writer function as social reformers.

Indian Literatures: Scope and Challenges

Chha Mana Atha Guntha (Six Acres and a Third) is a text that has through its innovative narrative style given Realism a new, distinct flavor. The omniscient narrator presents a discourse in which the reader becomes as much a part of the text as the narrator. It is at the reader’s discretion to understand the satire, humor, irony and parody implicit in the text and to form her own opinion about 19th century colonial India.

Satya P. Mohanty’s interview raises several thought provoking questions regarding the shape of Indian literatures, their current status and future. The idea driving the underlying discourse is that these literatures should look ahead of their (post)colonial status so as to integrate and become a part of the world literature, as opposed to falling into the narrow compartments of regional literatures. Every region of the world has its own richness in terms of social, religious and political history, which ought to be tapped in the best possible way to bring about the formation of meaning. This should be done in a manner that illuminates, ameliorates and at once displays the richness of the culture it belongs to. However, the path ahead is not as easy as it seems. There are challenges that need to be taken into account and addressed.

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