Abstract
If, as the poststructuralists argue, the real cannot be accessed except through texts, then realism, in the sense of an engagement with a mind-independent world, and textuality would appear to be at odds with each other. Such an opposition would, however, be a false one, and it is bred by an outmoded positivist epistemology. The “what” of the narrative, its thematic purpose as well as its wider philosophical and social vision, cannot be narrowly tied to its verbal construction. Granted, the world comes to us in the shape of stories, but I wish to show how some stories write the world in a more realistic way than others precisely by providing a better “epistemic access”1 to it. This access is, of course, theory mediated and not innocent. The present chapter, concerned with a realist auditing of fiction, will attempt to demonstrate its thesis by reading Fakir Mohan Senapati and Prem-chand from a comparative perspective. Further, it will seek, through this comparative reading, to unravel the differentiation within the tradition of Indian literary realism to which both the authors owe their allegiance.2 The texts of choice for this enterprise are bound to be Senapati’s Chha Mana Atha Guntha3 (1897–99) and Premchand’s Godaan4 (1936), these being not only the representative novels of the two writers but also the best known exemplars of social realism in the Indian context.5
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Anjaria, Ulka. “Six Acres and a Third—Satire, Literary Realism and the Indian State: Six Acres and a Third and Raag Darbari.” Economic and Political Weekly 41, no. 46 (2006): 4795–4800.
Das, Sisir Kumar. A History of Indian Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1991.
Dash, Gaganendra Nath. “Rediscovering Ramachandra Mangaraj and Historicizing Senapati’s Critique of Colonialism.” In Colonialism, Modernity, and Literature: A View from India, edited by Satya P. Mohanty. New York: Palgrave, 2011.
Day, Lal Behari. Bengal Peasant Life. London: Macmillan and Co., 1920.
Dev, Amiya. “Reading Chha Mana Atha Guntha” In Fakir Mohan Senapati, Perspectives on His Fiction, edited by Jatindra K. Nayak. Jagatsinghpur, India: Prafulla Pathagara Publications, 2004.
Gupta, Dipankar. Mistaken Modernity: India between Worlds. New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000.
Jandl, Thomas. “Review Essay: The Gift of a Cow, A Translation of the Classic Hindi Novel Godaan by Premchand.” Yale Journal of International Affairs 1, no. 1 (Summer/Fall 2005): 201–3.
Kahn, Arthur D., and Georg Lukács, eds. Writer and Critic: And Other Essays. iUniverse, Inc., 2005.
Kumar, Akhshya. “A Close Look at the ‘Godaan’ Man.” Spectrum Tribune (August 13, 2000). http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000813/spectrum/books.htm.
Lodge, David. Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader. London: Longman, 1988.
Menon, O. Chandu. Indulekha. Translated by Anitha Devasia. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Mohanty, Satya P. “The Dynamics of Literary Reference: Narrative Discourse and Social Ideology in Two 19th Century Indian Novels.” In Thematology: Literary Studies in India, edited by Sibaji Bandyopadhyaya. Kolkata: Dept. of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, 2004.
Mohanty, Satya P. Literary Theory and the Claims of History: Postmodernism, Objectivity, Multicultural Politics. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Mohanty, Satya P., and Harish Trivedi. “Introduction, Special Section on Six Acres and a Third.” Economic and Political Weekly 41, no. 46 (2006): 4780–81.
Mohapatra, H. S., and J. K. Nayak. “Writing Peasant Life in Colonial India.” Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad (Spring 1996).
Mohapatra, Himansu. “A New Realism for the Times.” The Hindu Literary Review (December 1998).
Mohapatra, Himansu. “Reading the Indian Novel.” The Hindu Literary Review (March 2007).
Narasimha Das, C. V., and Fakir Mohan Senapati. The Stubble under the Cloven Hoof: An Imaginative Recast of Fakir Mohan Senapati’s Masterpiece in Oriya Fiction, Chha Mana Atha Guntha. Cuttack, India: Sahitya Samsad, 1967.
Premchand. Gaban: The Stolen Jewels. Translated by Christopher R. King. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Premchand. The Gift of a Cow: A Translation of the Hindi Novel Godaan. Translated by Gordon C. Roadarmel. London: Allen & Unwin, 1968.
Premchand. Godaan. Oriya translation by Golak Bihari Dhal. Cuttack, India: Vidyapuri, 2003 (1981).
Premchand. Premashram. Oriya translation by Golak Bihari Dhal. Cuttack: Vidyapuri 1988 (1975).
Rachanabali, Rabindra, ed. Tagore, Rabindranath. Vol. 4. Kolkata: Viswa Bharathi Grantha Bibhag, 1986.
“Review: The Gift of a Cow by Premchand.” The Complete Review July 14, 2010. http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/hindi/premch1.htm.
Sarkar, Umesh Chandra. Padmamali. Translated by Snehaprava Das and Paul St. Pierre. Bhubaneswar, India: Grassroots, 2005.
Satapathy, Sumanyu. “Meeting and Parting of Ways: The Responses of Premchand and Fakir Mohan to Language Issues.” English Studies in India XV (January 2007): 145–53.
Satapathy, Sumanyu. “Saviours of Language.” IACLALS Newsletter (July 2006): 8.
Sawyer, Paul L. “Six Acres and a Third—An Oriya Village and the Battle of Plassey: Senapati’s Allegory of the Raj.” Economic and Political Weekly 41, no. 46 (2006): 4782–88.
Senapati, Fakir Mohan. A Plot of Land; [a Short Novel]. Cuttack, India: Cuttack Students’ Store, 1969.
Senapati, Fakir Mohan. Six Acres and a Third. Translated by Rabi Shankar Mishra, Satya P. Mohanty, Jatindra K. Nayak, and Paul St. Pierre. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2006.
Senapati, Fakir Mohan, and Rabi Shankar Mishra. Six Acres and a Third: The Classic Nineteenth-Century Novel about Colonial India. Translated by Rabi Shankar Mishra, Satya P. Mohanty, Jatindra K. Nayak, and Paul St. Pierre. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.
Singh, Harbans. “Premchand, Well Presented.” Tribune Spectrum September 25, 2005.
Williams, Raymond. The Country and the City. Frogmore, UK: Paladin, 1975 (1973).
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2011 Satya P. Mohanty
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mohapatra, H.S. (2011). Two Classic Tales of Village India: The Realist Epistemology of Chha Mana Atha Guntha and Godaan . In: Mohanty, S.P. (eds) Colonialism, Modernity, and Literature. The Future of Minority Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118348_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118348_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-0-230-61908-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-11834-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)