A STUDY OF CHANGE, RESISTANCE AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AS PROJECTED IN INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH

by A.C. SHARMA and ANIL SARWAL,
Senior Lecturers in English,
D.A.V. COLLEGE, Sector 10, CHANDIGARH. ( INDIA)



Change, resistance, adaptation and transformation are irresistible ingredients of human society. They open new vistas of knowledge. In this paper we have made a modest effort to introduce some of the visionary ideas of writers in English who have mirrored and projected the Indian social fabric with authenticity.

The introduction of English in India way back in the 17th century did have an impact on the literary renaissance in India. Later, the study of English literature stimulated the regional literatures. New paradigms came into being.

In this paper we trace the progressive evolution of the Indian writing in English beginning with the work of Raja Rammohan Roy who highlighted the plight of widows, darkness of superstition, ignorance and backwardness to the present day authors trying to establish their identity in the scheme of things in the globized world. This trend is seen to a great extent in the contemporary Indian writing in English including the diasporic writing. In this journey, we trace the works of other prominent authors such as Rabindra Nath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, Sarojini Naidu, Mulk Raj Anand, Kamla Das, Ved Mehta, R.K. Narayan, Khushwant Singh, Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Morris, R.K. Narayan, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Arundhiti Roy, Ruskin Bond and many others like Salman Rushdie, V.S. Naipaul, etc.

Our conclusion is that Indian Writing in English has realistically and faithfully captured the Indian consciousness and it definitely had an impact on the social milieu, thereby giving a veiled direction to the Indian independence struggle and at the same time exerting a much wider influence on many other countries of the world still struggling for freedom, democracy, equality and justice.