bankim chandra chattopadhyay was the first writer of a published fictional novel in indian english literature.
who was the first writer of a published fictional novel in indian english literature?
bankim chandra chattopadhyay
iel has a relatively recent history, being only one and a half centuries old. the first book written by an indian in english was "travels of dean mahomed", a travel narrative by sake dean mahomed published in england on 1793. in its early stages, iel was influenced by the western novel. early indian writers used english unadulterated by indian words to convey an experience which was essentially indian. bankim chandra chattopadhyay (1838–1894) wrote "rajmohan's wife" and published it in 1864; it is the first indian novel written in english. raja rao (1908–2006), indian philosopher and writer, authored "kanthapura" and "the serpent and the rope", which are indian in terms of their storytelling qualities. kisari mohan ganguli translated the mahabharata into english, the only time the epic has ever been translated in its entirety into a european language. rabindranath tagore (1861–1941) wrote in bengali and english and was responsible for the translations of his own work into english. dhan gopal mukerji (1890–1936) was the first indian author to win a literary award in the united states. nirad c. chaudhuri (1897–1999), a writer of non-fiction, is best known for his "the autobiography of an unknown indian" (1951), in which he relates his life experiences and influences. p. lal (1929–2010), a poet, translator, publisher and essayist, founded a press in the 1950s for indian english writing, writers workshop. ram nath kak (1917–1993), a kashmiri veterinarian, wrote his autobiography "autumn leaves", which is one of the most vivid portraits of life in 20th century kashmir and has become a sort of a classic.
indian english literature
many of the northeast indian indigenous communities have an ancient heritage of folktales which tell the tale of their origin, rituals, beliefs and so on. these tales are transmitted from one generation to another in oral form. they are remarkable instances of tribal wisdom and imagination. however, assam and manipur have some ancient written texts. these states were mentioned in the great hindu epic mahabharata. the saptakanda ramayana in assamese by madhava kandali is considered the first translation of the sanskrit ramayana into a modern indo-aryan language. "karbi ramayana" bears witness to the old heritage of written literature in assam. two writers from the northeast, i.e. birendra kumar bhattacharya and mamoni raisom goswami, have been awarded jnanpith, the highest literary award in india till date. hence, birendra kumar bhattacharya was the first assamese writer and from the northeast india to receive jnanpith award for his assamese novel "mrityunjay(1979)." mamoni raisom goswami was awarded the jnanpith award in the year 2000. nagen saikia is the first writer from assam and the northeast india, to have been conferred the prestigious sahitya akademi fellowship by the sahitya akademi. the last quarter of the 20th century saw the rise of modern literature in the northeast. most of the writers, especially the tribal writers, are bilingual, that is, they write both in their mother tongue and english. some of the general features of this literature are—retrieval of folklore, celebration of folk culture, identity politics, reaction to the insurgency and counter-insurgency operations, depiction of natural beauty, changes meted out by time, etc. the major writers of northeast literature are--(from assam) lakshminath bezbaroa, homen borgohain,birendra kumar bhattacharya, harekrishna deka, rongbong terang nilmani phukan, indira goswami, hiren bhattacharyya, mitra phukan, jahnavi barua, dhruba hazarika, d n bezbarua, nilim kumar, anupama basumatary, uddipana goswami, anjum hassan, aruni kashyap; (from arunachal pradesh) mamang dai; (from manipur) robin s ngangom, ratan thiyam, thangjam ibopishak, gambhini devi, t bijoykumar singh; (from meghalaya) kynpham sing nongkynrih, esther syiem, desmond kharmawphlang, paul lyngdoh; (from mizoram) mona zote; (from nagaland) temsula ao, cherrie chhangte, easterine kire; (from sikkim) sudha m rai, rajendra bhandari (from tripura) chandrakanta murasingh. temsula ao is the first writer from northeast india to be awarded the sahitya akademi award (2013) in the indian english literature category for her collection of short stories, "laburnum for my head", and padmashree (2007). easterine kire is the first english novelist hailed from nagaland. she received the hindu literary prize (2015) for her novel "bitter wormwood". indira goswami, alias mamoni roisom goswami, is an acclaimed assamese writer. her novels include "moth-eaten howda of the tusker", "pages stained with blood", "the shadow of kamakhya" and "the blue-necked god". mamang dai won the sahitya akademi award (2017) for her novel "the black hill".
northeast india