Group+Four+(5)

"Can Indians write in English?... My position is simply this: Here before us is a concrete situation, which is that Indians have for over a century and a half used English in speech and writing with such conspicuous ability and that as scholars we should try and understand the nature of that achievement, and if the term achievement irritates some, I shall say, effort." - C D`Narashimhaiah in //The Swan and the Eagle//
 * Indian English Authors and Literature**



The question posed by Narashimhaiah is not meant to be answered with a literal explanation of yes or no. Instead, as Makarand Paranjape discovered in his research, literary critics are more concerned about the identity and purpose of Indian English literature, especially with its adoption in recent years.

Unsurprisingly, Indian authors writing in the English language have stormed the popular literary cannon in the past half-century. After Britain's colonization of India ended in 1947 after a reign of nearly 90 years, India was left with an undeniably significant and lasting impact from the Empire's rule. The Indian people inherited a number of customs, pastimes, and most relevant to the subject of Indian English (IE) literature, the English language itself. Today according to //Time// Magazine, Indian is home of the third largest English speaking population ("How Indian"). And from this new generation of English speaking Indians, springs forth an every-increasing amount of authors, poets and playwrights, creating a number of literary acclaimed works. Today, these works reside on bookshelves in stores across the United Kingdom and the United States and have secured a place within the popular English literary cannon.
 * Overview of Indian English Literature**

Arundhati Roy, author of __The God of Small Things__, was paid half a million British pounds for her novel and also awarded the time-honored Booker Prize. Roy's work, while touching on universal themes such as fate, and the idea we are constructed by the sum of our "small" experiences, involves a character educated at England's Oxford University and deals with the influx of opposing political factions after India's independence from Britain. Furthermore, Roy's work has received critical acclaim. //The New York Times// said, "... the quality of Ms. Roy's narration is so extraordinary -- at once so morally strenuous and so imaginatively supple -- that the reader remains enthralled all the way through to its agonizing finish." Additionally, the novel had sold more than 6 million copies in 41 countries worldwide as of 2002, according to her publishers. Taking a look at Roy and her reception by the world's literary audience is evidence alone of the reach and importance of Indian English authors and their place in the literary cannon.

**Authors**

**Vikram Seth** Many have praised Seth for his fiction as well. His novels have underlying progressive themes such as homosexual relationships in a world that still is less than accepting of all people. Each of Seth's works vary greatly from the one another. __The Golden Gate__ tells the story of two Northern California young professionals, while __A Suitable Boy__, an epic novel at nearly 1500 pages, deals with a father's quest to find a husband for his daughter in post colonial India, and lastly __An Equal Music__ delves into the lives of Western Classical musicians.
 * [[image:52Vikram-Seth.jpg caption="Vikram Seth" link="http://www.kensharp.com/assets/images/gallery/famous/52Vikram-Seth.jpg"]] || Seth was born June 20, 1952 in Calcutta, India. During the 1980s and 1990s, his works were primarily focused in Fiction. In more recent years, he has delved into Non-Fiction with his last work published in 2008, titled __Two Lives__. __Two Lives__ covers the history of his Uncle and Aunt living in England as an interracial couple (Indian and German-Jew) during the early-mid 20th century. The collection contains family interviews, letters and photographs. //The Times// book reviewer Antony Beevor, says of Seth's non-fiction, "[He] has defied that rule of modern publishing, which demands that an author sticks to a single sort of book."

//An Equal Music// (1999) //A Suitable Boy// (1993) //The Golden Gate// (1986) ||
 * Novels**

**Arundhati Roy**
 * Roy was born November 24, 1961. Since the publication of her first and only novel, __The God of Small Things__ in 1997, Roy has become a prolific and outspoken critic of Indian politics and human rights violations across the world. All of her published work after __The God of Small Things__ has come in the form of essays critiquing a wide variety of world issues from poverty, to equal rights, to nuclear proliferation.

In an article published by the BCC News, Roy speaks on the future, saying, the time may be coming where "the big" is replaced by "the century of small things." She is known widely as being in opposition of globalization, and has spoke out against alleged American Imperialism in the 21st Century.

media type="youtube" key="kbZMUInKDGI" height="344" width="425"

media type="youtube" key="66qiuIRDVbU" height="344" width="425"

//The God of Small Things// (1997) || ||
 * Novels**

**Hanif Kureishi**
 * [[image:kureishilee460.jpg caption="Hanif Kureishi" link="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/kureishilee460.jpg"]] || Unlike the Seth and Roy, Kureishi is a British national; however, his family and works have deep routed ties to India and its division after the end of English Imperial rule in 1947.

His novels typically cover themes ranging from race relations, nationalism, and immigration, to rampant sexuality. Kureishi, has had great commercial success. In an interview he is quoted as saying, "If I tell somebody a dream, it may relieve me to get it off my chest. But I’m not giving them an entertainment. Whereas a book is entertainment."

Much of his work is also loosely autobiographical, albeit greatly sensationalized. In regards to the family unit in The Buddha of Suburbia, he admits in an interview with Hirsh Sawhney in //The Brooklyn Rail//, "As you read //The Buddha//, you think that these guys have a good time all the time. They take drugs, go to parties and have sex. Actually, I spent most of my time in my bedroom reading books, studying and listening to music. So when you make a story, you take the good parts and jam them together and hope that this would be of interest to other people."

//Something to Tell You// (2008) //The Body// (2003) //Gabriel's Gift// (2001) //Intimacy// (1998) //The Black Album// (1995) //The Buddha of Suburbia// (1990) ||
 * Novels**



**Music Religion Festivals Literature Cinema Food References **