Write the contribution of Kamala Markandaya (1924-2004) and

Write the contribution of Kamala Markandaya (1924-2004) and Nayantara Sahgal to the Indian English Literature.

Ans.

Kamala Markandaya (1924-2004)

Kamala Markandaya is one of India’s best known novelists. The fact that her body of work especially the novel The Nowhere Man, preshadowed the explosion of published works by South Asian writers over the last several decades makes her novels required reading for anyone interested in Indian culture. Markandaya explores a number of issues in her novels, including urbanization, poetry, sexuality, gender, interracial relationships, India’s struggle to maintain its identity in an increasingly Westernized world and colonialism’s impact.

During Markandaya’s youth, India was officially a colony of the British Empire. This fact led to a mix of both traditional Indian and contemporary English culture influences, most notably the widespread use of the English language. A popular movement supporting the independence of India gained momentum throughout the 1920 and 1930s, largely due to the leadership of Mohandas Gandhi India finally achieved its independence in 1947, the year Markandaya left the country.

Publications: Nectar in a Sieve (1954) Markandaya’s first published novel, was actually the third novel she wrote. The book became an international best seller and was translated into seventeen languages. A year later, the American Library Association) named it a ‘Notable Book’, it has remained a favourite in American and British university reading lists ever since. Markandaya never reveals the setting of the novel and never sets the action in a particular time or space, thus ensuring the story’s timeless quality and universal appeal. This technique is especially effective given that the novel was published less than a decade after India won its independence from Britain.

Works in Literary Context

East vs. West: Whether Markandaya’s novels are set in India or abroad, they consistently concern themselves with the struggle between traditional Indian values and Western modernity. This dilemma, including tensions between rationalism and faith, materialism and spirituality and urban or rural ways of life, has become a part of India’s identity over the last several decades. Markandaya embraces these opposites.

Kamala Markandaya’s style is characterized by the use of metaphors and motifs and short, clipped sentence structure. Her writing is generally empathetic, and she provides multiple perspective on a range of subjects.

Nayantara Sahgal

Nayantara Sahgal (1927) is another popular woman novelist who dominated the post independence scenario of an Indian novel in English. She dealt with issues concerning women that later became major issues in the feminist movement launched in the sixties. With delicate sensitivity, she exposes the prejudices women face in the male-dominated society, Sahgal has a limited world of feminist Id.