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January 29, 2008
Review of 'Indian English Stories: From Colonial Beginnings to Post Modern Tales'
Murli Melwani looks at the history and evolution of the 'Indian short story written in English in his book 'Indian English Stories: From Colonial Beginnings to Post Modern Tales'*. Suroopa Mukerjee, author of the novel 'Across the Mystic Shore'*, reviews it for Desilit.
review
Murli Melwani's *Indian Short Stories: From Colonial Beginnings to
Post-modern Tales* is a historical overview of what he describes as the
"step child of literature", the Indian short story in English. As a genre
short stories are neglected by both publishers and critics, though authors,
including mainstream novelists have experimented with the form, mainly
because of its brevity, and the free play it allows with themes, style and
characterization. A short story can be philosophical, political, lyrical and
subversive. What Melwani suggests is striking; as a literary form it is
especially suitable to deal with the wide range of Indian experiences, so
that thematically it is more expansive and faithful to the nuances of a
multicultural, diverse nation like India than the Indian novel in English.
At a time when the Indian novel in English is being noticed in the literary
scenario, winning both awards and accolades, this seems a timely critical
interjection. Melwani makes it very clear that he is not discussing individual stories, so
that each chapter is period based and gives us brief pen portrait of authors
and their works, ranging from established writers, to lesser known names, to
those whom we discover for the first time. To that extent there is nothing
predictable in the choice of works and the way they have been placed in the
historical, socio-political context. The analysis never palls because each
author, and the list is comprehensive and wide ranging, is accompanied by
sharp, insightful comments on different aspects of writing and reading.
Normally this sort of capsule presentation of a particular period, covering
a decade, can give a sense of sampling rather than providing an in-depth
literary analysis; it is to Melwani's credit that he is both astute and
incisive in his commentary, however brief they might be. At times why he
includes a writer can be a trifle whimsical, but his individual author
analysis is rarely sketchy. Thus we get an interesting analysis of why
Melwani feels Ruth Pawar Jhabwala is a better short story writer than a
novelist. Sometimes he provides startling juxtapositions such as Jhabwala's
use of satire as compared to Kushwant Singh's satirical writing. We also get
to know about Keki Daruwala's short stories, a lesser known aspect of the
poet. The space that is given to authors can vary. So Anita Desai gets as
much space as Hamdi Bey or Jug Suraiya. Some authors are barely mentioned in
a catalogue style, which can be frustrating and can take away from the flow
of the argument. At times one gets the sense that key themes such as the
politics of Indian writing in English is given too little space, though here
again the analysis is sharp and insightful. Melwani's contention is that the
question of Indian writing in English is asked 2 decades later, so that when
Ruskin Bond and Bunny Rueben are writing short stories in English the
question of authenticity is no longer a key issue.
However it is in the postmodern tales that Melwani becomes a little too
predictable, and one begins to feel the absence of a more contemporary
treatment of modern literature in relation to complex times. Many a time the
analysis becomes too cursory, almost superficial, and the book ends up
endorsing what it had claimed to challenge. In the final analysis it would
seem that the step motherly treatment given to short stories is largely
because key writers, mostly novelists and poets, merely experiment with
short stories so that it remains a second hand talent. A pity that a
neglected literary form with enormous potential, which Melwani suggests in a
way that is often tantalizing and intriguing, can only arouse lukewarm
interest in the reader. The portrait gallery suggests mediocrity rather than
real genius. This aspect has been brought into the argument but only with
reference to individual writing rather than as a matter of critical
contention. It is left to the reader to make the inferences, which in a
historical survey is a handicap. However Melwani successfully draws our
attention to works that are less known, and to authors whom we tend to
neglect. I for one would be tempted to pick up the works of Attia Hosain and
Padma Hejmadi.
*Indian English Stories is published by Sampark, India, 2007
* Across the Mystic Shores is published by Macmillan New Writing, UK, 2006
Posted by Soniah Kamal at January 29, 2008 03:56 PM
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