History of Indian Literature

COLOYAN, Paulerni RUEDA, Jose IV

Sanskrit and Classical Literature

Sanskrit Literature

Aryans, nomadic cattle herders produced the literature written in a language called Sanskrit. Literally means refined, adorned and/or highly decorated Divided into: Religious text and Heroic Texts

Religious Text

Vedas Book of Knowledge

Made by Aryan poets in Old Sanskrit

Fundamental religious text of Hinduism Compilation of hymns of praise and ritual chants

Four Vedas Rig-Veda (Book of Creation), Sama-Veda (Book of Chants), Yajur-Veda (Book of Prayers) and Atharva-Veda (Book of Spells).

Religious Text

Brahmanas

Prose text about sacrificial rituals

Composed by Hindu priests

Aryanakas

Discussion and interpretation of dangerous rituals

Composed by people who meditated in the wilderness

Religious Text

Upanishads

Consists of 108 dialogues between students and their teachers.

About the individual souls unity Composed by a group of sages who questioned the use of rituals in religion. Indias oldest philosophical treaties and form the foundations of major schools of Hindu philosophies

Heroic Text (Epics)

Ramayana

An epic by Valmiki about a perfect prince, perfect wife

An extremely long epic of Vyasal

Mahabharata

About the war and feuds two branch families of the dynastic clan Kuru for the throne

Classical Literature

Started in the Gupta Dynasty (Indian Golden Age)

Reflected values of Hinduism

Influenced by the Caste system Languages used were Sanskrit and Prakrit

Motifs were largely based on religion, mythology and heroism

Medieval Literature in India

8th Century 18th Century AD

Medieval India

Islam was spread to India by the Middle Easterns and the Central Asians. The Indian Hindu culture was highly influenced by Muslim culture. Northern India was ruled by the Muslim Mogul/Mughal Empire

Medieval Literature

Bhakti Literature

Love poetry Depiction of love between: Gods; husband and wife; parent and child; servant and master Most significant development in Indian Literature. Gave way to regional languages. (Bhasa, Kannada, Marathi)

Medieval Literature

Topography

Landscapes and the environment writers see is one of the major themes Rivers (Ganges, Indus), Mountains (Himalayas, Kashmir), and Deserts (Rajasthan) were common subjects or settings

Medieval Literature

Love and War

Also a common theme in medieval literature Wars about great heroes like the much older Mahabharata Failure in love that gave rise to triumph in love was also a widely used theme

Medieval Literature

Regional differences:

Many ethnic groups were distinct and located in far away from each other. Different styles in writing are seen in different regions. Languages also differ in most ethnic groups Literary Regions: Assamese, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Gujarati, Malayalam

COLONIAL INDIA

The era wherein European traders reached and colonized the Indian subcontinent (even up to the Burmese lands) The Literature in this time combined the classical Indian literature with the European style of writing In this time, nationalism and patriotism emerged as the two main motifs of Indian writings

Europeans in India

At first, the Portuguese and French were the first Europeans in India, with their motives include trade and spices Then the British came seeking not only gold and spices but also lands for their imperial expansion The British and the Dutch established their own companies within the Indian area, controlled not by the government but by private businessmen and investors India then became the major resource supplier of Britain. The majority of goods shipped back to the British lands include silk, tea, opium and silk.

British India

The British, in most wars against the Indian resistance, won due to their strategies, superior artillery and weapons as well as the Indians internal turmoil. These made most of the Indian subcontinent be colonized by the British. Britain made many changes in Indian culture especially in their literature. First and foremost, the British introduced the English language to the Indians. Also, many political icons emerged due to their longing of Indian Independence: one of those is Mohandas Gandhi In addition to politicians, many writers expressed their want for Indian independence-one of those is Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to receive a Nobel Price in Literature Due to India not being free from the grasps of these Westerners, nationalism became a usual theme in Indian publishing and writings

Modern Indian literature

Independence up to Now

Independence Period

26 January 1950 Before the independence, Marxism grew because people wanted to be independent. Along with Marxs ideology, Gandhis popularity also grew. Nationalism was a theme most common during this time.

Post-Independence

In London, expatriates formed the Progressive Writers Association (PWA). Dalit literature rose. It is about the outcasts, or the people being oppressed by society. Modern mythology became widespread in both urban and rural areas.

Modern Day Literature

India is still not united in language. Three languages, Hindi, Urdu, and Hindustani, are favored to be Indias National Language.

Hindi one of the two official languages of India (the other being English). Urdu the lingua franca of Pakistan. Also widely used in India. Hindustani