Theory of Literature Re-Visited with the Concept of Chaos

Karan Singh Chauhan 한국외국어대학교 인도연구소 2010 남아시아연구 Vol.15 No.3

Present paper deals with the problem of literary theory in general and with reference to Indian literature in particular. During the period of modernism, based on new scientific explorations, many new disciplines came into being and they influenced aesthetics. In this way, psychology, sociology, Marxism, structuralism etc. became integral part of literary theory. Later on, it was found that they tend to follow a pre?determined and prejudiced value?judgment approach in literary analysis. This gave birth to post?modern theory that flourished throughout the world. Slowly it started to degenerate into fragmented judgments. At this point, chaos theory came into being and started playing its role in literary aesthetics. Paper provides a brief critical introduction of the origin, history, development of various concepts, meaning and implementation of chaos concepts to various disciplines, especially to literary theory. As chaos is the latest in post?modern era, it demarcates itself from the modern traditions of linearity and determinism. Paper also throws light on the ancient parallels of chaos in Greek mythology and social history. Although chaos developed as a branch of mathematics but soon it provided reliable tools to explore other fields of knowledge. It is being used in literary criticism and efforts are to develop it as a full?fledged literary theory with the support of postmodernist tools.

Role of Devnagari and Persian Script in Hindi-Urdu Controversy

Chauhan Karan Singh 한국인도학회 2011 印度硏究 Vol.16 No.2

Controversy regarding the language of the so-called ‘Hindustani’ area has been an important issue throughout British period which engulfed the Indian freedom movement. Hindi or ‘Hindui’ was the original form adopted and mentioned as such by the earliest of writers of Hindi. Later, word Urdu came into use to denote the same language called Hindi or Hindui, but with a Persian tilt. The common people continued to regard both forms as one language. Due to Moghal rule, Hindi and later Urdu written in Persian script became the official language of governance. When Britishers came to India they found a very interesting phenomena with regard to language and scripts pravelent in northern Hindi belt. Although the spoken language of the people was one, but it was written in a script, imposed from outside. They tried to confirm the real position by doing various language and script surveys and came to the conclusion that it would be better for communication and understanding if beside Persian script, ‘Nagari’ script is introduced in Government offices and courts etc. This angered the Muslim community who used to be in an advantageous position with Persian script. Although, language question was never a controversial issue among the common people of this area but due to the two different scripts, it got associated with communal feelings. The emergence of Sanskritized Hindi and Persianized Urdu was the direct outcome of this communal divide. Britishers tried to not only placate this but took full advantage of the issue for dividing people on communal lines. To create communal unity within freedom struggle, Gandhi Ji tried to bring ‘Hindustani’ into focus which represent the mix of both spoken Hindi and Urdu. He advocated one common language for both the communities which can be written either in Nagari or Persian script. It attracted lot of criticism from both sides. In such a charged atmosphere the question of National language or a National script became more and more controversial. Progressive cultural movement, being the most important literary movement in all Indian Languages, where both Hindi and Urdu writers worked together, tried to understand and solve the language and script problem. On the basis of its analysis and conclusions it mendated that Hindi written in Devnagari script should be the national language of the country and Urdu written in Persian should be regarded as close associate of it. Later, when Indian constitution was framed and implemented, in article 343 regarding the Official language of the Union it was written that ‘the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devnagari script.’

Role of Devnagari and Persian Script in Hindi-Urdu Controversy: A Historical Perspective

( Chauhan Karan Singh ) 한국인도학회 2011 印度硏究 Vol.16 No.1

Controversy regarding the language of the so-called ``Hindustani`` area has been an important issue throughout British period which engulfed the Indian freedom movement. Hindi or ``Hindui`` was the original form adopted and mentioned as such by the earliest of writers of Hindi. Later, word Urdu came into use to denote the same language called Hindi or Hindui, but with a Persian tilt. The common people continued to regard both forms as one language. Due to Moghal rule, Hindi and later Urdu written in Persian script became the official language of governance. When Britishers came to India they found a very interesting phenomena with regard to language and scripts pravelent in northern Hindi belt. Although the spoken language of the people was one, but it was written in a script, imposed from outside. They tried to confirm the real position by doing various language and script surveys and came to the conclusion that it would be better for communication and understanding if beside Persian script, ``Nagari`` script is introduced in Government offices and courts etc. This angered the Muslim community who used to be in an advantageous position with Persian script. Although, language question was never a controversial issue among the common people of this area but due to the two different scripts, it got associated with communal feelings. The emergence of Sanskritized Hindi and Persianized Urdu was the direct outcome of this communal divide. Britishers tried to not only placate this but took full advantage of the issue for dividing people on communal lines. To create communal unity within freedom struggle, Gandhi Ji tried to bring ``Hindustani`` into focus which represent the mix of both spoken Hindi and Urdu. He advocated one common language for both the communities which can be written either in Nagari or Persian script. It attracted lot of criticism from both sides. In such a charged atmosphere the question of National language or a National script became more and more controversial. Progressive cultural movement, being the most important literary movement in all Indian Languages, where both Hindi and Urdu writers worked together, tried to understand and solve the language and script problem. On the basis of its analysis and conclusions it mendated that Hindi written in Devnagari script should be the national language of the country and Urdu written in Persian should be regarded as close associate of it. Later, when Indian constitution was framed and implemented, in article 343 regarding the Official language of the Union it was written that ``the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devnagari script.``

जाित गवस्था भारतीय वामपंथ और दिलत िवचारधारा के अंतिवरोध

Karan Singh Chauhan 한국외국어대학교 인도연구소 2010 남아시아연구 Vol.16 No.2

Caste question is important in India keeping in mind the history and presence of its influence on Indian society and relations of the people. Theoretically speaking, the only two forces which should have been the natural allies in the struggle against the caste system are ? Dalits themselves and the Indian left. But the tragedy of the situation is they never saw eye-to-eye with each other and the relationship between them have been like two adversaries in a battle. Although Indian left recognizes the importance of caste question and the urgent need for its elimination but due to the rigid theoretical positions and their dogmatic understanding they could never come closure to the Dalit politics. There have been a long history of mud-slinging between them begining from the Independance movement till date. The paper focus on the analysis of the points of differences between the two forces. The class based approach of the leftists gave little importance to caste and even saw it as an impediment for growth of class conciousness of masses. Then there is a question of upper caste bias leadership of the leftist parties. The Dalit leadership focussed mainly on the question of Dalits and opposed leftists bitterely. It is during the last few years that Dalit politics realized the devastating effects of Globalization on the pro-dalit policies of local government and started opposing it. Same way, leftists, accepting that by alienating from the Dalit movement it has alienated large sections of the dalit masses which is a solid base for any working class party. That is why in their special party plenum on the question of dalits, there is a shift in their approach.

Position of women in Sufi poetry - Special reference to Jayasi’s ‘Padmavat’

Karan Singh Chauhan 한국외국어대학교 인도연구소 2011 남아시아연구 Vol.16 No.3

Bhakti was a revolutionary literary movement simultaneously spreading to all the major Indian language literatures. No period in literary history saw so many great writers coming to the fore producing great literature of far reaching implications. Breaking the shackles of caste, class and gender they provided such a panoramic view, which was unprecedented in Indian cultural history. Most of them came from very humble backgrounds of the caste divided social structure. Although they were devoted to different forms of Gods and had different methods of devotion and achieving salvation, there were some important common features depicted in their creations. No literary writing had so great an impact on the general masses as the Bhakti literature did. Bhakti literature was guided by some common human values dear to these writers and the people in general. On most of the issues concerning the people and the society, they presented a humane attitude opposing inequality of caste, class and gender. Literary criticism has tried to provide an explanation to this exposition of creativity and rightly called it a 'Golden Age' of Indian literature. It is trying to evaluate its attitude towards the burning questions facing our society at that point of time and even now. One of the key questions in modern discourses is the attitude of a writer to the women question. It is worth probing what attitude is reflected towards the women in Indian society in the works of these Bhakti poets. To specify the issue in this paper, Sufi poets, specifically the most important representative Jayasi and his epic 'Padmavat' is take as a reference point. Sufi poet Jayasi's attitude towards women is reflected through two important woman characters depicted in the epic - Nagmati and Padmavati. Through Nagmati the poet brings the pitiable condition of the women in society of his times. Through Padmavati, he depicts his image of an ideal woman. Both these depictions present a contrast and brings out the lofty ideals of the writer.