Dr. Gurudutt T N works with V V Puram Evening College, Bangalore University, Bangalore.

The concept of the Indian Writing in English might have been elusive but definitely evolving. On the one hand it had to be accepted by ourselves, as there had been an urgency of establishing our creative identity in the English literary world and on the other; we found it, in most cases, to be outlandish. The reason for this could be beyond the realm of literature. Despite the fluidity of its condition, the Indian Writing in English translation goes on. And it has entered the undergraduate curriculums. The present paper considers the question ‘why Indian Writing in English translation?’ and an instance of integrating IWET in an undergraduate syllabus.

Salman Rushdie and the likes believe that the best literature in India is produced in English. But have they got first- hand access into the vast literatures of the Indian languages? Really doubtful. Many personalities who have intimate contact of the literary canvass of various regional language literatures and who are practising themselves have a different view in the matter. U.R.Ananthamurthy (Kannada), M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam), Sunil Gangopadhyay (Bengali), Balachandran Nimade (Marathi), Dilip Chitre (Marathi), Ashok Mitran (Tamil), Gurdial Singh (Punjabi) and others are not convinced of the claims made sometimes in favour of Indian Writing in English at the cost of regional literatures. “Indian Writing in English is export oriented; it lacks cultural baggage; it is read by less than thirty percent Indians; there are many more significant
writers in the regional literatures than the Indian Writers in English; it is an artificial success just because of global linguistic medium” are some typical reactions of several regional writers. (more…)