Paper: 11; Module No: 28: E Text (A) Personal Details: Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator: Prof. Tutun Mukherjee University of Hyderabad Paper Coordinator: Dr. Bhandaram Vani S. N. Vanita Mahavidalaya, Hyderabad Content Writer: Ms. Anshikha Adhikari Research Scholar, IIT- Kanpur Content Reviewer: Dr. Bhandaram Vani S. N. Vanita Mahavidalaya, Hyderabad Language Editor: Dr. Mrinmoy Pramanick University of Calcutta (B) Description of Module: Items Description of Module Subject Name: English Paper No & Name: Paper 11: Indian Literary Criticism and Theory Module Id/No: 28 Module Name: Jainendrakumar and His Contribution to Indian Poetics Pre-requisites: Objectives: Key Words: Jainendrakumar, Hindi Aesthetics, Sunita, Tyagpatra, Kalyanee 1 Brief Background of Hindi Literature Hindi is one of the major languages of India. Not only it is the mother tongue of a large population of India, but it also serves as a medium of communication among the non-Hindi speakers in India. For thousands of years Hindi has given birth to gifted writers and poets who have set a benchmark in the Indian literary tradition. The beauty of hindi literature is based on the mystic poetry of Kabir and Jayasi, in the magnanimous religious epic of Tulsidas, the devotional songs created by Surdas and also in the profoundly good literature written by the many other writers. Hindi is one of the Indo Aryan languages spoken in the northern belt of India. It was earlier a dialect mainly spoken by the Aryans in the areas of Afghanistan, Punjab, Sindh, Western Gangetic plain and Kashmir from 1500 to 1200 B.C. From these literary dialect, developed a more refined form which was exclusively meant for the usage of Brahmin. This came to be known as Sanskrit, which became the language of the Vedas. Sanskrit was not meant for the common people but remained under the shadow of only upper caste literate brahmins. But Sanskrit also underwent transformations. When the Aryans had settled in the plains of North India, they began mingling with the earlier inhabitants of the land. This resulted in the birth of other languages, one of them being Prakrit. Prakrit, eventually became the language of the masses. This happened around 500 BC. Prakrit was received positively by the preceptors of Buddhism and Jainism, because they wanted to reach out to the common people to propagate their teachings. Pali, the dialect of Magadha also acquired an importance because it was adopted by Mahavira. Gradually Prakrit morphed itself to Apabhramsha, which was viewed as a vulgar tongue by the Sanskrit scholars. Apabhramsha, gradually was adopted by wide number of communities. 2 Thus, the earliest period of Hindi can be traced back to 760 AD. In 1500 AD, Chand Bardai, ushered in with his bardic poetry and a renowned work of his, Prithviraj Raso. Hindi literature includes literature in the various Indo-Aryan languages which have writing systems. It is broadly classified into four prominent periods based on the date of production. They are: ● Vir-Gathas (poems extolling brave warriors) – 11th–14th century ● Bhakti era poems (devotional poems) – 14th–18th century ● Riti or Sringar poems (poems of romance) – 18th–20th century ● Adhunik kaal literature (modern literature) – 20th century onwards Vir-gathas During the Adi kal period, regions beginning from Kannauj in present day Uttar Pradesh till Ajmer were famous for its writings. Chand Bardai, a court poet in the court of Prithviraj Chauhan wrote Prithviraj Raso which stands as the beacon of Adi kal. The last Rajput ruler of Kannauj, Jayachand gave more importance to the Sanskrit literary works in comparison to the works written in other vernaculars. Unfortunately, many literary works belonging to that era were lost and destroyed when Mohammed Ghori invaded Kannauj. Bhakti kaal As the name suggests, the medieval Hindi literature was highly dominated by the Bhakti movement and therefore, many epic poems were composed by various literary figures belonging to the Bhakti kaal. The poets of this age preferred regional languages like Awadhi and Braj to compose their beautiful compositions. Some of the important works of this period are Padmavat written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi and Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas. There were two major subdivisions of Bhakti school. They were: the Nirguna school, which believed in a shapeless form of deity worship 3 and Saguna school which was devoted to the various incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The two major writings in Braj bhasha which stand out are Vinay Patrika by Tulsidas and Sur Sagar by Surdas. Riti-kavya kal The dominant and the prolific theme of Riti-kavya kaal was erotic subjects. Riti in hindi means ‘procedure’. This is so because, the literary sculptors of this age developed poetry and allied theories to its prime age. This period saw a significant decrease in the emotional aspect of poetry which was a major aspect of the Bhakti movement. Shringar rasa was brought to focus and literature revolved around it. The physical beauty of Krishna and Radha was brought out in the most alluring and elegant way. The love of Radha and Krishna along with Krishna’s playful banter with gopis became the lead themes of Riti-kavya kaal. Adhunik kal The first institute which began translating Bible into Indian languages was established in 1800 in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was called Fort William College. During this period, the professors were hired in the college to write books in Hindustani language. In the context of Hindi writers, Munshi Premchand is considered as the chief literary figure of this era. His works brought the essence of realism in Hindi literature. Prior to this age, the chief themes around which hindi literary works revolved were religious tales, magical tales. 4 Jainendra Kumar: An Introduction Jainendra Kumar was an influential Hindi writer of 20th century. He was born in a small village Kauriganj, Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh in 1904. Since his father passed away when he was just two years old, he was reared mainly by mother and her brother. He completed his higher education from Kashi University and then joined Non-cooperation movement in the year 1921. Since his school days he was inclined towards writing. In other words, he wanted to be a writer. His first story collection was titled Phaansi (Noose). From there, young Jainendra never turned back and went on to become one of the most celebrated writer of Hindi literature, after Premchand. He gave new directions to the storytelling styles of Hindi literature. He was a known close associate of Munshi Premchand, another well-known Hindi writer. But Jainendra’s writings never reflected Premchand’s influence in any way. He was known for his unique storytelling style. His writings were incomplete in the sense that they gave ample space to the readers to venture in the dark field to surmise the following plot. Not everything was served to his readers. He preferred to use symbols than to recount everything to is readers. He explored the human psyche in novels such as Sunita and Tyagapatra. In his work he explored the tensions implicit in the human relationships and showed deep understanding and sympathy for human motivational values, psyche and ethics. His characters spoke volumes just by the subtle language which he used to weave around them. During his period, Jainendra Kumar, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Ajneya were viewed as prominent Hindi individualistic writers. That is the reason Kumar’s works obviously were tinted with psychological philosophies and autobiographical elements. It is widely accepted that Jainendra Kumar was the one who gave birth to the psychological novels in Hindi. 5 Jainendra Kumar at first broke Premchand’s tendency of narrative form. In his novels, the story line is limited, he seeks only to draw the character’s mental state. He can be christened as the first writer who brought a link to literary pieces and human being’s psychological depths and understanding. In today’s world, only a few people go into the depth of the mind. Jainendra is more interested in minuteness in place of bulkiness. In Jainendra’s novels picturisation of place, time and the environment is not generally found. The environment is picturised only in the form of symbol. Symbols are made use of in most of the time. The individualistic philosophy is there in the novels of Jainendra Kumar, Ilachandra Joshi and other psychological novelists. Their philosophy is born out of mixing of the western and Indian philosophies. As we have read earlier, the time when Jainendra began writing, people were swayed by the Premchand and his literary masterpieces. Premchand’s works focused on the society and evils lurking in the former. On the other hand, Jainendra’s works focused on an individual’s psyche and his/her nature with his/her surroundings. Jainendra’s female protagonists have been under critical eyes as they were given quite an independence by their writer. But this never discouraged Jainendra from backing down and alternating anything previously mentioned. Human nature comprises of societal intricacies and his/her own mental nature. They both have to coexist and cannot be viewed independent of each other. From this point of view, the literary pieces of Jainendra Kumar complete the literary pieces of Premchand. There has been a sense of void in Premchand’s literary works which has been filled by Jainendra Kumar. 6 Among the best novels of Jainendra Kumar include Sunita, Tyaagpatra and Kalyanee. These works gave the readers a perspective which was freshly set by the writer. These works gave a new path to ponder upon to the adult readers. The names of Jaywardhan, Parakh may be mentioned among his other important and famous novels. Let us look at three of his famous novels one by one.