Recent Kannada Literature

Not unlike the other sister vernaculars of India, a conspicuous feature of the new movement in Kannada is in the influence of English literature. This is seen clearly in prose as in poetry, in the creative aspect as in the critical. In fact, critical literature is something new to the language.

Thee new era began with the novels of the Late Mr. B. Venkatachar. His novels are with the Kannada reading public what the paintings of Ravi Varma are with the lovers of the pictorial art in South India. The writings of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar so much impressed him that he learnt Bengali to study the in the original. With a knowledge of the language thus obtained, he studied the novels of Babu Bankim Chandra Chaterjee, the charm of which compelled him to render most of them into Kannada. The subject matter mostly pertains to Indian history of the Moghul and later periods, and the novels are reminiscent of the historical novels of Walter scott. Mr. Venkatachar has a flowery style and his novels abound in lengthy descriptions, often running into three pages. He has a mannerism of addressing the reader at the beginning or after each description, or even in the middle sometimes, and at the psychological point. This produces a feeling as if the author is personally narrating the story and draws his chair nearer. The tendency to translate from Bengali is found in another Kannada novelist, Mr. C. Vasudevaiah. His themes pertain to the lives of Puranic and historical heroes and the style is simple and chaste. Marathi also has acted as a means for the introduction of the novel into Kannada. The Marathi novels of the late Mr. Apte and a few others have been done into Kannada by Mr. Galaganath of Dharwar. The only exception is his ‘Madhava Karana Vilasa.’ The raw material of his novels is taken from Maharatta and Karnataka history. In contrast to the flowery smoothness of Mr. Venkatachar, his diction has a certain vigour. Besides, we meet with certain Marathi and other expressions which are common to the northern dialect known as ‘Dharwar Kannada.’ Domestic life with homely expressions is seen in the novels of late Mr. M. S. Puttanna. He portrays the middle-class life of Mysore; his diction runs smooth and has all the characteristic features of the Mysore dialect. Of late the popularity of the novel has waned, giving place to the short story.

The history of the short story in Kannada is different from that of the novel. It did not begin with translations. It mighteven be said that Kannada was in advance of the other vernaculars in introducing the short story into its literature. Though Mr. Masthi Venkatesa Iyengar is the pioneer in the field, the Short story has come to be what it is through the efforts of ‘Prabuddha Karnataka’ a high-class literary quarterly edited by Mr. A. R. Krishna Sastry. Under the pseudonym ‘Sreenivasa,’ Mr. Masthi has published three volumes of short stories. They are very popular being full of humour and pathos. Unlike many of the begginers who rarely go out of a limited sphere, his raw material is taken from various sources and affords plenty of variety. He is not only the pioneer but the most prolific producer in the field. Short stories dealing with rural life and depicting the inherent unsophisticated culture of village-folk are a speciality with Mr. C. K. Venkatramaiah. He raises a voice of protest on behalf of the ‘rustic’ who is much despised by his brother of the towwn. The expressions used are very homely and there is a pristine humor which is in harmony with the subject matter. Mr. A. Seetharam writing under the pen-name ‘Ananda’ is a master-painter of connubial life with all its ‘romance.’ Some of his stories show a clear insight into the workings of an artist's mind. To give accurate descriptions of his ‘settings’ is a noteworthy feature in him. Another type may be seen in the stories of ‘Sreepathi,’ as Mr. A. R. Krishna Sastry chooses to call himself. A peculiarity of his stories is the abundance of practical humour and worldly wisdom. His subject matter refers to occurrences in middle-class Brahmin life and reveals a great capacity for observation of details. For instance, he can give you the correct number of lozenges available in a country shop and its ratio to the number of children in the village. To preach social reform through short stories seems to be the aim of Mr. A. N. Krishna Rao who has painted the horrors of social evils in Hindu society. Besides these there are many others who write quite well. In fact, Kannada is now experiencing a wave of short stories, and there is a monthly specially devoted to short stories called ‘Kalanjali.’

The essay is a form which may be said to be a neglected one in Kannada. There is almost none who has tried it. Mr. V. Seetaramaiah’s ‘Mysore Turban’ shows that he has a talent for it which is very promising. Similarly the ‘Rural Sketches’ of Mr. Gorur Rangaswami Iyengar. Though they do not strictly conform to the definition of the literary essay, they show that the author has a capacity for writing on light and varied topics like R. L. Stevenson writing on the ‘Lap Dog’, or Hazlitt ‘On Hats.’ The rural sketches of Mr. Iyengar show that there are many things in life to enjoy by looking at if only we keep our eyes open. Both Mr. V. Seetaramiah and Mr. Iyengar can attempt and give us a series of essays on different subjects with touches of humour and satire. They are sure to form enjoyable reading and give ‘mild doses’ to some common human frailties.

Produced in as great an abundance as the short story, if not more, is poetry. Mr. B. M. Srikantia may be called the father of modern Kannada poetry. He is a rebel who is out to break many an age-long convention in poetry and literary traditions, of which his ‘Aswathaman’ is the greatest proof. He is responsible for many a new note in prosody and is a master in the art of adapting Kannada metre to translations of English verse, as is revealed by a study of his ‘English Geethegalu.’ For England and her poetry he has great admiration. A true disciple of this master is Mr. K. V. Puttappa. He is the most prolific producer in the field, and poetry seems to come quite spontaneously to him. His translation of Browning’s ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’ brought him into the lime-light and he has maintained a high standard ever since. Another poet of rare capacities is Mr. D. V. Gundappa. He wields with equal ease both the old and new metres. His ‘Nivedana’ is a snapshot album in verse of ‘the beauty spots’ in Mysore. He is the only one among his fraternity to make use of ‘Seesapadya’ a metrical form very common in Telugu and well-tuned for music. Mr. Masthi who has explored every field, probably except the novel, has given us three volumes of poems. His themes are varied, from philosophy to chlid poems and the metre is accordingly varied from sonnets to blank-verse. Like those of Mr. D. V. G., his poems are tuned for music. The most recent publication is from the pen of Mr. V. Seetharamaiah who assumes the pseudonym, ‘V. C.’ He is a musician among poets and some of his poems are on music itself and well-adapted for singing. Some of them are full of a strong sentiment and some others show that he is very susceptible to artistic influences. The poem entitled ‘Sidhartha's Renunciation’ written on seeing the ‘bas relief’ of the same name by Mr. K. Venkatappa, a great artist of modern India, is an instance of this. Among poets of South Kanara, Mr. Govinda Pai of Manieswar and Mr. Sankata Bhattah Kadengodlu stand out prominent. The former has contributed a number of good compositions in verse on various subiects to several magazines and is a well-read linguistic scholar. Also he has rendered into Kannada a few selections from ‘Omar Khayyam.’ The latter is endowed with a rich imagination and is full of promise. If we go to the other side of the Tungabhadra, Mr. Dattatreya Bendre is very prominent. He is the chief of a fraternity of young men called ‘Galeyara Gumpu’ (friends' group) silently working for the cause of Kannada. He feels strongly and writes with power. It may be said that his poems stand on a level with the best modern poetry of the West. The degraded condition of Mother India and the woes of the wretched have very much moved him and are reflected in his poetry. Some of his poems breathe the Soviet spirit. The other members of 'Galeyara Gumpu’ are a band of ardent workers who have produced excellent verse. Similar to this, is another band of graduate and under-graduate poets in the Mysore Maharaia's College. They have given us two volumes of poems, the contents of which prophesy a bright future. Besides these there are many others who are experimenting with the new prosody.

The new spirit has extended to drama also. Broadly, dramas may be divided into three classes: social, historical and Puranic. Among those who write dramas of the first kind, Mr. T. P. Kailasam is the most powerful and prolific. His analysis of intricate social problems is very clear. As is the modern tendency in the West, he puts the problem before you to solve for yourself. He has no message to give. He only shows you what is wrong and where. The satirical hits in his writings are very pungent though sugar-coated with humour. Spoken language is introduced ‘cent per cent’ into his dramas. Though not universally popular, this is a powerful vehicle. Hollowness of mere academic distinction, evils of priest ridden society, and the disharmony between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law are some of his favourite themes. Another evil of our society is the indignities to which the parents of daughters are subjected. This is very successfully satirised in Mr. Masthi's recent play ‘Manjula.’ The method adopted is different from that of Mr. Kailasam. There is a ‘deus ex machina’ which solves the problem instead of allowing the audience to think. Similarly. Mr. C. K. Venkatramiah's ‘Nammasamaja.’ The play depicts the unhappy consequences of blindly adopting Western manners. It deals with ‘the clash of cultures’ and the author has suggested a way out of the difficulty by portraying how a sympathetic understanding of both the East and the West will contribute to a happy blending of the best in both. The horrors of untouchability and the tyranny of the upper classes are treated of in Mr. K. V. Puttappa's ‘Jalagara’ where God Shiva is represented as the scavenger of the universe. In a pilgrim centre where scavengers are kept out, Shiva appears as one of them and removes the veil of ignorance from the high-caste priests. The perverted philosophy that has made us a lethargic people and our holy places unholy, has been dealt a severe blow but Mr. M. R. Sreenivasamoorthy in his ‘Nagarika.’ This is a blank-verse play with plenty of old Kannada words which lend a dignity to the diction. Mr. Moorthy has preached through his hero the modern doctrine: ‘Work is Worship.’ There is none who has specialised in historical dramas though several playwrights have worked on themes from both Indian and European History. Both Mr. Gundappa and Mr. Masthi have written about the fall of Vijayanagar. While the former has chosen the cultural decline of Vijaynagar. the latter has written about the political decline due to internal feuds and communal animosity. The political disputes of eighteenth-century Mysore is the subject-matter of a drama called ‘Vigada Vikrama Raya’ by ‘Samsa.’ The play is in old Kannada prose. The Sophoclean tragedy ‘Ajax’ has been adapted into Kannada by Mr. B. M. Srikantia. The author has adapted an episode from Bharata to suit the translation. The hero, Aswathaman, who is a bachelor in the original, has got a son in the drama, and a ‘Chiranjeevi’ is made to commit suicide. This has given rise to a lot of controversy. The play is in old Kannada blank-verse and the construction is after the Greek model with its chorus and other features. It is a wonderful piece of translation and marks an important phase in the history of our literature. Mr. V. Sitaramaiah has rendered into simple spoken Kannada prose ‘Sohrab’ and ‘Rustum’ with some variations from Matthew Arnold and the Persian original. The change gives an enhanced aesthetic effect to the play. The appearance of the parents on the last scene to see their son die produces a wonderful effect. Especially the philosophic calmness with which the young warrior embraces death. The last days in prison and death of Socrates is the theme of Mr. S. G. Sastri's prose-play entitled ‘The Death of Socrates.’ There are a number of stage directions and the final scene is particularly free from emotional language, generally employed in such scenes to give a melodramatic effect. This is in harmony with the calm and philosophic boldness with which the hero meets his death. The latest publication in the field is Mr. Devudu Narasimha Sastri's translation of John Masefield's ‘Trial of Jesus.’ It will appeal very much to modern readers since the hero of the play is the prototype of the hero of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi. The construction of the play is somewhat after the Greek model and the subject-matter is the last chapter of the life of Jesus Christ. No doubt, Puranic dramas are stale enough on the South Indian stage. But they need not prevent new ones coming up. There are many Puranic characters misrepresented and situations mishandled. To remedy this, is the purpose of the new playwrights who borrow their raw material from the Puranas. They give, a new interpretation to the old stage for instance, Urmila is an obscure character in Valmiki's Ramayana. But all the same her character is very wonderful. Sita who was so anxious to follow her husband in his forest travels, she tolerated separation, from her lord for fourteen years. During this long period she lives a hermit's life and feels her oneness with even the anima1s of the hermitage. All these are so nicely brought out in ‘Tapasvini,’ a small play. by Srimathi Bharati. Similarly the heroine of Mr. C. K. Venkataramaiah's ‘Mandodari.’ She is a true wife, a sympathetic woman, a benevolent queen and a tactful lady. Though she knew her husband had deviated from the path of righteousness, she does not behave like Vibhishana who reproached the brother only to join the enemy. She tries to convince her husband of his weakness. Even he, Ravana, knows that he is pursuing the wrong path, but is overcome by the Destiny of the tragic hero. Mandodari feels this when she expresses that there is no sin that is not absolved by repentance. Unity of time has been carefully kept up in this play and each character speaks in a manner that is becoming of his or her station in life. The several characters are true to life, and hence the greater appeal. Similarly, the twoplays ‘Usha’ and ‘Shantha’ of Mr. Masthi, reveal a capacity for handling the love element with delicacy. In the former play, a love-lorn princess is compelled by her father to marry one whom she does not love, and she refuses to obey the father, having clandestinely married the lord of her heart. The restraint exercised in handling such themes is very appropriate. In ‘Shantha’ the princess of Kerala goes with her retinue to tempt a sage in penance and bring him to give relief to the famine-stricken kingdom. The conversations of the princess with the ascetic who has never seen the face of a woman and her ‘silly little jokes’ lend a peculiar grace to the play. These are missed when handled carelessly. A discriminate introduction of music is another special feature of these playlets.

Critical literature is slowly developing and Mr. Masthi Venkatesa Iyengar has contributed three volumes of essays of the type of Matthew Arnold's. Some of them deal with the philosophy of literature and others are a kind of review of a few masterpieces of the world's literature. Mr. D. V. Gundappa has published an essay on ‘Science and Literature.’ The Central College Karnataka Sangha has published a supplement to its journal called ‘Muddana Sanchike.’ The volume consists of a number of scholarly articles on the life and works of Muddana, a poet of modern Karnataka, and is a valuable contribution to Kannada critical literature. Similarly, the ‘Ranna Kavi Prashasthi’ of the Mysore University Union. It has a number of articles by scholars of repute on the life and works of Ranna, a poet of the tenth century. Besides these, a number of good books on the history of literature and allied subjects have come out. Mr. M. R. Srinivasamurthi’s ‘Bhakthi Bhandari Basaveswararu’ and Mr. D. V. G’s articles on ‘Vidyaranya and his Contemporaries’ are worthy publications. So also the ‘Lives of the Poets’ by Mr. R. Narasimhachar and Dr. A. Venkatasubbayya's articles thereon. Mr. Govinda Pai of Manjeswar is another eminent scholar of philology who has writtenon subjects like the occurrence of Kannada words in Greek dramas. A unique publication which aids to a sympathetic understanding of the historical and literary culture of Karnataka is Mr. Venkoba Rao’s ‘Mysoroo Desada Vasthusilpa,’ dealing with the architectural antiquities of Mysore.

It may not be out of place here to deal with journalism. Due to want of facilities for communication, and the Kannada country being split up into different political units, Karnataka cannot boast of a ‘daily’ worth the name. But special magazines devoted to particular topics is a feature in Kannada journalism. There are a number of ‘weeklies’ published from different centres among which mention may be made of ‘Viswakarnataka’ of Bangalore. Though of recent origin, it has given a lead and come to stay. Among monthly magazines ‘Jayakarnataka’ of Dharwar is the ‘Modern Review’ of Kannada and is very popular. Another popular monthly is the ‘Rangabhumi’ published by the Bangalore Amateur Dramatic Association and devoted to topics concerning drama and the stage, ‘Makkala Pusthaka,’ a children's magazine run on the lines of Arthur Mee’s English magazine, is a praiseworthy enterprise. The wave of short stories has given rise to a monthly devoted to short stories, ‘Kathanjali.’ Mr. M. Rama Rao, who has been silently working for over a decade, has the credit of having published the largest number of books, and he also runs a magazine called ‘Subhode’ dealing with moral and religious topics. Srimathi Kalyanamma of Sarada Stri Samaja edits a ladies’ magazine called ‘Saraswathi.’ Pundit Taranath of Tungabhadra is the Editor of a high-class monthly, ‘Prema,’ dealing mainly with topics of social and religious reform. A kind of miniature ‘Jayakarnataka’ is the ‘Vasantha,’ a monthly magazine from Mangalore. ‘Prabuddha Karnataka,’ by Mr. A. R. Krishna Sastri and published by the Central College Karnataka Sangha, is a high-class quarterly devoted to literary topics. The new spirit in Kannada is very much due to its influence and ‘Prabuddha Karnataka’ will occupy a prominent place when the history of Kannada literature comes to be written. Besides these, there are many others suffering for want of patronage. Anyhow the want of a powerful, widely circulated ‘daily’ is a great desideratum in the cultural life of Karnataka.

Contact with the West has thus given a new orientation to Kannada and whipped into action those who were in slumber. But a regrettable feature of the Renaissance in Karnataka is the prejudice it has been creating towards everything old, in literature and life.