Humour in Telugu Literature

Humour in literature may be defined as the quality which provokes mirth or laughter in a healthy reader of normal intelligence and imagination. It is of many kinds in its origin and motive. It is usually the result of the perception of something novel or queer or unexpected, in the language or the sentiment expressed, or something incongruous or inconsistent, in the character or situation presented. It may be employed as a cheap device for providing entertainment, a powerful agency for social reform or as a humanising and civilising influence by producing artistic delight.

In the early periods in the history of Telugu literature when literary work was more or less confined to translation of the epics and Puranas in Sanskrit and the composition of Prabandhas or poetical romances, there was very little scope for humour. Even in the few instances of humour we have in the writings of the period, such as the boasts of Uttara Kumara in the Gograhana episode in the Mahabharata or the playful mischief of Balakrishna in the description of his sojourn at Gokula in the Bhagavata, the humour is of no fine variety or high literary quality.

But in the later periods when other popular literary forms were developed, such as Janapada geyas, or folk songs, and Satakas or centuries of verses, suitable for the expression of lyrical passion as well as social criticism, we find many instances of humour, of much variety and high literary quality, for example, in the popular Satakas named after Ramalingeswara, Andhra Vishnu Kavi Choudappa and Vemana. But the humour in these verses is all incidental and occasional, an attractive feature of the composition and not its aim or essence.

Ever since the commencement of the 19th century, however, when the modern period may be said to begin, quite a number of compositions specifically and deliberately aiming at humour have been appearing in Telugu literature, perhaps due to the impact on the life of the people, of a powerful alien civilisation and the influence on the men of letters, of the inspiring models of humorous literature in the English language. The Prahasanas of Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Ganapathi of Chilakamarthi Lakshminarasimham, the Sakshi essays of Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, and Kanyasulkam of Gurazada Appa Rao all belong to this stage. They are all, to a greater or less extent, modelled upon the masterpieces of their kind in English literature; and they are all of them inspired by the common motive of social reform and progress, through satirical criticism of outmoded and superstitious customs and conventions. The satire is therefore vitiated by extra literary motives, propagandist zeal, characterised by severity, and calculated to hurt and insult, and not so much to persuade or change the heart.

At the next stage in the growth of humorous literature in Telugu, we find the motive of social reform kept under restraint and in the ground, and humour of a purer literary quality and aiming at aesthetic effect and artistic pleasure attempted. The Vatirao Kathalu of Chinata Dikshitulu, Barrister Parvateesam of Mokkapati Narasimha Sastry, the farces of Bhamidipati Kameswara Rao, the sketches of middle class domestic life of Munimanikyam Narasimha Rao, and a host of other talented writers among our contemporaries, now attempt and very often succeed in their attempts to employ humour for its legitimate civilising purpose of sweetening life and developing sympathy and understanding and tolerance among the people through beauty and joy. Most of them still reveal the influences of foreign models; some of them are also obviously translations or close imitations or clever adaptations; but they reveal at the same time the immense possibilities for literary humour in the language and the genius of the people.

With the rise in the standards of living and spread of education especially among women, the progress in the establishment of a democratic way of life and a socialistic pattern of society, the advancement of culture and civilisation, which we are hoping, planning, and working for, we have every reason to be confident that in the future, humorous writing will be more and more popular and the social situation will afford more and more varied matter for humorous treatment, and more and greater masterpieces in literary humour will be produced in the Telugu language.

It is remarkable that the influence of Sanskrit literature, so marked in all other respects, should be so meagre in this field. Perhaps the Vidushaka in our early Telugu drama was modelled to some extent after his prototype in the classical Sanskrit drama, and the example of the Manipravalika style, of a mixture of Telugu and Sanskrit, might have suggested the possibilities for humour in a similar mixture of English and Telugu to Gurazada Appa Rao in his Kanyasulkam, and of Urdu and Telugu to Vedam Venkataraya Sastry, in his Prataparudriyam. For the rest, it must be admitted that the growth of humorous literature in Telugu is almost entirely a modern phenomenon with no great past to boast of, but an encouraging situation in the present, and a bright future to hope for.