Theodore2940 at 19:41, 19 January 2026

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{{short description|Literature written in English by Indians}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Essay-like|date=February 2025}}
{{Original research|date=February 2025}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}
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{{History of modern literature}}
'''Indian English literature''' ('''IEL'''), also referred to as '''Indian Writing in English''' ('''IWE'''), is the body of work by writers in [[India]] who write in the [[English language]] but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous [[languages of India]]. Its early history began with the works of [[Henry Louis Vivian Derozio]] and [[Michael Madhusudan Dutt]] followed by [[Rabindranath Tagore]] and [[Sri Aurobindo]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} [[R. K. Narayan]], [[Mulk Raj Anand]] and [[Raja Rao]] contributed to the growth and popularity of Indian English fiction in the 1930s.<ref name="KhoranaGreenwood2009">{{cite book|author1=Meena G.. Khorana|author2=Greenwood|title=The Life and Works of Ruskin Bond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipxKj8G1H0kC&pg=PA1|date=January 2009|publisher=IAP|isbn=978-1-60752-075-7|page=1–2}}</ref> It is also associated, in some cases, with the works of members of the [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian diaspora]] who subsequently compose works in English.

It is often referred to as '''Indo-Anglian''' literature<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Susheel Kumar |date=2018-06-30 |title=Indo-Anglian: Connotations and Denotations |url=https://eejpl.vnu.edu.ua/index.php/eejpl/article/view/53 |journal=East European Journal of Psycholinguistics |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=45–69 |doi=10.29038/eejpl.2018.5.1.sha |issn=2313-2116|doi-access=free }}</ref> (a writing specific term; not to be confused with ''[[Anglo-Indian]]''). Although some works may be classified under the genre of [[postcolonial literature]], Indian English literature, evolving since the late 18th century encompasses diverse themes and ideologies, making strict categorization challenging.

==History==
Indian English Literature is relatively recent, being nearly two centuries old. The first book written by an Indian in English was ''The Travels of Dean Mahomet'' (1794), a travel narrative by [[Sake Dean Mahomed]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-10-15 |title=Short history of Indian writing in English |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-children/short-history-of-indian-writing-in-english/article5226149.ece |access-date=2025-03-02 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> The first Indian novel in English, ''Rajmohan’s Wife'' (1864), was written by [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]. ''Govinda Samanta, or the History of a Bengali Raiyat'' (1874) by [[Lal Behari Dey]] and his later ''[[Folk-Tales of Bengal]]'' (1883) further contributed to early Indian English fiction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Day |first=Lal Behari |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL14008274M/Folk-tales_of_Bengal |title=Folk-tales of Bengal |date=1912 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London|ol=14008274M }}</ref> ''Bianca, or The Young Spanish Maiden'' (1878) by [[Toru Dutt]] was the first novel by an Indian woman.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dutt |first=Toru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOY3EAAAQBAJ |title=Bianca, Or, The Young Spanish Maiden |date=2021-06-08 |publisher=Graphic Arts Books |isbn=978-1-5132-2342-1 |language=en}}</ref> [[Krupabai Satthianadhan]]’s autobiographical novel ''Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Life'' was serialized in ''The Madras Christian College Magazine'' (1887–88), followed by his only other novel, ''Kamala: The Story of a Hindu Life'' (1894).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Souza |first=Eunice De |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYie-S7VMh4C |title=The Satthianadhan Family Album |date=2005 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-2127-7 |language=en}}</ref>

The non-fictional body of prose in Indian English literature from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries includes letters, diaries, [[Political Manifesto|political manifestos]], articles, speeches, and philosophical works, forming a rich and varied corpus. The speeches of [[Swami Vivekananda]], [[Rabindranath Tagore]], [[Chittaranjan Das]], [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], [[Mahatma Gandhi]], and [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] played a crucial role in shaping modern India and its use of the English language.<ref>Auddy, pp. 9–10</ref> [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s ''[[Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule]]'' (1910) was written in an indigenized variety of English, challenging 'the hegemony of Standard English'.<ref>Auddy, pp. 169</ref>

[[Raja Rao]], Indian philosopher and writer, authored ''Kanthapura'' and ''The Serpent and the Rope''. [[Kisari Mohan Ganguli]] translated the [[Mahabharata]] into English, the only time the epic has ever been translated in its entirety into a European language.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} [[Rabindranath Tagore]] wrote in Bengali and English and translated several of his own work into English. [[Dhan Gopal Mukerji]] was the first Indian author to win a literary award in the United States. [[Nirad C. Chaudhuri]], a writer of non-fiction, is best known for his ''[[The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian]]'' (1951), in which he relates his life experiences and influences. [[P. Lal]], a poet, translator, publisher and essayist, founded a press in the 1950s for [[Indian English]] writing, [[Writers Workshop (publisher)|Writers Workshop]]. Ram Nath Kak (1917–1993), a Kashmiri [[veterinarian]], wrote his autobiography ''Autumn Leaves'', which is one of the most vivid portraits of life in 20th century [[Kashmir]].

[[R. K. Narayan]] contributed over many decades and was aided by [[Graham Greene (writer)|Graham Greene]] to find a publisher in England.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} Similar to the way [[Thomas Hardy]] used [[Thomas Hardy's Wessex|Wessex]], Narayan created the fictitious town of [[Malgudi]] where he set his novels. Some criticise Narayan for the parochial, detached and closed world that he created in the face of the changing conditions in India at the times in which the stories are set. Others, such as Greene, however, feel that through Malgudi they could vividly understand the Indian experience.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} Narayan's evocation of small-town life and its experiences through the eyes of the child protagonist Swaminathan in ''[[Swami and Friends]]'' is a good sample of his writing style. Simultaneous with Narayan's pastoral idylls, [[Mulk Raj Anand]], was similarly gaining recognition for his writing set in rural India, focused on brutality, with divisions of caste, class and religion.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} According to writer [[Lakshmi Holmström]], "The writers of the 1930s were fortunate because after many years of use, English had become an Indian language used widely and at different levels of society, and therefore they could experiment more boldly and from a more secure position."<ref name="KhoranaGreenwood2009" /> [[Kamala Markandaya|Kamala Markandeya]] is an early writer in IEL who has often grouped with the trinity of R.K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jun/25/guardianobituaries.india|title=Kamala Markandaya|last=Kumar|first=Jai|date=2004-06-24|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-03-31|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The contributions of [[Manoj Das]] and [[Manohar Malgonkar|Manohar Malgoankar]] to growth of IEL largely remains unacknowledged.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-manohar-malgonkar-contributiion-to-indian-writing-in-english-remains-largely-unacknowledged-1397472|title=Manohar Malgonkar contributiion to Indian Writing in English remains largely unacknowledged {{!}} Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|date=2010-06-17|work=dna|access-date=2017-03-31|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Later history==
{{multiple image
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| footer = {{hlist|''Various Indian English writers, from top, left to right'': [[Arundhati Roy]] • [[Jhumpa Lahiri]] • [[Kiran Desai]] • [[Vikram Seth]] • [[Salman Rushdie]] • [[Amitav Ghosh]]}}
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Among the later writers, the most notable is [[Salman Rushdie]], born in India and now living in the UK. Rushdie, with his famous work ''[[Midnight's Children]]'' ([[Booker Prize]] 1981, Booker of Bookers 1992, and Best of the Bookers 2008), ushered in a new trend of writing. He used a hybrid language – English generously peppered with Indian terms – to represent India. His works are categorised as [[magic realism]]. [[Nayantara Sehgal]] was one of the first female Indian writers in English to receive wide recognition. Her fiction deals with India's elite responding to the crisis engendered by political change. She was awarded the 1986 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for English, for her novel, ''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (1985), by the [[Sahitya Akademi]], India's National Academy of Letters. [[Anita Desai]], who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, received a Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978 for her novel ''Fire on the Mountain'' and a British [[Guardian Prize]] for ''The Village by the Sea''. Her daughter [[Kiran Desai]] won the 2006 [[Man Booker Prize]] for her second novel, ''[[The Inheritance of Loss]]''. [[Ruskin Bond]] received Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of short stories ''Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra'' in 1992. He is also the author of a historical novel ''[[A Flight of Pigeons]]'', which is based on an episode during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].

[[Vikram Seth]], author of ''[[The Golden Gate (Vikram Seth novel)|The Golden Gate]]'' (1986) and ''[[A Suitable Boy]]'' (1994) is a writer who uses a purer English and more realistic themes. Vikram Seth is notable both as an accomplished novelist and a prolific poet.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Another writer who has contributed immensely to the Indian English Literature is [[Amitav Ghosh]] who is the author of ''[[The Circle of Reason (novel)|The Circle of Reason]]'' (his 1986 [[debut novel]]), ''[[The Shadow Lines]]'' (1988), ''[[The Calcutta Chromosome]]'' (1995), ''[[The Glass Palace]]'' (2000), ''[[The Hungry Tide]]'' (2004), and ''[[Sea of Poppies]]'' (2008), the first volume of ''The Ibis'' trilogy, set in the 1830s, just before the [[First Opium War|Opium War]], which encapsulates the colonial history of the East. Ghosh's latest work of fiction is ''[[River of Smoke]]'' (2011), the second volume of ''The Ibis'' trilogy.

[[Jhumpa Lahiri]] is a British-born [[Indian American]] of [[Bengalis|Bengali]] descent whose works portray the Indian-immigrant experiences in the [[United States]]. She won the [[Pulitzer prize]] for fiction for her debut collection ''[[Interpreter of Maladies]]'', which explores the lives of first-generation Indian immigrants.<ref name= "pbs">Farnsworth, Elizabeth. [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/gergen/jan-june00/lahiri_4-12.html "Pulitzer Prize Winner-Fiction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101182759/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/gergen/jan-june00/lahiri_4-12.html |date=January 1, 2014 }}, [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] [[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer|NewsHour]], April 12, 2000. Retrieved 2008-04-15.</ref> Her first novel, ''[[The Namesake (novel)|The Namesake]]'', which is made into [[The Namesake (film)|a film]], depicts Bengali immigrant-couple struggles and adjustments to move to the United States from [[Calcutta]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pawar |first1=Dr. Sadashiv |title=Literary Text into Film: A Study of the Namesake |url=https://www.academia.edu/.../Literary_Text_into_Film_A_Study_of_The_Namesake_ |access-date=10 May 2019 |archive-date=7 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407030825/https://www.academia.edu/.../Literary_Text_into_Film_A_Study_of_The_Namesake_ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her second story collection, ''[[Unaccustomed Earth]]'', depicts the experiences of the [[immigrant generations|second and third generation Indian Americans]].<ref>[http://nwasianweekly.com/old/2008270014/book20082714.htm "Jhumpa Lahiri’s latest book continues to explore the immigrant experience"] By N.P. Thompson for ''Northwest Asian Weekly''.</ref> Her second novel, ''[[The Lowland]]'', which tells the story of two brothers, Subhash and Udayan Mitra, whose lives diverge sharply against the backdrop of 1960s India and the rise of the [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency|Naxalite movement]], was placed on the shortlist for the [[2013 Man Booker Prize]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23417583 |title=Man Booker judges reveal 'most diverse' longlist |last=Masters |first=Tim |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=July 23, 2013 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=March 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326225748/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23417583 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Rohinton Mistry]] is an Indian-born Canadian author who is a [[Neustadt International Prize for Literature]] laureate (2012). His first book ''[[Tales from Firozsha Baag]]'' (1987), published by [[Penguin Books]] Canada, is a collection of 11 short stories. His novels ''[[Such a Long Journey (novel)|Such a Long Journey]]'' (1991) and ''[[A Fine Balance]]'' (1995) earned him great acclaim. In a similar vein, [[M. G. Vassanji]] was born in [[Kenya]] of Indian descent and emigrated to Canada; he twice won the [[Giller Prize]], for ''[[The Book of Secrets (novel)|The Book of Secrets]]'' (1994) and ''[[The In-Between World of Vikram Lall]]'' (2003), as well as the [[Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction]] for ''A Place Within: Rediscovering India'' (2008), a travelogue.

[[Shashi Tharoor]], in his ''[[The Great Indian Novel]]'' (1989), follows a story-telling (though in a satirical) mode as in the [[Mahabharata]] drawing his ideas by going back and forth in time. His work as UN official living outside India has given him a vantage point that helps construct an objective Indianness.[[Vikram Chandra (novelist)|Vikram Chandra]] is another author who shuffles between India and the United States and has received critical acclaim for his first novel ''Red Earth and Pouring Rain'' (1995) and collection of short stories ''Love and Longing in Bombay'' (1997). His namesake [[Vikram Chandra (reporter)|Vikram A. Chandra]] is a renowned journalist and the author of ''The Srinagar Conspiracy'' (2000). [[Suketu Mehta]] is another writer currently based in the United States who authored ''[[Maximum City]]'' (2004), an autobiographical account of his experiences in the city of Mumbai. In 2008, [[Aravind Adiga]] received the Man Booker Prize for his debut novel ''[[The White Tiger (Adiga novel)|The White Tiger]]''.

Recent writers in India such as [[Arundhati Roy]] and [[David Davidar]] show a direction towards contextuality and rootedness in their works. Arundhati Roy, a trained architect and the 1997 Booker prize winner for her ''[[The God of Small Things]]'', calls herself a "home grown" writer. Her award-winning book is set in the immensely physical landscape of [[Kerala]]. Davidar sets his ''The House of Blue Mangoes'' in Southern [[Tamil Nadu]]. In both books, geography and politics are integral to the narrative. In his novel ''Lament of Mohini'' (2000), [[Shreekumar Varma]] touches upon the matriarchal system and the ''sammandham'' system of marriage as he writes about the Namboodiris and the aristocrats of Kerala. [[Jahnavi Barua]], a [[Bangalore]]-based author from [[Assam]] has set her critically acclaimed collection of short stories ''Next Door'' on the social scenario in Assam with insurgency as the background.

The stories and novels of [[Ratan Lal Basu]] reflect the conditions of tribal people and [[hill people]] of West Bengal and the adjacent states of Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal. Many of his short stories reflect the political turmoil of West Bengal since the Naxalite movement of the 1970s. Many of his stories like ''Blue Are the Far Off Mountains'', ''The First Rain'' and ''The Magic Marble'' glorify purity of love. His novel ''Oraon and the Divine Tree'' is the story of a tribal and his love for an age old tree.

==Poetry==
Early notable poets in English include [[Henry Louis Vivian Derozio|Derozio]], [[Michael Madhusudan Dutt]], [[Toru Dutt]], [[Romesh Chunder Dutt]], [[Sri Aurobindo]], [[Sarojini Naidu]], and her brother [[Harindranath Chattopadhyay]]. Notable 20th Century authors of English poetry in India include [[Dilip Chitre]], [[Kamala Das]], [[Eunice De Souza]], [[Nissim Ezekiel]], [[Kersy Katrak]], [[Shiv K. Kumar]], [[Arun Kolatkar]], [[P. Lal]], [[Jayanta Mahapatra]], [[Dom Moraes]], [[Gieve Patel]], [[A. K. Ramanujan]], [[Madan Gopal Gandhi]], and [[P C K Prem]] among several others.

The younger generation of poets writing in English include [[Abhay K]], [[Arundhathi Subramaniam]], [[Anju Makhija]], [[Bibhu Padhi]], [[Ranjit Hoskote]], [[Sudeep Sen]], [[Smita Agarwal]], [[Makarand Paranjape]], [[Jeet Thayil]], [[Jaydeep Sarangi]], [[Mani Rao]], [[Jerry Pinto]], [[K. V. Dominic]], [[Meena Kandasamy]], [[Nalini Priyadarshni]], [[Gopi Kottoor]], [[Tapan Kumar Pradhan]], [[Rukmini Bhaya Nair]], [[Robin Ngangom]], [[Vihang A. Naik]] and [[K Srilata]].

Modern expatriate Indian poets writing in English include [[Agha Shahid Ali]], [[Sujata Bhatt]], [[Richard Crasta]], [[Yuyutsu Sharma]], [[Tabish Khair]] and [[Vikram Seth]].

==Alternative writing==
India's experimental and [[avant garde]] [[counterculture]] is symbolised in the Prakalpana Movement. During the last four decades this bilingual [[literary movement]] has included [[Richard Kostelanetz]], [[John M. Bennett]], [[Don Webb (writer)|Don Webb]], [[Sheila Murphy (poet)|Sheila Murphy]] and many others worldwide and their Indian counterparts. Prakalpana fiction is a fusion of prose, poetry, play, essay, and pictures.

==See also==
*[[Indian literature]]
*[[Indian poetry in English]]
*[[List of Indian poets#English|List of English poets from India]]
*[[Literature from North East India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|}}
*Auddy, Ranjan Kumar. "In Search of Indian English: History, Politics and Indigenisation. London & New York: Routledge, 2020 {{ISBN|978-0-367-51008-4}} & 978-0-367-35271 & 978-0-429-33160-2
*Haq, Kaiser (ed.). ''Contemporary Indian Poetry''.Columbus: Ohio State University Press,1990.
*Haq, Rubana (ed.). ''The Golden Treasury of Writers Workshop Poetry''. Kolkata: Writers Workshop, 2008.
*Hoskote, Ranjit (ed.). ''Reasons for Belonging: Fourteen Contemporary Indian Poets.'' Viking/Penguin Books India, New Delhi, 2002.
*Singh, Bijender. "Indian Writing in English: Critical Insights." New Delhi, Authorspress, 2014.
*[http://menanddreamsinthedhauladhar.com Indian Writing in English] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322153029/http://menanddreamsinthedhauladhar.com/ |date=2018-03-22 }} | Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar by Novels by Indian Authors - [http://menanddreamsinthedhauladhar.com/indian-writers-in-english-literature-and-their-works.php Kochery C Shibu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407153616/http://menanddreamsinthedhauladhar.com/indian-writers-in-english-literature-and-their-works.php |date=2017-04-07 }}
*Joseph, Margaret Paul. "Jasmine on a String: a Survey of Women Writing English Fiction in India." Oxford University Press, 2014.
*King, Bruce Alvin. ''Modern Indian Poetry in English: Revised Edition''. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1987, rev. 2001. ("the standard work on the subject and unlikely to be surpassed" — Mehrotra, 2003).
*King, Bruce Alvin. ''Three Indian Poets: Nissim Ezekiel, A K Ramanujan, Dom Moraes''. Madras: Oxford University Press, 1991.
*Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna (ed.). ''The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets''. Calcutta: Oxford University Press, 1992.
*Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna (ed.). ''A History of Indian Literature in English''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Distributed in India by Doaba Books Shanti Mohan House 16, Ansari Road, New Delhi.
*Parthasarathy, R. (ed.). ''Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets (New Poetry in India)''. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1976.
*Prem, PCK. ''English Poetry in India: A Comprehensive Survey of Trends and Thought Patterns'' New Delhi: Authorspress, 2011.{{ASIN|8172736029|country=in}}
*Reddy, T. Vasudeva. ''A Critical Survey of Indo-English Poetry'' New Delhi: Authorspress, 2016.{{ASIN|9352072499|country=in}}
*Roy, Pinaki. "''Encountering the West'': A Very Brief Overview of the Indian Diasporic Novelists". ''Journal of Higher Education and Research Society'' (ISSN 2321-9432) 1(1), October 2013: http://herso.org/vol-1-issue-1-oct-2013/
*Roy, Pinaki. “''Dramatic Chronicle'': A Very Brief Review of the Growth of Indian English Plays”. ''Indian Drama in English: Some Perspectives''. Ed. Kaushik, A.S. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors Pvt. Ltd., 2013 ({{ISBN|978-81-269-1772-3|}}). pp. 272–87.
*Sadana, Rashmi. "Writing in English," in ''The Cambridge Companion to Modern Indian Culture''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
*Sadana, Rashmi. ''English Heart, Hindi Heartland: the Political Life of Literature in India''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
*Shivdasani, Menka (ed.). ''Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry'' : USA, BigBridge.Org, [[Michael Rothenberg]], 2004.
*Souza, Eunice de. "Nine Indian Women Poets", Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1997.
*Souza, Eunice de. ''Talking Poems: Conversations With Poets''. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999.
*Souza, Eunice de. ''Early Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology : 1829-1947.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005.
*Srikanth, Rajini. ''The World Next Door: South Asian American Literature and the Idea of America'''. Asian American History and Culture. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2004.
*Mahapatra, Jayanta & Sharma, Yuyutsu (ed.). ''Ten: The New Indian Poets''. New Delhi: Nirala Publications, 1993. http://niralapublications.com/new-release-ten-the-new-indian-poets/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219051402/http://niralapublications.com/new-release-ten-the-new-indian-poets/ |date=2017-12-19 }}
*Jha, Vivekananad. (ed) ''[[The Dance of the Peacock]]''. Canada: Hidden Brook Press, 2014.
{{refend}}

{{English literature}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian literature in English| ]]
[[Category:Indian literature by language|English]]

Indian English literature - Revision history

Theodore2940 at 19:41, 19 January 2026