Reviewing Nirmal Varma, Jaidev and the Indianness of Indian Literature

Abstract

Hans Harder studies the views of two authors and thinkers—Nirmal Varma and Jaidev on ‘Indianness’. Harder distinguishes between two basically different ways of using the word ‘Indian’, and he points out that this distinction can best be exemplified by the expression: ‘The Indianness of Indian Literature’. He discusses that the term is obviously used in two distinct ways. In ‘Indian Literature’, ‘Indian’ is an attribute denoting topographical and cultural origin and belonging. The ‘Indianness’ of the title, by contrast, is conceived as a matter of debate. Harder suggests that this second meaning is highly marked, as its opposite would be ‘Un-Indian’ rather than ‘non-Indian’, the English negative form being more explicit here than the positive.

For help and discussions in connection with this article, I wish to thank Harald Fischer-Tiné and Alokeranjan Dasgupta (Hirschberg).