R. K. Narayan An Introduction

Abstract

Contemporary Indian Writers in English (CIWE) is a series that presents critical commentaries on some of the best-known names in the genre. With the high visibility of Indian writing in English in academic, critical, pedagogic and reader circles, there is a perceivable demand for lucid yet rigorous introductions to several of its authors and genres. The CIWE texts cater to a wide audience - from the student seeking information and critical material on particular works to the general, informed reader who might want to know a little more about an author s/he has just finished reading. Cast in a user-friendly format and written with a high degree of critical and theoretical rigour, the texts in the series will provide astute, accessible, informed entry-points into a wide range of works and writers. CIWE, we hope, will further strengthen the interest in and readership of one of the most significant components of world literatures in English.A pioneer in Indian writings in English, R. K. Narayan's breadth of work, based on the fictitious world of the tiny Malgudi town, offers both the academic-scholar and the general reader a variety of ideas about and insights into a small town's many lives. Narayan's novels, short fiction, non-fiction and travelogues hover around sweet shop owners, schoolchildren, teachers, family planning propagandists, ghosts, criminals-turned-savants and housewives - the deceptive simplicity of his prose style offering a 'microcosm' of the Indian society, with its caste, class and gender complication. All of these essential aspects of Narayan's work come in for sustained attention in this eminently readable introduction by Mohan G. Ramanan. Ramanan posits a genealogical perspective on Narayan's themes and concerns by locating these in intellectual contexts, such as the role of English in Narayan's works and Indian Writing in English as a genre.