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| Shantinath Desai |
(1929 -
1998) was one of India's most prominent modern writers and was a part of the
important Navya Movement, the influential innovative movement in Kannada
literature after India attained independence. Before 1947, modern Indian
literature was largely characterized by the patriotism of the independence
struggle or by an escapism into romantic dream worlds. After a relatively short
phase of Marxist-inspired socially critical literature (pragativada) that began
in the 1940s, Navya came into being: its main characteristics are its emphasis
on the human individual and the inspiration by European models - especially
existentialist philosophy and psychoanalysis.
Although
Desai's mastery of English was excellent (and he translated the novel Bhava by
his friend U.R. Anantha Murthy into English), he wrote all his own works in his
South Indian mother tongue Kannada. His most important works, besides Vikshepa
("Perturbation", soon to appear in English translation in Manya
Verlag), are his first novel, Mukti ("Liberation"), Bija ("The
Seed"), and his posthumous novel Om Namo ("Obeisance To..."),
which recently appeared in a filmed version by Girish Karnad on Indian
television. Desai's oeuvre also includes short stories and essays. Shantinath
Desai was professor of English in the University of Kolhapur (Maharashtra), and
later he became the first president of the newly founded Kuvempu University in
Shimoga (Karnataka).
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Information
Courtesy : Mr. Mahavir S. Chavan
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