The document discusses the intended readership of Indian fiction written in English over time. In the early 19th century, this type of fiction was non-existent. It later emerged but targeted Western audiences due to low literacy in India. As literacy rose and an Indian middle-class developed, works incorporated more Indian culture and language to appeal to local readers. Authors used techniques like including regional words and references familiar to Indian audiences to signal their intended Indian readership.
The document discusses the intended readership of Indian fiction written in English over time. In the early 19th century, this type of fiction was non-existent. It later emerged but targeted Western audiences due to low literacy in India. As literacy rose and an Indian middle-class developed, works incorporated more Indian culture and language to appeal to local readers. Authors used techniques like including regional words and references familiar to Indian audiences to signal their intended Indian readership.
The document discusses the intended readership of Indian fiction written in English over time. In the early 19th century, this type of fiction was non-existent. It later emerged but targeted Western audiences due to low literacy in India. As literacy rose and an Indian middle-class developed, works incorporated more Indian culture and language to appeal to local readers. Authors used techniques like including regional words and references familiar to Indian audiences to signal their intended Indian readership.
The document discusses the intended readership of Indian fiction written in English over time. In the early 19th century, this type of fiction was non-existent. It later emerged but targeted Western audiences due to low literacy in India. As literacy rose and an Indian middle-class developed, works incorporated more Indian culture and language to appeal to local readers. Authors used techniques like including regional words and references familiar to Indian audiences to signal their intended Indian readership.
Being a writer of Indian origin sometimes it becomes quite difficult to express oneself in a
foreign language, and every writer tackles it differently. We witness a lot of such scenarios
where Indian writers maintain the true essence of what they want to convey using quite a few
regional words in their writing. Throughout Indian history, the evolution of writing we
witness a wide variety of writing styles, depending on their intended readership. Here we will
examine the different audiences for Indian fiction in English and how the style of writing
varies with the intended audience.
During the early 19th century Indian Fiction in English was non-existent. Indian literature
was either for the general public or the ruling/upper classes. There was no actual middle class
as we know and see today. The literature was also limited to religious occurrences, songs,
kirtans, or Urdu poems.
At the dawn of the 20th century, various writers of Indian origin started writing novels in
English. However, due to high levels of illiteracy among the Indians and a general lack of
free time and resources, these writers barely found an Indian audience. Hence began the
search for identity for these writers. Works of novelists like R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand,
and Raja Rao provide useful insight on this matter. English being the only language that cut
across the regional barriers in India, brought many upper-class Indians and European readers.
But with time, as more and more Indians got educated the condition for the Indian writers
changed. With the advent of middle-class Indians, English novels got exposure that wasn't
seen before. The novels written in English no longer needed to cater for solely a western
audience, the Indian-ness of the English novels increased. An increase in readership also had
its challenges, bringing a sense of Indian culture to these readers was an obstacle in itself. Authors showcased this Indian-ness in their works, by incorporating different styles and
expressions in their writing, setting them apart from the works of American and British
writers.
A solid indication to the author's intended audience is the way in which content is presented
to the reader. The type of English spoken in India varies from region to region and is full of
colloquialisms. The style in which colloquial English is spoken in India is usually borrowed
from how the regional language is spoken in that specific region, setting it apart from the
styles of English spoken in the rest of the world. The incorporation of this Indian-ness in
English writing is referred to as “Chutnification” (Rushdie), a term coined by Salman
Rushdie, which refers to adopting Indian elements in the English language or culture. When a
work of Indian fiction includes this style of English, while a non-Indian audience can still
understand it, there is a sense of familiarity among Indian readers who’ve encountered a
similar vernacular at some point in their lives. This is often seen in the works of authors
having a relatively large Indian readership. A type of Indian-ized English can be seen
throughout Nissim Ezekiel’s Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S, with phrases such as
“departing for foreign” and “Just now only I will do it.” These phrases may sound
grammatically awkward to a British-English or American reader, however they mirror the
sentence structure of many of the regional languages spoken in India. While even a non-
Indian reader could easily decipher the meaning behind the text, an Indian reader would be
familiar with this type of language being used. This is not often seen in works having large
foreign audiences, such as in the works of R.K Narayan. The style of writing in works such as
Swami and Friends is very similar to that of the works of English authors. Another factor influencing the readership of Indian fiction in English is the use of various
Indian phrases and expressions in the context of popular Indian culture. Writers tend to
express their Indian-ness in their works through descriptions of food, clothing, places, etc.
Often while writing for an Indian audience, most writers don’t feel the need to explain these
phrases and expressions in their texts. Indian readers, even if not from a similar regional
background, could understand what is being conveyed from the context in which it is given
in. In The Collectors by Rohinton Mistry, the game naargolio is mentioned. Like the other
Hindi, Gujarati and Parsi terms used in this text as well as other works by Mistry, the game of
naargolio goes unexplained. However, by mentioning that it involves seven flat stones,
though irrelevant to the plot of the story, most Indian readers could understand the game
being played–perhaps known to them by a different name. On the other hand, writers who are
conscious of their non-Indian audience tend to translate or describe these types of phrases.
For instance, in Swami and Friends, one of the contents of Swami’s grandmother’s wooden
box is an areca nut. Most Indian readers would be familiar with it as an active ingredient in
chewing paan, and the reference to it reveals a fact about Swami’s grandmother and her
habits. To a reader not familiar with Indian culture (and paan, by extension), the mention of
the areca nut has no significance beyond the nut itself. When familiar cultural terms related
to food, clothing, etc are taken out of context in this manner to cater to a foreign audience, the
effect and significance is lessened. Alternatively, some authors include a glossary of Indian
words and phrases being used in their writing, as seen in Mulkraj Anand’s Untouchable.
Taking into account the various factors mentioned above, Indian writing in English followed
an exponential curve in terms of readership of the Indian audience. In the early phase after
India’s Independence, writings were mainly for a foreign audience and upper-class Indians,
but with the passage of time and development accompanied with the growth of literacy rate and demolition of caste based boundaries the writing material became more abundant among
Indians. The references to culture and society are still very abundant in writings of almost all
the authors of Indian origin. To conclude, we can say, despite a shift in language, the Indian
essence was never lost from the writing, and with time writers have developed a unique style
of their own.
Works Cited
1. Ezekiel, Nissim. Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S. Routledge, 2003.
