What is it about?
This paper looks at poems in Bangla and Telugu to explore how the idea of progressive literature was received in these languages and how it played out over time, from 1930s to 1970s. The focus would be on two Bengali poets Subhash Mukhopadhyay and Manibhushan Bhattacharya and two Telugu poets Sri Sri and Cherabanda Raju. How did those poets keep balance between their ideology and literary aesthetics to counter societal as well as literary establishments? In the post-colonial period, what role did they play for a significant paradigm shift in the history of modern Indian literature
Featured Image
Photo by Trust "Tru" Katsande on Unsplash
Why is it important?
It is important to know how the poets associated with the All India Progressive Writers Association brought a radical change in the poetic language to respond to the socio-political realities. How did the progressive poets challenge traditional and romantic language to uphold the struggle of oppressed class, caste and gender? In this paper I analysed that Cherabanda Raju and Manibhushan Bhattacharya both converted socio-political unrest of 1960s and 1970s into literary aesthetics where romance and revolution got merged to reshape the poetic language on the wake of Naxalbari Movement. Also I discussed about the evolution of 'Revolutionary Poetry' in Indian scenario.
Perspectives
This article discusses about the interconnections between socio-political movements and the politically committed poetry. Finding the voice of the oppressed in Bengali and Telugu poetry and analyzing the poetic elements was an exciting job. I hope you find this article thought-provoking.
Prabuddha Ghosh
Jadavpur University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Role of Poetry and Voice of the Oppressed: Bengali and Telugu, August 2023, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004547179_013.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
