My Reflection Upon Learning The Indian Literary Criticism By Professor Dr Vinod Joshi.

PREFACE : This blog is a response to the Thinking Activity assigned by my professor Dr Dilip Barad Sir. The blog is written to serve the purpose of understanding the Indian Literary Criticism along with Western Criticism ranging from Plato to T. S. Eliot. This blog is also written as a learning outcome response of the 'expert lecture' session we had from 10th February, 2022 to 19th February, 2022 wherein all the students have delightfully relished the cuisine of Indian Literary Criticism. Prof. Dr Vinod Joshi was invited as an esteemed guest lecturer who lucidly paved the way for the students in the ocean of Indian Literary Criticism in this marvellous get-together session of 9 days. Here I would like to briefly introduce Prof. Dr Vindo Joshi, who is a famous and celebrated Gujarati poet of the post modern Gujarati Literary period.

Brief Introduction to Poet & Professor Dr Vinod Joshi :

Vinod Joshi ( વિનોદ જોશી ) is a post-modern Gujarati poet, writer and critic from Gujarat, India who has imbued refreshing rural life images, mainly through portrayal of feminine sentiments in Gujarati literature.

His significant works include Parantu (1984; collection of poems), Shikhandi (1985; long narrative poem based on Shikhandi, a character from Mahabharata), Radio Natak: Swarup ane Siddhant (1986; Radio Drama: Form and Theory, a Ph.D. awarded abridged theses), Tundil-tundika (1987) : (in a form of padyavarta',' a genre of medieval Gujarati literature) and Zalar Vage Zoothadi (1991; collection of poems). He is recipient of the prestigious Jayant Pathak Puraskaar (1985), Critic's award- Sandhaan (1986), Kavishwar Dalpatram Award (2013), Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar (2015) amongst many others.

Parantu, his first anthology of poems, was published in 1984 by Kavilok Trust, followed by Shikhandi (1985). Shikhandi, a long narrative poem is composed in Sanskrit prosody. Shikhandi dealt with the psyche of Shikhandi and Bhishma, characters from Mahabharata. Tundil-tundika (1987) a long narrative poem of Vinod Joshi, is a reinterpretation of medieval form padyavaarta of Gujarati in a modern style. Zalar Vage Zoothadi (1991) is his most loved and sought after collection of poems. His selected poems have been compiled as Kunchi Aapo, Baaijee! by Manilal H. Patel, a well known Gujarati author.[6] Vinod Joshi is critically acclaimed in Gujarati literature for the elegant female sensibility in the sounds, rhymes and rhythms of his songs. In the poems of Vinod Joshi, one can perceive intense femininity, solitude, social status and indefinable individuality through images of everyday reality and objects.

Criticism:

Sonnet (1984)

Abhipret (1986)

Amrut Ghayal: Vyaktimatta ane Vangmay (1988) (critical works on Amrut Ghayal)

Udgreev (1995)

Nivesh (1995)

Radio Natak: Swaroop ane Siddhant (1986; Radio Drama: Form and Theory, An abridge theses, awarded Ph.D.)

Compilation[edit]:

Neeraksheer (1984 to 2012)

Sahityano Aaswad (1992)

Raasatarangini (Poems of Botadkar),(1995)

Kavyachayan (2006)

Aaj Andhar Khushbo bharyo Lagto (Poems of Prahlaad Parekh),(2002)

Vijayray Vaidya Smarak Grantha.

Fiction:

Morpichchha (1999) - An epistle novel

(Source : https://www.ailf.co.in/vinod-joshi.html)

Indian Literary Criticism :

Here I have briefly introduced the heralds of some major schools of Indian Literary Criticism and their popular treatises :

1. Rasa Theory - Bharatmuni - (Natyashastra)

2. Alamkara - Bhamaha - (Kavyalamkara)

3. Dhvani Theory - Aacharya Aanandavardhana - (Dhvanyaloka)

4. Vakrokti Theory - Aacharya Rajanaka Kuntaka - (Vakroktijivitam)

5. Riti - Aacharya Vamana - (Kavyalankara Sutra)

6. Auchitya - Kshemendra - (Auchityvicharcharcha)

Rasa Theory : In the sixth chapter of his famous dramaturgic treatise 'Natyashstra,' Bharatmuni introduces the definition of Rasa as to how it is generated in the Chitta (Psyche) of spectators along with the actors' :

'तत्र विभावानुभावव्यभिचारीसंयोगाद्रस्निष्पत्ती'

(Rasa is generated by the convergence of Vibhava (Determinants or causes,) Anubhava (Consequents,) and Vyabhichari or Sanchari Bhava (Transitory States of Emotions.))

Dhvani Theory : Aacharya Aanandvardhana propagates that beyond the literal(Abhidha) and methphorical (Lakshana) meanings, there lies a suggestive (Vyanjana) meaning of the word, sentence, or phrase used by a writer or a poet which he calls Vyanjana (Suggestion.) He comes up with the theory of Dhvani (Suggestion) in his eminent dictum 'Dhvanyaloka.' He divides the power of the words into three major types : (1) अभिधा (Literal or Direct Meaning) (2) लक्षणा (Indicative Meaning) and (3) व्यंजना (Suggestive Meaning.) The suggestive meaning is the best of the three and by the use of which a poet can produce an excellent poetry he states. He regards Dhvani as the soul of a poetry :

'काव्यस्यात्मा ध्वनि:।'

Vakrokti Theory : 'Vakroktijivitam' is the famous treatise by Aacharya Kuntaka wherin he expounds the theory of Vakrokti (The Excellency of Crookedness in Literary Work.) He gives his famous definition of Vakrokti in the first chapter of the treatise :

'वक्रोक्तिरेव वैदग्ध्यभङ्गीभणितिरुच्यते'

(Meaning : Something that is told with artistic crookedness, only that can be beautiful and having aesthetic pleasure within.)

Further he asserts the quality of an excellent poetry achieved through the employment of Vakrokti into it :

'शब्दार्थौ सहितौ वक्रकविव्यापारशालिनि ।

बन्धे व्यवस्थितौ काव्यं तद्विदाह्लादकारिणि ।।'

(Meaning : A poetry which possesses the Vakrokti in Shabda (Words) and Artha (Meaning) which is the outcome of poet's toil for choosing appropriate language and thus creates the perfectly formed poetry, becomes delightful only for those who have ability to perceive Vakrokti in the work of art or poetry.)

Along the line he gives six different types of Vakrata observed in the creative work of literature :

(1) वर्णविन्यासवक्रता

(2) पदपूर्वार्धवक्रता

(3) पदपरार्धवक्रता

(4) वाक्यवक्रता

(5) प्रकरणवक्रता

(6) प्रबंधवक्रता

We can compare Prabandh Vakrata to T. S. Eliot's theory of 'Tradition and Individual Talent.' In Prakarana Vakrata, an author takes events or situations from the myth already present and retells the same story with some addition and alteration into plot, structure, and sometimes even the end itself. Same goes with Eliot's concept wherein he echoes same that "the most individual parts of his [the poet's] work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously."

Alamkara School : 'Alamkara' literally means (if translated from Sanskrit in English) 'Ornament' which is worn in order to add to the present beauty, especially refered in context of women.

The pioneer of the Alamkara school is Bhamaha. Alamkara - according to him - adds beauty to the poetry. So it is now made clear that the Alamkara or Figures of Speech we are discussing is taken in the context of the art of writing poetry or poem.

Examples of Alamkara in Sankrit Prodody :

(1) Upama : It is the figure of speech wherein two similar objects are compared to each other on the grounds of holding some sort of similarities in the construction, formation, quality, and/or in shape. There is two sub-types :

- Upameya : The object to be compared.

- Upamaana : The object to be compared to.

E.g. 'You are like a divine being'

So, we see that in aforementioned example, 'You' is Upameya whereas 'Divine Being' is Upamaana.

In English Litereray Devices, we have 'Simile' wherein the conjunctions such as 'like,' 'as,' and 'aliken' are used to compare two objects which share same qualities. To illustrate, we can take a stanza from the poetry occuring in William Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It' :

Blow, blow, thou winter wind

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude...(1)

Here we find that 'Winter Wind' which is a natural phenomena is compared to the human-emotion ingratitude. So the question may arise that how far this comparison remains justifiable? Digging a bit deep into the things we can find that winter wind is the coldest and ruthless wind as compared to the winds that blow in the other seasons; same goes for the emotion of ingratitude, it has been the fact since humans has been able to record and curate history in forms of novels, poems, articles, manuscripts, etc., that humans are egoistic beings, as described in Bhagavad Geeta, humans are called 'Rajasika' or 'Ambitious' and 'Egoistics.' Somewhere in all the humans there is a corner where our ego resides in small or big proportion varying from head to head. So humans will expecr a word of gratitude from those whom they have done some kind of favor. From the outermost face we may tell not to expect anything after helping others, but somewhere in the deep region of our sub-conscious mind the expectation rises. Thus the very emotion of 'ingratitude' remains scalding experience for those who have done favor to others who do not return anything in response to the favour done. Thus we can safely say that the comparison between 'Winter Wind' and the human-emotion 'Ingratitude' is worthy to be done in context.

The word 'Kathaitavya' is interesting because it meticulously delineates the tricky function of language spoken or written. It means that whatever is told or written sometimes it does not mean the same written or told, but we should be able to read between the lines. For instance, the power of a comma can transfer the whole meaning of the sentence :

- Panda eats, shoots & leaves.

- Panda eats shoots & leaves.

We see that the comma and its improper placement alter the entire aim of the sentence it wants to communicate to reader. In the very first sentence we find that a panda eats the food, after shoots a person, and doing so he leaves or flees; but does this make any sense? Certainly not. Thus we have to come down to second one wherin we find that a panda eats shoots or twigs and leaves which is plural of 'leaf' of a tree. This kind of puns are sometimes played by several authors to eract the poll of hilarious merriments in reader's self.

Bhamaha divides the Alamkaras in two types : (1) Shabdalamkara and (2) Arthalamkara  :

(1) Shabdalamkara is seen when the words of poetry suffice to communicate what is to be felt through the medium of words direct to the psyche of sensitive reader.

Examples :

- Alliteration : 'Fair is foul and foul is fair'

- Pun - 'A girl who's bespectacled

May not get her nectacled'

- Reiteration : 'The dog trots freely in the street

and sees reality

and the things he sees'

(2) Arthalamkara : Arthalamkara is seen when the derived meaning of sentence and/or phrase generates pleasantness in readers' minds.

- Simile : 'O my luve is like a red red rose that newly sprung in June, O my luv is like the melody that sweetly played in tune.'

- Metaphor : 'Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade...'

- Hyperbole : 'Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.'

Riti : The Sanskrit word 'Riti' can be

translated in English language as 'Style.'

The style which a poet or an author

emplyos in drafting of literary work.

In his 'Kavyalankar Sutras,' Vamana

propounds the idea of Riti, wherin he

emphasises the style other than

Alamkara, Dhvani, and Vakrokti.

If we apply the Riti theory to examine

any literary work, we find two types of

writers : (1) Classical Writers and (2)

Modernist Writers.

As alike in history of English Literature wherein we have the age of Classicism which was lasted from 1700 to 1785 during the reign of House of Hanover.

We can take examples of none other than the Bard of English Literature - William Shakespeare. He mingled tragedy and comedy which was for centiries long were kept separate from each other by the great predecessors of him, thus came up with Tragicomedy genre in playwriting.

In Indian Gujarati Literature, we find Premananda Bhatt who was also known as Maanbhatta because he narrated the mythological stories in his own style of altering and addition into the original mythical plots and while narrating the stories, he used to play Maan or in English 'Pitcher' with the rings he put on his fingers.

Another comes Pravahapatita in Sanskrit terminology, i.e., those who chose the same way of composing literary work as their precedents. This tyoe of writes do not contribute any novelty in the ceaseless flow of Literature. As we can contradict them with the English Metaphysical Poets who according to Dr Samuel Johnson "made conscious attempt to differ from their predecessors."

Auchitya : 'Auchitya' means the propriety of any work of art, but here it talks about literary writings. The thought of Auchitya was put forth by the 11th century's Sanskrit poet from Kashmir region Kshemendra in his poetical criticism textext 'Auchityavicharcharcha.'

He gives prominence to appropriateness while composing any work of art, especially literary genres. We have fine examples from English as well as Gujarati literature.

Kshemendra defines what 'Auchitya' is in his treatise 'Auchityavicharacharcha' : 

"उचितं प्राहुराचार्याः सदृशं किल यस्य यत्।

उचितस्य च यो भावस्तौचित्यं प्रचक्षते।।" 

(Meaning : We call the thing appropriate for what it is made to fit in, and the Bhava of 'Appropriateness' is called Auchitya, that is the beauty of Auchitya.)

If we talk about the genre : Novel in English Literature particularly, we find the novel 'Pride and Prejudice' written by Jane Austen which somewhat conforms to the measurements of an ideal novel form; in the novel we find proper arrangement of Setting, Theme, Plot, Characters, Conflict, etc.

In Gujarati we see then we have the novel 'Malela Jeev' (મળેલા જીવ) by Pannalal Patel. It has the propriety and cherence amongst the chapters and story-structure which makes it eligible to be successfully seen by the Auchitya point of view.

Conclusion : In the concluding part, we can say that ancient Indian literary criticism seems to have reached upon the zenith of highly philosophical thinking as well as the nadir of deeply felt aesthetic revealations in terms of literature and art.

Photo Coutesy : Shrinivasa Rao

The picture that symbolises the wholesome Indian literary criticism.

Thank you!