A Short History of Malayalam Literature

Dr. K. Ayyappa Paniker

Malayalam, the mother tongue of nearly thirty million Malayalis, ninety per cent of whom live in Kerala State in the south-west corner of India, belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. Like the speakers, the language also has been receptive to influences from abroad and tolerant of elements added from outside. Malayalam literature too reflects this spirit of accommodation and has over the centuries developed a tradition which, even while rooted in the locality, is truly universal in taste. It is remarkably free from the provincialisms and parochial prejudices that have bedeviled the literature of certain other areas. To its basic Dravidian stock have been added elements borrowed or adopted from non-Dravidian literatures such as Sanskrit, Arabic, French, Portuguese and English. The earliest of these associations was inevitably with Tamil. Sanskrit, however, accounts for the largest of the foreign influences, followed closely in recent times by English. The broad-based cosmopolitanism has indeed become a distinctive feature of Malayalam literature. According to the most dependable evidence now available to us, Malayalam literature is at least a thousand years old. The language must certainly be older; but linguistic research has yet to discover unmistakable evidence to prove its antiquity. Historical accuracy has often been a problem since the records in most cases show no reference to the exact date of the composition. Legends and folklore have often taken the place of historical facts and chronology has been consciously or unconsciously tampered with. Modern research on scientific lines, however, has gone a long way to explain the origin and early development of the language. A comprehensive literary history of Kerala should take into account the works produced in the region not only in Malayalam language, but also in Tamil, beginning with the fourth century B.C. and continuing to the end of the first millennium A.D. It should also trace the evolution of the works in Sanskrit produced by writers in Kerala. The contribution of Kerala to Tamil literature which includes Chilappathikaram produced in the 2nd century A.D. should perhaps find its proper place in the history of Tamil literature just as Keralas contribution to Sanskrit, which includes the works of Sankaracharya and Kulasekhara Alwar of the early 9th century A.D., should come within a history of Sanskrit literature. The contribution of Kerala writers to English and Hindi in recent years, in the same way, is part of the literatures in those languages. Since this book is primarily devoted to the evolution of literature in Malayalam, the political history and the history of the language as well as the literature written in other languages are not discussed here in detail. The Modern Age Nineteenth century was not a very creative period for Malayalam literature (except towards the end) from the point of view of imaginative writing. But the foundations for the great renaissance that began at the end of the century were laid during this period. The establishment of colleges for imparting English education, the translation of the Bible and other religious works, the compilation of dictionaries and grammars, the formation of the text book committee, the growth of printing presses, the starting of newspapers and periodicals, the introduction of science and technology, the beginning of industrialization and the awakening of social and political consciousness: these constitute the giant strides towards modernization. It would appear as if the peoples energies were totally consumed by these

activities. Like his predecessors Swati Thirunal and Uttram Thirunal, Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma Maharaja of Travancore (1832-1880) was a great patron of letters. There were many great scholars at his court. He was personally interested in promoting prose literature. He himself wrote, while still young, two prose works Meenaketanacharitam and Bhasha Sakuntalam which were published by Kerala Varma Valiya Koyitampuran after his death. In Meenaketanacharitam one of the Arabian tales is retold; Bhasha Shakunthalam is a free translation of Kalidasas Abhijnana Shakuntalam. These two works are pioneers indicating the way Malayalam literature was destined to develop in the coming decades. The spate of translations from Indian languages including Sanskrit and from European languages including English, which began in Ayilyam Tirunals time, has not yet abated. Vishakam Tirunal Rama Varma Maharaja (1837-1885) who succeeded Ayilyam Tirunal, was also an indefatigable promoter of education and the arts. Himself a talented writer of discursive prose in English and translator of English works into Malayalam, he was the cause that others also took up writing original works and doing translations. Chidambara Vadhyar who had translated Shakespeares As You Like It and The Winters Tale into Malayalam received encouragement from him. Visakham Thirunal was one of the earliest essayists in Malayalam. Benjamin Bailey (1805- 1871) Joseph Peet, Richard Collins and George Mathen (1819-1870) were responsible for many works on Malayalam language based on western models. Archdeacon Koshy (1826-1900) is remembered for his numerous works in prose, especially for his work Pulleli Kunchu (1882). Perhaps the most important of these missionaries was Herman Gundert (1814-1893). Born in Stuttgart in Germany and educated at Tubingen and Switzerland, Gundert came to India in 1836. He wrote over twenty books in Malayalam, the most important of which are A Malayalam-English Dictionary, A Grammar of Malayalam, Keralappazhama (Kerala antiquity) and Pazhamcholmala (A garland of proverbs). He also edited an anthology of prose and verse for the use of students under the name, Pathamala. The first authoritative grammar of Malayalam was also Gunderts contribution (1851). This led to the production of a number of grammatical works in Malayalam. Vaikkam Patchu Moothathu (1814-1883) published his Grammar of Malayalam in 1876; Kerala Kaumudi by Kovunni Nedungadi (1831-1889) came out in 1878. This was soon followed by the first history of the language by P. Govinda Pillai (1849-1897) published in 1881. The first work on rhetoric in Malayalam on the European model was brought out by Father Gerard under the title Alankara Sastram in the same year. These works are a clear indication of the increasing western influence which became established by the end of the 19th century. There were of course distinguished scholars of the traditionalist school like Kaikulangara Rama Warrier (1833-1897), who specialised in writing commentaries on the classics of Sanskrit literature. But the influence of Kerala Varma Valiya Koyithampuran and the general socio-political developments seemed to favour a reorientation towards western models. This trend continued to be powerful until the middle of the 20th century. Kerala Varma Valiya Koyithampuran Kerala Varma represents the confluence of two major traditions in literature, the Oriental as represented by the Sanskrit classics and the Western represented by English/European classics. His translation of Kalidasas Abhinjana Shakuntalam (completed in 1882), and of Von Limburg Browers Akbar (started in 1882) clearly illustrates the historic role of a synthesizer which he was destined to play on the Kerala cultural front. His connections

with the royal family, his education and upbringing, his position as president of the Text Book Committee, his progressive and independent outlook, his intellectual prowess and other personality factors made him tower head and shoulders above all his contemporaries. He wrote a number of works in both Sanskrit and Malayalam, both in prose and verse but his personal influence was greater than what was achieved through these works. It may be said that the man was greater than all his writings. Well versed in all aspects of classical Sanskrit poetics and quite at home in the native tradition, with a good command of English as well master of a sonorous Sanskrit diction and proficient in simple colloquial Malayalam, Kerala Varmas reputation still depends not on any single book he wrote. The development of Malayalam language and literature was his lifes mission; and in collaboration with C.P. Achutha Menon (editor of Vidyavinodini magazine) and Kandathil Varghese Mappila (editor of Malayala Manorama), he did his utmost to encourage all kinds of writers and writings. Even undeserving quill-pushers received his support, encouragement and blessing in this process of all-out promotion of letters. His most widely known literary work is Mayurasandesam (Peacock Message) written in 1884. Its intrinsic merits were perhaps exaggerated at the time of its first appearance, but its historical importance is yet to be properly assessed. It is a work that looks in many directions. It harks back to Kalidasa, the most romantic and subjective work of that poet, whose influence among other things was chiefly responsible for the revival of romanticism in 19th century Europe. It combines the mixed style of Manipravala poems with the pure Malayalam of Venmani poets but used for a personal communication. It allows the free play of fancy (as seen in the pun on Neelakanta), but also reveals the operation of complex imagination at times (as in the identification quatrain). It would be too much to say that Mayurasandesam anticipates the Romantic Movement but there is no doubt that there is a softening of the rhetoric of classicism in several of its quatrains. Already in the heart of classicism one hears the soft notes of romantic lyricism:
Once while alone hunting birds in the park, O blue-eyed one, I happened to kill a bird. Out of pity for his bereaved companion close by Did you not, O timid one, ask me to kill her too!

The lyrical note is heard at some depth, the subjective element is openly acknowledged; these are important gains. Some of his prose essays are of an informal, subjective type like Mrigayasmaranakal (Memories of Hunting). The Growth of Literary Criticism The establishment of periodicals was a factor directly responsible for the development of literary criticism. The year 1890 saw the starting of two important periodicals, Kandathil Varghese Mappilas Malayala Manorama and C.P. Achutha Menons Vidyavinodini. Appan Thampuran started his Rasikaranjini in 1903. Varghese Mappila had the active cooperation of Kottarathil Sankunni, the author of Aithihyamala. Bhashaposhini Sabha acted as a catalyst. C.P. Achutha Menon wrote a number of perceptive reviews which are still marvels of honesty, frankness, fearlessness, and commitment to definite values. Here is an example to show his sense of commitment. Since defects exceed virtues in new books, it is inevitable that, when one tries to express unbiased and impartial opinions on them, the demonstration of faults may be more conspicuous. We are scincerely sorry that as we do point out these defects, some people are deeply hurt. But then we cannot but do so, since our interest in our literature is far greater than their hurt feelings. Reviewing another book called Rathisundari,

Achutha Menon says Mans life on earth is limited and sorrowfilled; hence whether wasting part of it on the painful experience of reading books like this is a sin, let the conscience of good people decide; whether it is a legal crime, let the advocates decide. The Plethora of Plays In the wake of Kerala Varmas translation of Kalidasas Abhijnana Shakuntalam (which got him the title of Kerala Kalidasa), several attempts were made to translate numerous plays from Sanskrit and English into Malayalam. Chathukutty Mannadiar translated Uttararamacharitam and Janakiparinayam. Other translations followed, such as Kalahini Damanakom from Shakesperes Taming of the Shrew. New plays came to be written in this fanciful style. These plays were seldom acted. The stage conditions of those days were crude and unfit to project a performance. Most writers did not care for or know enough of the technique of stage presentation. This delayed the growth of an indigenous dramatic form and structure in the language. Numerous plays on the model of Sanskrit drama, using both prose and verse, came to be written about this time. As if irritated by this and with a view to discouraging the plethora of plays of low quality,P. Rama Kurup wrote Chakki Chankaram (1893). There was another Chakki Chankaram (1894) by K.C. Narayanan Nambiar (1873 1922). The effect of this burlesque of the couple, Chakki and Chankaran, was to put an end, temporarily at least, to the mad rush for producing plays fashionable at the time. A.R. Rajaraja Varma (1863-1918) Kerala Varmas nephew A.R. Rajaraja Varma went a step further than his uncle in the promotion of a synthesis between the different trends current in the literature of his time. A professor in the University College, Thiruvananthapuram, he had to modernize the process of teaching Malayalam language and literature; this made him write books on grammar and rhetoric (which earned him the title of Kerala Panini) and eventually prepare the ground for an enlightened renaissance in Malayalam poetry and literary criticism. His differences of opinion with Kerala Varma were not confined to the continued use of the second syllable rhyme: behind the controversy lay the basis of a new poetics: the rejection of neoclassicism and the acceptance of a romantic theory of literature. The influence of the study of British Romantic poets of the 19th century coupled with a renewed interest in the real classics of Sanskrit literature can be seen in Rajaraja Varmas poetic efforts. The critic and scholar in him might have stifled the poet, but in works like Malayavilasam he may be seen as looking forward to an expected romantic revival. His translation of Kalidasa and Bhasa and the preface he wrote for Kumaran Asans Nalini point to this trend in unmistakable terms. Like Kerala Varma, Rajaraja Varma also contributed significantly to the growth of prose through his essays. K.C. Kesava Pillai (1868-1914) A close associate of both Kerala Varma and Rajaraja Varma, K.C. Kesava Pillai was a man of remarkable talent. His major works are Kesaviyam (a mahakavya), Sadarama (a musical play on the Tamil model, extremely popular at the time), Asanna marana chinta satakam (Reflections of a Dying Man, in a century of quatrains) and a number of attakkathas. His Kesaviyam is a mahakavya modelled on the Sanskrit pattern and strictly adhering to the rules of structure and style laid down by the classical rhetorician, Dandi. The first fifteen years of the 20th century saw a mushrooming of mahakavyas. Kesava Pillais contemporaries like Azhakathu Padmanabha Kurup (1869-1932: author of Ramachandravilasam), Pandalam Kerala Varma

(1879-1919: author of Rukmangatha charitam), Kattakkayam Cherian Mappila (1859 - 1937: author of Sri Yesu Vijayam), Ulloor Parameswara Iyer (1877-1949 : author of Umakeralam) and Vallathol Narayana Menon (1879-1958: author of Chitrayogam), all paid their obeisance to this neoclassicist trend P. Sankaran Nambiar refers to the appearance of a mock-mahakavya Kothakelam by one Vidushaka, which did to the flood of these exercises what Ramakurups Chakki Chankaram did to the imitation plays, Datyuha Sandesam (1897) by Seevolli NarayananNambudiri (1869-1906) did to spurious message poems and Parangodi Parinayam (1892) by Kizhakkeppatt Ramankutty Menon (1858-1894) under inspiration from Kesari Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar, tried to do to the spurt of uninspired novels in imitation of Indulekha. K.C. Kesava Pillai was also a distinguished composer of songs of rare merit and his position as a composer is next only to those of Swati Tirunal and Irayimman Tampi among Kerala musicians. But his best work as a poet is Asanna marana chintasatakam which, although written for a competition, is a touching lyrical monologue with a predominant elegiac tone and anticipates the Khandakavyam or shorter poems of the poets of the renaissance. It has an underground connection with C.S. Subramanian Pottis Oruvilapam (A Lament 1903), V.C. Balakrishna Panikkars Oruvilapam (A Lament: 1908), and even Kumaran Asans Veena Poovu (A Fallen Flower: 1907) which may be thought of as an elegy in disguise. The Essay The developments in prose at this time were very significant, Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (1861-1895), more famous under his pseudonym Kesari, was one of the first to explore the essay form in Malayalam. He was closely associated with periodicals like Kerala Chandrika (started in 1879 at Thiruvananthapuram), Kerala Patrika (started in 1884 by C. Kunhiraman Menon (1854-1936) and Appu Nedungadi (1866-1934) at Kozhikode), Kerala Sanchari (after 1898 under the editorship of Murkoth Kumaran) and the English Journal Malabar Spectator. Kesari has often been compared to Mark Twain. As he was not overburdened with scholarship, he could write in a simple, popular, informal style. He was a life-long devotee of the goddess of comedy. Here is a passage from his essay, The Pleasures of Death When you dont have to breathe any longer, you will not be troubled by the innumerable germs of disease in the air norby the insufferable smoke from other peoples cigars, etc.Nothing to be anxious about even if motor cars and bicycles send up dust while driving along or if you fall or die or your nose is hurt. You dont have to endure any such grief. You dont have to put up any longer with the ringing of bells or the call of the siren or frog-tongued voice-refiners exerting their throats or reciting songs from plays even on the road. Kesari belongs to the comic tradition in our literature, and like Tholan, Nambiar, Chandu Menon, E.V. Krishna Pillai and Sanjayan he was a sharp critic of social reality. The Rise of the Novel An inevitable consequence of the development of prose was a creative use of this medium for imaginative literary communication. The last quarter of the 19th century saw the birth of the novel in Malayalam. It has been pointed out that the novel arose in Kerala as in other regions of India, not just because of European influence through English education but chiefly because the conditions that existed in India at this time were similar to those in England in the 17th and 18th centuries which favoured the growth of this new form of writing called the novel. It would perhaps be more correct to say that both internal socio-educational conditions and external

influence combined to produce and popularize this new genre. It was perhaps not wholly transplanted as a finished product into Malayalam: the existence of the printing press, the growth of a literate reading public, the development of the habit of buying books, the increasing requirements of educational institutions and libraries, the rise in the status of women (Appu Nedungadi, the author of Kundalatha was also the founder of the society for the promotion of the education of women, Chandu Menon also thought of women as potential readers of his works) and the gradual penetration of democratic ideas and liberalism into the social fabric: these were essential factors which by their conjunction could favour the growth of the novel in Malayalam. The question which is the first novel in Malayalam can be answered only if we agree on the definition of the novel. Ghathaka Vadham (The Slayer Slain) by Mrs. Collins, Pullelikunchu by Archdeacon Koshy, his translation of Bunyans The Pilgrims Progress, Ayilyam Thirunals translation of Meenaketanacharitam, Kerala Varmas translation of Akbar - these certainly have a historical importance. The use of prose for long narratives based on non-puranic themes was itself of great importance. Appu Nedungadis Kundalata (1887) marks an important stage in the development of prose fiction in Malayalam. The events are supposed to have taken place in a far-off place and the characters bear more or less outlandish names like Kundalata, Aghoranathan, Ramakisoran and Tharanathan. Pullelikunchu has greater realism as far as physical details are concerned. Parts of Kundalatha read like the prose romances which in England and other countries of Europe preceded the novel. Appu Nedungadi may have been influenced by Bengali novels too, since the novel as the term is understood in the modern world appeared earliest in Bengali than in other Indian languages. The air was thick with expectations of the birth of the great novel all through the 1880s when in the last year of the decade O. Chandu Menon brought out his Indulekha. O. Chandu Menon (1847-1900) In the preface to the first edition of Indulekha (1889) Chandu Menon describes the genesis of the novel thus. I began to read English novels extensively after I left Calicut in the end of 1886, and I then devoted all the leisure which my official duties left me, to novel reading. Thereupon, I found that my circle of intimates with whom I had been accustomed to pass the time in social conversation and amusement considered itself somewhat neglected, and I accordingly endeavoured to find means by which I could conciliate its members without in any degree for going my novels. With this object in view, I attempted at first to convey to them in Malayalam the gist of the story contained in some of the novels I had read, but my hearers did not seem particularly interested in the version which I gave them of two or three of these books. At last it happened that one of these individuals was greatly taken with Lord Beaconsfields Henrietta Temple, and the taste then acquired for listening to novels translated orally, gradually developed into a passion. The importunity of this personage in the matter was so great that I had seldom time to read a book on my own account ..... Finally, I was urged to produce a written translation of the novel by Beaconsfield which I have mentioned, and I consented. But when I had made some little progress in the work, I thought the matter over, and decided that a translation thus made would be absolutely without value ... Taking therefore, all these circumstances (the difficulties and inadequacies of translation), I determined to write a Malayalam novel more or less after the English fashion and gave my persecutor a promise to this effect ... I do not know how my countrymen will be disposed to

regard a work of this description. Those who do not understand English have had no opportunity of reading stories in this mould, and I doubt if they will relish their first experience of this kind of literature. This prefatory note, which itself reads like a passage in a novel highlights the twin sources of inspiration for the novel in Malayalam: the influence of the English model and the pressure of a readership. His last sentence also makes it clear that at the time of writing, he thought of his work as the first novel in Malayalam, which incidentally is a possible answerto the question we posed at the beginning of our discussion on the novel. Chandu Menon started as a writer rather late in his life. He wrote Indulekha his first work and a novel of no mean length in just about two months. It is easily seen that plot is not his strong point. But Indulekha is a work which Malayalis can always hold up aloft as an excellent specimen of what a novel should aim to be. The dramatic unfolding of the tale, the perfect balance between narration and dialogue, the magnificent characterization, the splendid direct and indirect criticism of manners and morals, the all pervasive humour and irony, the vitality of every scene fully visualized these are among the many virtues of his pioneering work of exceptional maturity. Chandu Menon started writing his second novel Sarada, but he could not finish it. The first part - about one third of the proposed work - was published in 1892. The author reveals here a firmer grip over the novel form: his speculations during the four year interval between the two works, as P.K. Balakrishnan has pointed out, have taken him to a far more serious conception of the nature and function of the novel as a work of art. The interview between Indulekha and Nambudiripad may be quoted to illustrate Chandu Menons art at its ironic best. Are you mad about play, Indulekha? inquired the Nambudiripad. Mad about what? asked Indulekha. About the play-the Kathakali. I have never yet been mad about anything. Answered Indulekha. Oh, Im very mad about it, Iam as mad as I can be. I can quite believe that there is no doubt about it. Responded Indulekha with a smile. How do you know, Indulekha? Did any one tell you about it before? No, I knew it only now. You know it from what I said, didnt you? Exactly, I felt certain of it from your own words. I had a piece acted at your place yesterday, said the Namboodiripad. That fellow Raman acts beautifully on the stage. Have you ever heard of Raman, Indulekha? Raman, Raman, I mean: the Sudras call him Rama Panikkar, he is immensely clever, such a splendid actor and so handsome. Hereafter, Indulekha, you shall see a play every day. I am quite mad on it. I have a play on most nights of the week, and yesterday I saw a male impersonating a female character. You have never seen anything like it. It was Raghavan, a boy they call Raghavan. Do you know Raghavan, Indulekha? If his face were smooth, it would be just like yours, just like it; there wouldnt be the slightest difference. The Religious Awakening The impact of Western education was the great reality in Indian national life in the 19th century. The Renaissance in Bengal was its most direct consequence. Exposure to western culture made Indians look at their culture with a certain detachment. This led on the one hand to increased political awareness and consequently the struggle against foreign domination; on the other hand, it provoked the Indians to set about modernizing the Indian

social structure which was still steeped in medievalism. A new understanding of Indian culture, especially Hindu philosophy, was thus called for, and the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda and others had their impact on Bengali literature. In Kerala too, there was a similar religious awakening. Sri Chattampi Swamikal (1854-1924) and Sree Narayana Guru (1857-1929), close companions often engaged in long wanderings as mendicants form place to place, were the harbingers of this new spirituality, a new moral idealism which was deeply rooted in both the wisdom of the past and the reality of the present. Through their revolutionary reinterpretation of the philosophy of the Vedas and the Upanishads, they brought about a massive transformation in the basic moorings of our people. Both were gifted with a linguistic insight and had a Dravidian orientation in the expression of their thought. Both used their writings - Chattampi Swamikal in prose and Narayana Guru in verse - to effect fundamental changes. Both achieved a fusion of intuition and reason, and co-ordinated the metaphysical with the mundane. Narayana Gurus poetic instinct found a supplementary fulfilment in the works of his disciple Kumaran Asan. C.V. Raman Pillai (1858-1922) The great renaissance that started in Malayalam literature towards the end of the 19th century found its most effective spokesmen in two great novelists and three poets. The two novelists were O. Chandu Menon of Malabar and C.V. Raman Pillai of Travancore. C.V. Raman Pilla was eleven years junior to Chandu Menon. Both benefited from English education, but consistent with their respective gifts and temperaments, they achieved near perfection in what they tried to do. Their high position as supreme masters of the novel remains unchallenged till date. Chandu Menon is the greatest novelist in Malayalam and C.V. Raman Pillais Ramaraja Bahadur is the greatest novel. Chandu Menons attention was focussed on contemporary social reality and through it he discovered the eternal springs of human character. C.V. Raman Pillai used history as a means of unfolding the intricacies of human life, both on the socio political plane and on the psychological plane. It is difficult to say whether he ever tried to explore history as a means of redemption. But it would be wrong to say that he does not concern himself with social reality: he does speculate on the role of leadership in society, on the fortunes of families through generations and on the conflict between character and destiny. C.V. Raman Pillais major contribution to fiction consists of Martanda Varma (published 1891), Dharmaraja (1893), Premamritam (started in 1915) and Ramaraja Bahadur (1913-20). Martanda Varma is a very early work, written under the direct influence of Walter Scotts Waverley novels, especially Ivanhoe. The history of Travancore (earlier Venad) - strictly speaking, the formation of the State of Travancore and its teething troubles - had caught and captured C.V. Raman Pillais imagination from his student days and it continued to be a haunting obsession for an entire lifetime. Centering around the love affair of Ananthapadmanabhan and Parukutty, the entire political conspiracy of Pappu Thampi and the Eight Nayar Houses against young Martanda Varma, the rightful heir to the throne on the matrilineal model, is hatched, unravelled, and foiled by the clever machinations of the prince and his able supporters. And yet outside of the involutions of the plot, the reader gets very little from the work. Most of the characters are either types or unfinished studies: the only exception is Subhadra, that flickering wick of love and loyalty beaming through the solid darkness of intrigue and treachery enveloping the main plot. History appears here as a fairy tale where our willing suspension of disbelief is the authors

chief asset. The author himself make it clear in the preface that he was writing a historical romance. But the style is adequate, the narration is bold, and the plot is ingenious. The work shows, even as Kerala Varmas Akbar tries to demonstrate, that the style for a novel of epic dimensions is a combination of Sanskritized diction, repeated rhetorical flourishes and heavy dramatic juxtapositions. The colloquial or contemporary language might be judiciously used for certain characters in certain scenes, but must inevitably merge in the larger sweep and must swell the chorus for the final effect. This principle is kept up in C.V. Raman Pillais maturer novels also. Dharmaraja, published twenty two years later,reveals what a big stride the author had taken during the interval. This is an unusual gap, but the glory is that C.V. Raman Pillai was able to bridge it and now with redoubted vigour and heightened imaginative power he ransacks the archives of Travancore history. Raja Kesava Das and the royal family whose fortunes he consciously chose to espouse, recede into the background; even the nominal love story of Meenakshi and Kesavan Unnithan pale into relative insignificance. The psychology of revenge and personal ambition and the ultimate triumph of moral power are the things that now come into the foreground. It is the tragedy of the Kazhakkoottam House - high tragedy overtaking the scion of that family of the unflinching heat - that holds the attention of the novelist as well as the readers. Ramaraja Bahadur, C.V. Raman Pillais masterpiece, is conceived on an epic style, the little love story of Savitri and Trivikraman cannot loom very large on this cyclorama of history when the clash of wits and the crash of arms overwhelm the readers. If there is an epic for the people of Kerala, it is perhaps Ramaraja Bahadur. The high seriousness of the work is unmistakable. What is at stake in Tippus invasion and the battle that follows is the fate of millions, not of just a king or a royal family. But within the nerve centre of this conflict of historical forces, there is the delicate situation of the two Kesavas: Kesava Pillai Dewanji and Kesavan Unnithan. The resolution of this two-fold war on the domestic front stirred up by Unnithans jealousy and war on the countrys frontier, is brought about at one stroke at the end. The inscrutable destiny of man, of both the individual and the masses, is the central theme of Ramaraja Bahadur, the structure of the plot, the skill in characterization, the narrative and descriptive power: all these are merely the means to the ultimate end of unravelling this mystery. Ramaraja Bahadur has attempted this more successfully than any other Malayalam novel written so far. Its imitators succumbed to an easy and total collapse because of their failure to understand this essential feature of C.V.s art. The Romantic Movement The high tide of renaissance was brought into Malayalam literature by a variety of influences. The familiarity our poets acquired with British romantic poets was one of them. There were in 19th century Kerala, as in 18th century England, a number of precursors of the Romantic movement. One of the most gifted of them was V.C. Balakrishna Panikkar (1890-1915) - the marvellous boy of Malayalam poetry. In his short life he was able to make a tremendous breakthrough in the language and sensibility of Malayalam poets. His most important poems are Oru Vilapam and Viswaroopam. The former, A Lament is a major elegy in Malayalam. The lover who is lamenting the death of his lady in an epidemic of cholera is the focus of our attention here. The opening quatrain presents him as seated facing a lamp that

continued to burn while he could not even push its wick. One quatrain must suffice to illustrate his intensity and power of phrasing: The freshness that comes of beauty, The frame arising from poetry, The prestige due to scholarship, The pomp on account of martial skill: All virtues so described knock at the same gate And merge at the end into the same ultimate Source of all N. Kumaran Asan (1873-1924) The poet who most clearly symbolizes the poetic revolution in the first quarter of the 20th century is Kumaran Asan. His early discipleship of Sri Narayana Guru and his Sanskrit studies at Bangalore, Madras and Calcutta were important influences on his poetic development. The three and a half years he spent outside Kerala provided him with a kind of broad outlook and deep sensibility which would perhaps have been impossible if he had stayed at home. A deep moral and spiritual commitment became part of Asans personality and when after a spell of writing devotional poetry he turned to secular themes, he could produce something without any precedent in the language. Veena Poovu (A fallen flower, 1907) combines the lyrical and the elegiac with the romantic. Yet the relaxed discipline of a classical training was always there to add a deeper tone to his close investigation of the meaning of life as seen in the brief career of a flower. The infinite delicacy of touch in pssages like the following was rare in Malayalam poetry at that time (Translation by G. Kumara Pillai). The mother-plant with loving care Enfolded your infant charm in calyx soft; The gentle breeze came rocking you to sleep To the lullaby of the murmuring leaves. Your lovely body told a moving tale Of golden days of fulfilled youth; Your days were brief, and yet so rich and full You had your woes, and yet your mind was steeped in joy. The same close attention to detail may be found in all his poems, which authenticates and thereby enhances their spiritual glow. Asan did not try to write a neoclassicist mahakavya; instead he specialized in the narratives of middle length, Nalini (1911), Leela (1914), Chintavishtayaya Sita (1919), Duravastha (1922), Chandalabhikshuki (1923) and Karuna (1923) are eloquent testimony to Asans powers of poetic concentration and dramatic contextualization. Occasionally the call of social pressures lured him to try a different strain, as inReflections of a Thiyya Boy. Why shouldst thou wail, then, O Bharat? Thy slavery is thy destiny, O Mother! Thy sons, blinded by caste, clash among themselves And get killed; what for is freedom, then? Asan is often described as the poet of love; many writers have written about love, but Asans love is of a transcendental kind and in poem after poem, Nalini, Leela,

Chandalabhikshuki, he demonstrates it. For him it was identical with ultimate and absolute freedom, as he explains it in The Song of Freedom. In Sita, his reflections, on love turn a bit bitter as the situation perhaps deserves it. In Duravastha it achieves a slight transformation, since he tries to seek loves meaning in terms of contemporary reality. It is set against the historical background of the Moplah Rebellion, but Asan the poet is basically concerned with the establishment of the idea that all men belong to the same caste and same religion, as he was taught by Sri Narayana Guru. Here is a representative passage from Duravastha, which reveals the social reformer and prophet in Asan: Wake up, O you gardeners, Wake up and toil, spring is at hand. In this garden enriched by beautiful blossoms On high boughts and low, Remember there is not a single flower Which does not delight the Lord. Come forward-And replace the laws, Or else they are sure to displace you. There is a raging wind Unceasingly reverberating with this utterance in todays Kerala. Time from all the four directions declares the self-same thing; And even the earth beneath your feet resounds with the din of unrest. Asan as a poet was a great synthesizer. He wrote two major poems on Buddhist legends, Chandalabhikshuki and Karuna (Compassion) They were his last works, written before his untimely death in 1924, Love, Freedom and Equality are his basic concerns. The last lines of Karuna sum up all these in concrete, context-based terms: Salutations to thee, O Upagupta, without getting lost In nirvana come back again to serve the world. Mother Earth today needs more of such sons as you whose compassion reaches the lowliest and lost. Asans career illustrates in full the changes that were taking place in the Malayalam poetry of his time. His earliest works were mainly hymns employing Sanskritized diction and Sanskrit metres. With Veena Poovu (1907) his sensibility registers a change: the diction is simplified, and although Sanskrit metres are used, they have a closeness by now to the easy and flowing Dravidian metres. The pessimistic note is replaced by a more strident note in some of the later poems. The use of a focal character - most of such characters are women like Nalini in Nalini and Sita in the poem named after her - as protagonist helps to dramatize the whole experience of the poem. In the shorter poems and in Prarodanam, an elegy with a splendid and resonant orchestration, the style fluctuates, but in his last three poems Dravidian metres are used, the diction is simple and natural. Karuna is theculminating point of this trend. Ulloor Parameswara Iyer (1877 - 1949) Ulloor, the second of the grand poetic trinity of the 20th century renaissance in Malayalam, started his career as a poet under the tutelage of Kerala Varma Valiya Koyitampuran. He was a pastmaster in all the traditional games of classical poetry. He even excelled as the writer of a mahakavya by choosing a story from early Kerala history. Umakeralam, his mahakavya, is a work of great devotion: devotion to the land, to the language, to a poetic tradition and to high moral values. He wrote, like Asan and Vallathol, a number of short narratives or

khandakavyas, of which the most famous are Karnabhooshanam and Pingala. In the former he celebrates Karnas infinite generosity and dedication to principles. In the latter he tries to portray the transformation of a courtesan overnight into a pious and refined character almost a saint. Ulloor also wrote quite a large number of lyrics and shorter pieces, now available in various collections. They cover a wide range from eulogies to kings and friends to the poetry of social commitment (for example, arguing for Temple Entry for low-caste Hindus). Ulloor was perhaps the most classical and the least romantic of the three poets. One could say either that the romantic in him was stifled by the authoritarian classicist or that the classicist in him was trying to pass for a romantic to suit the changing tastes of the time. It must be remembered that Ulloor was one of the first of our fullfledged poets to achieve the benefits of formal education upto the post-graduate level from a University. He was thus exposed to the influence of English poetry through class-room instruction. Asan and Vallathol had only informal contact with English poetry. Neither of them could have, on the basis of their training, written a work like Ulloors monumental History of Kerala Literature. But Asan through self-study and Vallathol partly by his native gift and partly through indirect channels, became imbued with the spirit of romanticism. All the three began as classicists, graduated into romanticism and finally peeped into realism. All of them wrote their best poems during the second phase. Ulloor cultivated the classical lyric with its severe discipline over the structure and its ultimate didactic motivation. He could say with Wordsworth that he was a teacher or nothing. But we know that in his best poems, Words worth could not keep up his declared intention of being a teacher. What was important was that the reader should be enabled to experience in full, the wonder and excitement that was the source of inspiration for the poem itself; Ulloor is interested not in the communication of that experience through the senses, but in distilling the abstract moral value of that experience. Thus even in his best lyrics he adds almost mechanically like Coleridge at the end of The Ancient Mariner, a moral. Being suspicious of his subjective evaluation, he would invoke some value approved of by the masters of the past. His master was Sri Harsha, not Kalidasa. Thus in Annum Innum (Then and Now), after glorifying the past and visualizing a bright future in glowing, eloquent terms, he adds the last quatrain which is an exhortation to the people of India.India will become the Paradise it was once, O Indians, if we, pure in body and mind, lift ourselves through hard work. The sensuous experience presented earlier does not, according to him, make it valid enough. There are times when Ulloor could rise to the heights of lyricism for short flights: in Bhoothakkannadi (Microscope) he writes: The desire to rise seen in the flying fireflies, The enthusiasm brimming within the singing cuckoo To offer worship to other beings, The skill of the full-blown flowers to entice the entire world, The expertise of the jumping bird to move its feet . . . I have read ambrosia-like suggestive poetry even in mere rust, I have heard with my ear sweet veena sounds even in silence. Uloors idea of transcendental love is clearly brought out in his Prema Sangeetam (The Music of Love) which concludes with the poets total self-dedication to God. O Thou, Spirit Eternal!

Approached through devotion, Who can ever see Thee That has not eyes tinted with Universal Love? What is happiness for others Is my happiness, indeed; What is sorrow for others Is my sorrow, too: Thou and I and others: Are not all these the same in truth? At your beck and call Are my body and soul: Shape them, day and night, Both for others sake; O Lord, I salute Thee! Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878-1958) Vallathols training was in classicism but his native genius was romantic. The spirit of a renaissance was in the air and Vallathol breathed it in sumptuously. He took part in all the neoclassical games of poetry and even wrote a mahakavya, but his reputation today is firmly based on his middle length narratives like Bandhanasthanaya Anirudhan (Anirudhan in Prison: 1914), Sishyanum Makanum (Disciple and Son: 1918), Magdalanamariam (Mary Magdalene: 1921) and shorter lyrics contained in the early volumes of Sahityamanjari (Literary Anthology : Part-I (1916), Part-II (1918) and Parts-III and IV (1924). He was the most sensuous of the three poets, most at home in the description of the world we live in and the life we live. National consciousness, set afloat by the Indian National Congress and men like Gokhale, Tilak and Gandhi, gave a contemporary relevance to his poems extolling Indias past glory. In poems like Puranangal (The Puranas), Karmabhoomiyude Pinchukal (The Little Foot of India), Ente Gurunathan (My Master), Pora Pora (Not enough, Not enough) and numerous other lyrics, Vallathol gave chiselled expression to this newly awakened nationalism both in political and cultural terms. But perhaps more than these poems with a political orientation and an immediate cultural relevance, his poems about the less spectacular aspects of every day life in Kerala villages will have a lasting value. To the people of his own generation, every word he wrote about Indian culture was a fresh revelation of the nationalist spirit. After 1925 perhaps some of these less inspired poems could not make their appeal as effectively as before. But Vallathol had plenty of other arrows in his quiver and other strings to his bow. He could describe a Kerala landscape more imaginatively than most earlier poets. He could portray women characters in short poems with considerable effect like Usha in Bandhanashanaya Anirudhan, Mariam in Magdalanamariam, Radha in Radhayude Kritharthata (Radhas Consolation), Sakuntala in Acchanum Makalum (Father and Daughter), etc. Usha for instance, defends herself and her lover with no trepidation during the encounter with her fathers Minister, she says. I sent for him and got him here. My beloved did not come of his own accord What is this the sense of justice in Balis tribe, Heaping all blames on one, the other kept as kin? It is interesting to note that Asan, Ulloor and Vallathol could do ample justice to their heroines, while their heroes are allowed to pale into relative meekness and insignficance.

Only Karna in Ulloors Karnabhooshanam could be thought of as an exception. One of Vallathols perfect achievements is a dramatic poem based on the Puranic story of Viswamithra and Sakuntala (Acchanum Makalum) Written with the maximum concentration and close attention to every syllable, this dramatic narrative reads like a scene left out by Kalidasa in his Sakuntalam to be written during his 20th century incarnation. The scene is the meeting between Viswamitra and his long-lost daughter Sakuntala, now staying at the hermitage of Kasyapa with her little son Sarvadamana, after being repudiated and rejected by her lord, King Dushyanta in a fit of forgetfulness. Seeing that his daughter has been unjustly repudiated by Dushyanta, Viswamitra, notorious for his sudden and uncontrollable outbursts of fury, threatens to invoke a drastic curse upon the criminal king. The scene could easily remind the reader of a possible Kathakali setting in which the situation would be presented with tremendous effect. Vallathol was also deeply interested in the resuscitation of this ancient Kerala art of dance-drama, its resources are indirectly exploited in full in Accchanum Makalum. Here is the scene in the poets own words: The mighty Viswamitra had started uttering these words, placing his right arm clenched in anger, on his chest. ....................................... If only he were to fling it forward it would spell the end!-It will become the thunderball that would annihilate her husband with his entire race. Fully aware of that dread consequence, she instantly clutched that dread missile of destruction with both her hands and cried: Father, for my sake, forbear! Let not your Daughter become the destroyer of her husband! Let her not be consumed by the fire of dire widowhood! Abandoned earlier by her parents once, She has now been abandoned freely By her husband too, that is all; Let my life be completely destitute,But let not my son too become an outcast on account of my sin! The fire of his anger having been quenched By the tears of his daughter The father, now feeling extremely happy, commended her. Fare thee well Your goodness had pulled me out of moral ruin; May you, along with your son, soon join your lord! (Translation by Kainikkara Kumara Pillai) Magdalanamariam is a dramatic rendering of the spiritual conversion of a professional courtesan into the Christian way of life through prayer and penance. This was perhaps the first time an episode from a western source (the Bible, in this case) was exploited in this way by a Malayalam poet. Vallathol, no doubt, orientalizes the whole setting. Christ is almost identified with Krishna, thus the East and the West (one could of course argue that Christ was more oriental than occidental) are made to meet in the ecstatic realm of poetry. Vallathol could not shake off his national heritage and he was more at home in poems like Acchanum Makalum, Sishyanum Makanum and Kochu Sita. His shorter lyrics in Sahitya Manjari are a veritable store-house of memorable word-pictures. Bhakityum Vibhakityum, Prabhatageetam, A Walk in the Rain, A Boat Journey, Bharatapuzha and A Picture are examples of Vallathols special talent in evoking a kind of country music by the perfect disposition of word and image. As

against the political poet, here we have the real spokesman of Indian culture, the genuine lover of nature, the perfect wielder of words. In other areas he could be imitated and even surpassed; here he was supreme without an equal. Literary Criticism: Western Influence The influence of Western literary models is most clearly seen in the field of criticism. The attempt to relate old Indian values to new western values will account for most of the developments in literature in the first half of the 20th century. The rapid growth of prose through journals like Bhashaposhini (started 1896) inevitably led to the new trend in criticism, viz., the evaluation of literary works in Malayalam on the basis of Western critical standards. This tendency which existed in its rudimentary form in Kerala Varma became more systematic in A.R. Rajaraja Varma. It found its full-throated spokesman in Sahitya Panchananan P.K. Narayana Pillai (1878-1937). His critical treatises on Cherusseri, Ezhuthachan, Kunchan Nambiar and Unnayi Warrier are the best monuments to this creative encounter between two traditions of criticism. Close interpretation of what is there in the text, attempts to investigate into problems of authorship and chronology and to relate what is in a work to socio-religious developments and historical setting at the time of composition, application of documentary evidence to textual problems and final judgement based on total evaluation rather than on alankara and diction: these were the general features of his best critical writings. One could say that he promoted judicial criticism. The use of quotations from Sanskrit alongside those from English is proof to show that his aim was a sort of synthesis of the East and the West. His third lecture on Thunchathu Ezhuthachan begins thus. Since there could be difference of opinion about the vedantic passages in Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilipattu as shown before, I would not like to erect Ezhuthachans pillar of fame on such a foundation. More secure bases other than that are not difficult to find. No one need hesitate to say that the Bhakti Rasa sparkling throughout that work and the skill in the use of language are unique to it. Although it is possible to see many other Rasas like Sringara (erotic) Vira (heroic) and Karuna (tragic) clearly demonstrated in it, there is something special about the Bhakti Rasa. No other Rasa seems to have bestirred him as deeply as Bhakti Rasa. While this shows the application of the Indian aesthetic theory of Rasa, we have in the following passage, the application of western ideas: It is the good fortune of the people of Kerala that in Ezhuthachan, who is to be regarded as the founding- preceptor of Malayalam literature, there is a strong bias towards ethics, Rasas are born of emotions and emotions are the tools of the trade for the poets. I remember Benedito Croce, the Italian critic, as having said somewhere as follows. The poets transform the subjects they deal with into ideal goals. It is done not through the silly tricks of tropes, but through a total involvement. And in this way we pass form a state of emotional excitement into one of quiet reflection. How well this remark suits Ezhuthachans poetry!. P.K. Narayana Pillais critical credo is clearly expressed in the preface he wrote to his monograph on Ezhuthachan. It is said that we are so much encumbered about with the evergrowing pile of contemporary literature that we seldom find time to make or renew acquaintance with old masters of the pen. The reason of the likely neglect of old masters, according to one view, is that unless we are introduced to them by men of our own time, we may not recognize them. Every age requires the past to be interpreted to it in terms of its own ideas.The classicist in P.K. Narayana Pillai seems to agree with the classicist in T.S. Eliot who came to hold an almost similar view about the need

to interpret the past afresh to each age. Swadeshabhimani K. Ramakrishna Pillai (1878-1916), the stormy petrel of Travancore politics, was also imbued with the western influence, but he did not care for a judicial approach. Instead he spoke out loud and clear and at times with virulence, giving no quarter to the author he criticised. His political radicalism and training as a journalist aided him in this. His short biography of Karl Marx, is the first work of socialist thought in Malayalam. He also wrote books on Socrates, Columbus, Franklin and Gandhi. His Vrithanta Patra Pravartanam (1912) is a pioneering work of journalism and consistent with lofty idealism even lays down a severe code of conductfor the aspiring journalist. He had become editor of Swadeshabhimani in 1906) and was exiled from Travancore in 1910). He held the view that style was born of the writers character and could-not be earned through imitation. The truth of this is borne out by his own style, as for instance in his virulent attack on kingship: The monarchs believe and force others to believe that they are Gods representatives or incarnations. This is absurd. Did God create a special kind of dog to be the king of dogs, or a special kind of elephant to rule over all elephants? There were many other critics like C. Anthappayi who tried to assimilate the western critical modes. Drama and the Stage In the history of drama too, we find the Indian tradition trying to adjust itself to the growing influence of European drama. The Portuguese brought into Kerala their miracle plays which supplied the inspiration for Chavittunatakam. One of the earliest examples of this type is Genoa (date not known). Among the historical plays that followed were Caralman Charitram and Napolean Charitram. These plays however did not influence Malayalam literature in any way. The first translation of a Shakespearean play came out in 1866 (Almarattam from A Comedy of Errors). Dramatic literature proper began with Kerala Varmas translation of Abhijnana Sakuntalam (1881-1882). This was a popular hit. It also led to numerous, other translations, few of which were put on stage. C.V. Raman Pillais Chandramukhivilasam (1885), Kochunni Thampurans Kalyani Kalyanam (1888), K.C. Kesava Pillais Lakshmi Kalyanam (1893), Kandathil Varghese Mappilas Ebrayakutty (1894) as well as Kalahinidamanakam (from Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew) and Kocheepan Tharakans (1861- 1940) Mariamma (published in 1903, the author claims 1878 as the date of composition) were major landmarks in the growth of Malayalam drama. C.V.s Chandramukhivilasam is a combination of Sanskrit elements and western elements, Mariamma dramatizes the characteristically Christian domestic problem of the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-inlaw. It is a play clearly modelled on western social problem play in prose interspersed with quatrains in verse. The use of dialect is realistic and effective. C.V. Raman Pillai returned to the stage in 1909 with Kurupillakalari, a prose comedy in the manner of Goldsmith and Sheridan. It was a very effective social satire. The henpecked husband and the westernized English educated lady are satirized in the play. C.V.s later dramatic works included Thentanamkottu Harischandran (1914), Kaimalassante Kadassikkai (1915), Pandathe Patchan (1918) and Butler Pappan (1921). These are basically farces with an emphasis on social satire. His real contribution to drama perhaps consists of dramatizations of his famous historical novels: they are among the best historical plays still put on stage. K.P. Karuppans Balakaleswam (1914) is a play with a message, although traditional in form. The traditional kind of verse used in it may be said to give an added sharpness to its social criticism. It advocates progressive measures of social reform in unmistakable terms and calls upon the government

to put an end to caste practices by law and to promote the education and upliftment of the lower classes. It is prophetic in this sense and provoked bitter opposition at the time. E.V. Krishna Pillai (1895-1938) inherited from C.V. Raman Pillai the tradition of social comedy on the one hand and historical tragedy on the other. E.V.s native comic gift was put to good use in his Pranayakkammishan (1932), B.A. Mayavi (1933) and Vivahakammattam (1934). Himself an actor, he could exploit devices of stage presentation effectively. The serious side of his personality found expression in his historical tragedies. Sitalakshmi (1926), Raja Kesava Dasan (1930) and Iravikutty Pillai (1934). They are really the dramatic counterpart to C.V. Raman Pillais fictional representation of history. E.V.s comic legacy was pursued by N.P. Chellappan Nair, M.G. Kesava Pillai and T.N. Gopinathan Nair. His tragic heritage was sustained and improved upon by Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai with his Velu Thampi Dalava and Kalvariyile Kalpapadapam (1934), Kappana Krishna Menon with his Cheraman Perumal and Pazhassi Raja, Kainikkara Kumara Pillai with his Harishchandran (1934), Mohavum Muktiyum (1938) and Kuttanad Ramakrishna Pillai with his Taptabashpam (1934). The part played by Sree Chithira Thirunal Vayanassala, Thiruvananthapuram, in promoting the writing of new plays every year for the annual performance on the Maharajas birthday is very significant in this regard, although on many occassions it had to be satisfied with secondrate or third rate plays. But it has kept up the longest continuous tradition in amateur acting in Thiruvananthapuram: a rare achievement in itself. The most important theatre arts in Kerala have always had their devoted audience in the villages. There in the open air the ritualistic arts like Padayani, Theyyam, Kakkarassi, Poothamkali and Poorakkali are still attracting large crowds. The classical performing arts received a big boost in the present century with the founding of Kerala Kala Mandalam by the poet Vallathol. Attakkathas continue to be written on old subjects as well as new ones. The purists and the traditionalits do not quite favour the widening of the range of the Kathakali repertoire. Changes nevertheless are taking place, however imperceptible they may be at the time. Drama on the western model has always had to face an implicit challenge from these traditional performing arts with a hoary heritage behind them. In more recent times the cinema may appear to be a threat, but these challenges should be a source of inspiration for the dramatist committed to his vocation. The influence of Tamil musicals and their Malayalam adaptations or imitations was keenly felt in the 1920s and 1930s . It is perhaps a legacy from the tremendously popular Sangitanaishadham (1892) of T.C. Achutha Menon (1870-1942) and the later Balagopalam (1920) of Kuttamath Kunjukrishna Kurup. The musical drama version of Kumaran Asans Karuna was also a very popular play on the commercial stage. This tradition may be said to continue still, occasionally with an overdose of spicy humour or with a leftistoriented political message. Malayalam drama underwent a significant development in the 1930s. It may be said to have started with the discovery of Ibsen. A. Balakrishna Pillai, one of the major critics of the period, translated Ibsens Ghosts into Malayalam in 1936 and wrote articles about him to popularize the kind of drama that Ibsen seemed to stand for. In 1940 C. Narayana Pillai translated Rosmersholm. This trend merged with the new movement which had already made some advances in Malabar. That drama was no mere entertainment, that it was a strong means of social awakening and that serious drama could make a powerful appeal to the audience: these truths were demonstrated by two plays based on the Brahmin community in Malabar. Adukkalayilninnu

Arangathekku (From the Kitchen to the Scene of Action; 1930) by V.T. Raman Bhattathiripad, traces the history of the liberation of the Namboothiri women. It was an epoch-making play, mainly because of its ideological thrust. Ritumati (The Nubile Maiden 1939) by M.P. Bhattathiripad continued the movement. K. Damodarans Pattabakki (Rental Arrears; 1938) is our first play on a socio-political theme. It is out and out propangandist, yet has an important difference from the conventional type of commercial drama without any serious thought in it. The forties were thus ready for a real take-off. New playwrights like N. Krishna Pillai, Pulimana Parameswaran PIllai, Edasseri Govindan Nair and C.J. Thomas brought into the stage in Kerala the muchneeded seriousness of genuine tragedy through the front door itself. N. Krishna Pillai had declared his intentions as a playwright in categorical terms. the ideal play, as far as I am concerned, is one in which some serious and fundamental human problem is realistically analysed and handled with the utmost concentration, avoiding wastage in words, dialogues, situations and characters. This ideal was instilled in me by Ibsen whom I consider to be the most successful master dramatist of the modern age and hence have attempted to emulate, with discrimination, his dramatic form and technique in my plays.Krishna Pillais major works are Bhagnabhavanam (Shattered Home: 1942), Kanyaka (The Virgin 1944) and Balabalam (The Trial of Strength 1946) Pulimana Parameswaran Pillais Samathva wadi (The Socialist: 1944) is a precocious work; it employs the expressionist device with consummate skill. Edasseri Govindan Nairs Koottukrishi (Joint Farming: 1950) emphasised the value of rustic realism. A new dimension to the serious problem play was given by C.J. Thomas in his Avan Veendum Varunnu (He Comes Again). It is a work that anticipates the later development of Malayalam drama. C.J. Thomas experimental urge achieves its magnificent fulfilment in his Crime 27 of 1128 (1952-1954). A challenge to directors and actors, Crime is unique among Malayalam dramas. Before Beckett and Ionesco became known as writers of the Absurd Theatre and without proclaiming himself to be the founder of any school, C.J. Thomas gave total expression to his concept of drama-neither-tragedy nor comedy alone, but both at the same time, each seeking its justification in the other. C.J. Thomas was to write one more tragedy, Aa Manushyan Nee Thanne (Thou Art That Man), a dramatization of the Bibilical story of David and Bathsheba. This pattern of epic dramas on puranic themes was taken up by C.N. Sreekantan Nair after his first attempts the social drama. The fifties and early sixties were the period of stage musicals, often with a pronounced socio-political bias. Thoppil Bhasi, N.N. Pillai, K.T. Mohammed, G. Sankara Pillai and Kavalam Narayana Panicker, among others, have kept the theatre active and meaningful during the post-independence period. Poetry: The Second Generation of Romantics Of the three poets, Asan, Ulloor and Vallathol, it was Vallathol the youngest that attracted the largest following in his life-time and enjoyed the greatest popularity. Among those who were close to him in style are Nalappat Narayana Menon, Kuttippurathu Kesavan Nair, K.M. Panikkar, G. Sankara Kurup, Pallathu Raman, Bodheswaran, Vennikulam Gopala Kurup, P. Kunjiraman Nair, Palai Narayanan Nair, M.P. Appan and Balamani Amma. Nalappatt Narayana Menon (1887-1955) is mainly remembered for his classic elegy on the death of his wife, Kannuneer Tulli (Tear Drop), one of the best meditative lyrics in Malayalam. Like the English elegiac poets, he is prompted to speculate on the mearning of life by the experience of bereavement: Infinite, inscrutable and ineffable. The route on which spins this cosmic

globe; What does man know of its true meaning, Who looks at it from an obscure corner? This philosophical strain which is an undercurrent of romantic poetry makes Nalappatt Narayana Menon closest to Asan; of all the poets in the Vallathol school, Kuttippurathu Kesavan Nair (1883-1959) in his poem Grameena Kanyaka (The Village Maid) wrote about the simple joys of the rural society that were threatened by the prospect of urbanization. Pallathu Raman (1892-1950) mainly wrote poems of social revolt, K.M. Panikkar (1895-1963), also a historian in English and a novelist in the C.V. tradition, came under the influence of the early Vallathol and wrote poems in several genres. G. Sankara Kurup (1900-1978), brought up in the classicist tradition of Ulloor and Vallathol, fell early under the influence of Rabindranath Tagore and emerged as one of the major voices in the 1930s. He passed through various stages of evolution marked by movements such as mysticism, symbolism, realism and also socialist realism. Among his major lyrical and meditative poems are Nakshatragitam (Song of the Star), Suryakanthi (The Sunflower), Innu Njan Nale Nee (Today I, Tomorrow Thou), Nimisham (The Moment) and Viswadarsanam (The Cosmic Vision). They are all imbued with a spiritual earnestness which often brings him closer to the poetry of Kumaran Asan. His dramatic monologue Perumthachan (The Master Carpenter), is one of the successful poems in that genre in Malayalam. Vennikulam Gopala Kurup (1902-1980) has stayed more or less within the Vallathol frame-work, but has achieved some fine effects in his best poems about scenes in everyday life. P. Kunhiraman Nair (1909-1978) was an indefatigable champion of the native tradition of life and an unwearied admirer of the beauty of Kerala landscape. Nalappatt Balamoni Amma is the greatest poetess Kerala has produced so far. She is equally good at domestic themes and at speculative philosophy. Her longer monologues based on Parasurama, Viswamitra, Mahabali and Vibhishana add a new dimension to Vallathols portrayals of puranic characters and episodes. Two poets, Edappally Raghavan Pillai and Changmpuzha Krishna Pillai, brought in a new breath of life into the Malayalam poetry of the 1930s. Edappalli Raghavan Pillai (1909-1936), one of the true inheritors of unfulfilled renown among modern Malayalam poets, brought out and emphasized the finer elements which were often muted in the poems of the Vallathol School. His poetry reminds us of a vibrant melody played on a single string instrument. Before he committed suicide in 1936 he wrote a few excellent lyrics in the purer romantic strain with no hangover from neoclassicism. The close alliance between nature and the poets mood of the moment is a recurring theme in his work, as in the following lines from Prateeksha (Hope): Come away, come away, my bird of hope; Darkness is spreading everywhere! Singing its last song, to the west Has flown the golden bird of twilight; In the flower garden of the night Already the jasmine buds of tonight have blossomed. The last flickering smile of the lotus Has melted into the twilight glow; The cuckoo, tired of its singing, Is asleep on the tree in the yard. My bird of hope, wandering somewhere

In the heavens, please come away! The double-distilled essence of romantic lyricism, tender and delicate and wistful: never before or after in the history of Malayalam poetry has it been captured in words. Edappalli Raghavan Pillai has been compared by A. Balakrishna Pillai to Leopardi of Italy: the brooding melancholy of an autumnal afternoon lingers over the poems of both. Raghavan Pillais best poem is perhaps Maninadam which ends with a quiet prayer: Will each drop of my blood Dripping from my hearts broken wall Tired of the repeated batterings Of the rough rubbles of insult Inspire the pen that writes love songs? And if it does, will it be effective? His companion Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (1911-1948) met the same challenge of life with greater resilience. But deep down in him too there glowed an incurable idealism which saw the world in primary colours. In a statement in verse prefixed to his first volume Bashpanjali (Tearful Offerings; 1934) he said: Maybe its right - this world May be a source of unique joys; May be a wave in the milky sea Of the life of power and pomp: Unlucky that Iam, whatever I saw Was shrouded in pain! Whatever fell upon my ears Was the cry of pity! Whatever my burning soul suffered Were sighs, deep and hot. Changampuzhas most popular work is a pastoral play in verse called Ramanan. It is a dramatization of the life and death of Raghavan Pillai presented in idealized terms. Its romantic melodies have captured the loveliness of the landscape of Kerala with its evergreen trees and its numerous rivers. With Changampuzha, Malayalam poetry comes directly under the influence of world poetry other than English too. He was a prolific writer with an everwidening readership. He was susceptible to different kinds of influence from time to time: he has written poems both extolling Vedic culture and condemning it vehemently; he has denounced socialism and has hailed Marx. These contradictions exist only on the intellectual plane. The magic of his poetry subsumes all these paradoxes. His last collection of poems Swararagasudha (1948) represents his art at its most mature. Rakkilikal (Night birds: 1946) is in the form of a duet recited by a young man and a young woman calling upon the sleeping world to awaken to a new day, better and brighter than ever before. Manaswini (Woman with a generous heart: 1947) is an autobiographical poem in which the poet pays his homage in glowing words As my heart, reflecting on you, Melts and dissolves in a reverie, My soul, urged by some ecstasy, Is thrilled through and through

Pain, pain, intoxicating Pain: let me drench myself in it! Drench myself; and from within me Let a soft strain of the flute flow. Changampuzha passed away in 1948 and with that the magic world of romanticism too came to an end. In the thirties and forties, realism had threatened to creep into Malayalam poetry, but never could raise its head very high, Edasseri Govindan Nair was one of the first poets to use a nonromantic diction and talk about the problems of life with precision and sharpness. Rural life and industrial life appear in his poems (Puthenkalavum, Arivalum (The new pot and the sickle); Panimudakku (Strike) in naked, unadorned and not-too-musical verse. Changampuzhas protest songs were so mellifluous that they often lulled both the rebel and his opponent into the luxury of a daydream. Edasseri made the rebel think and understand, before rushing into a fury of violence. Through him Malayalam poetry learned to shed some colourful but unhealthy encrustations and speak the language of truth as in Bury the griefs in a pit and let us take a leap to power. Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (1911-1985) is perhaps the last of our major links with Vallathol. He survived the flood tide of the poetry of Changampuzha, his exact contemporary. He started publishing collections late and in the late forties and fifties he wrote some of his very best poems. He had once declared himself to be a poet of beauty, but later extended the meaning of the world beauty to cover all aspects of life. His poetry gained in depth and complexity in the years that followed. His most popular Poem is Mampazham (Ripe Mango), a very early work illustrating the Wordsworthian view that children are prophets. Among his more mature works are Sahyante Makan (Son of the Western Ghats) presenting with sympathy and understanding the troubled thoughts of a temple elephant in the process of going crazy and running amuck. The romantic strain is not absent in him, for example Oonjalinmel (On the Swing), but it does not lead to uncontrolled outbursts or torrential overflow or loose meanderings. He always exercises severe control over his matter and manner; seldom does he tolerate sentimentality or melodrama. His most ambitious poem is perhaps Kudiyozhikkal (Eviction), a kind of lyricaldramatic narrative in which the poet tries to dramatize his own ambivalence vis-a-vis the community at large and to clarify the role of the poet in a world of changing values. The Edappalli school continued for a little while in the fifties as in the works of P. Bhaskaran. But the Edasseri line got strengthened with the coming into the scene of N.V. Krishna Warrier (1916-1989) author of Neenda Kavitakal (Long Poems) and Kochuthomman, Akkitham Achuthan Nambudiri, author of Irupatham Nootandinte Itihasam (The Epic of the Twentieth Century) and Olappamanna, author of Nangemakutty. Fiction in the Foreground In the wake of the western novel came the western short story. The stories in the puranas or in works like Panchatantra could not give rise to a modern form of short fiction. When English came to influence the prose style, it also led to the use of prose for story telling. Among the earliest practitioners of the short story in Malayalam are Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (1861-1915), Ambadi Narayana Poduval (1871-1936), Murkot Kumaran (1874-1941), K. Sukumaran (1876-1956) and M.R.K.C. or Chenkulath Kunhirama Menon (1882-1940). In the place of a native tradition of story-telling, they developed a new mode by incorporating the western narrative tradition. But the stories of these early decades of the 20th century were

quaint accounts of episodes, their main purpose seems to have been to provide entertainment to the literate population. But the short story began to forge ahead in the 1930s. A new generation of writers was just waiting in the wings when the Sahitya Parishath was launched in 1927 in the place of the old Kavisamajam started in 1892 and the later Bhashaposhini Sabha which had become defunct. The best link between the older writers of the short story and the new generation was E.V. Krishna Pillai, whose stories are collected in Kelisoudham. In 1937 the younger writers started a Jivat Sahitya Samiti which in 1944 grew into the Progressive Literature Association. Whatever limitations this movement may have had, the emphasis put on the realities of life and on the need to relate literature to contemporary problems had its salutary effect on the short story. Perhaps without this new awakening, the Malayalam short story would have remained where it was before. But in the new circumstances the short story got a boost. Some of the best talents went into this field. Karur Neelakanta Pillai (1898-1974), P. Kesava Dev (1904-1983), Ponkunnam Varkey (b, 1908), Vaikom Muhammed Basheer (19121994) S.K. Pottekkat (1913-1982), Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (b, 1914), P.C. Kuttikrishnan (1915-1979), Lalithambika Antharjanam (1909-1987) and K. Saraswathi Amma (1919-1974) were among the masters of the new short story that began its brilliant career in the 1930s and achieved great heights in the next twenty years. Karur was a humanist to the core and even when he used satire he had his sympathies in the right quarters in the right proportion. The moralizing strain is completely muted in his best stories such as Marappavakal (Wooden Dolls), Poovampazham (Bananas) and Mothiram (The Ring), Compared with the stories of E.V. Krisnna Pillai or Bhavathrathan Nambudiripad, the stories of Karur are finished products. His stories about the episodes in the life of a school teacher such as he was, are marked by selective realism and poignant pathos. He is, perhaps, the most economical of our short-story writers. Kesava Dev began as a politically-oriented writer and his sympathies lay with the oppressed classes. He is often impatient about the aesthetic side. His view is that if the writer takes enough care about what he has to say, then technical excellence will automatically follow. Nevertheless, some of his early stories are quite moving because of their raw, unselfconscious craftsmanship. No one can write without craft and it is the regard for authenticity in artistic communication that makes a writer care for the way communication is achieved. Meenkaran Koran (Koran, the fisherman) is a story that well reveals both Devs thematic obsessions and his technique of narration. Ponkunnam Varkey is also concerned with socio-political reality and his early stories are open attacks on the church. The attempt to bring to light the hidden motivations for outwardly pious actions is what Varkey is specially interested in in his stories which expose the foibles or cruelties of the church as an institution. His younger contemporary, Ponjikkara Raphy continued for a time, this tirade against the tyranny of the Catholic Church. Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, quite unlike Varkey, works by suggestion. He is also a social critic (here a critic of the weaknesses of the Islamic society in Kerala) but he does not shout or harangue like Dev and Varkey. He is closer to Karur in this respect. The master artist in him is fully revealed in stories like Poovanpazham (Banana), Bhargavi Nilayam and Muchittukalikarante Makal (A gamblers daughter). There is humour and pathos in several of his best stories. S.K. Pottekkat is more interested in psychology than in social reality. His stories like Stri (Woman), Vadhu (The Bride) and Nisagandhi (Flower of the night) reveal this. The absence of a propagandist obsession enables him to use a poetic style. Some of the stories are laid in

places outside Kerala. His romantic interests are reflected in the titles of his collection: Indraneelam, Chandrakantham, Padmaragam, (names of precious stones); Rajamally, Kanakambaram, Nisagandhi (names of flowers) Pulliman, Himavahini, Manimalika, Vanakaumudi (all words with rich associations). Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai started as a short story writer in the line of Guy de Maupassant who was probably introudced to him by A. Balakrishna Pillai. He has an unerring eye for the telling detail and in his best stories he makes this effect by using a simple unadorned style. Compared with him Pottekat and Kuttikrishnan may be said to employ an ornate style, a precious diction and aim at special effects. In Thakazhi, the style is not an end in itself. We do not see it, as a matter of fact, we see through it. He is capable of clinical analysis and objective reporting in a neutral style. One of his popular early stories is Vellappokkam (Flood). His major themes concern the life of the peasants and the have nots. But it may be said that under the influence of his French masters, there is an overdose of naturalist writing in the early stories, roughly in the manner of Zola. Lalithambika Antharjanam and K. Saraswathi Amma are among the foremost women story tellers in Malayalam; they deal with the pieties of domestic life. Antharjanams stories are marked by her innate sympathy for people in distress. She has also a great deal of variety of themes, as exemplified by Pancharayumma (A sweet kiss) on the one hand and Sathyathinte Swaram (The Voice of Truth) on the other. The former is personal, subjective, domestic, delicate, lyrical, the other is tragic, social, public, harsh, dramatic. The problems of a Nambudiri household are also taken up at times, as in Kuttasammatham (Confession). Saraswathi Amma has a less sophisticated style. Her forthright analysis of man-woman relationship is not too common even in Western literature. The short stories of P.C. Kuttikrishnan present the interplay of the romantic and the realistic. Like Karur and Basheer; Kuttikrishnan also is capable of using humour as an undertone. It does not graduate into satire. He also reveals a unique insight into human nature. The psychology of the proletariat has seldom been portrayed better than in some of the early short stories of Ponjikkara Raphy, just as middle class life is vividly portrayed in the stories of Vettoor Raman Nair. The development of the novel in the second quarter of the twentieth century is a close parallel to the growth of the short story as outlined above. Chandu Menon and C.V. Raman Pillai had established two lineages in the Malayalam novel.For a long while they were without any real following. They were imitated ad infinitum. Social and historical novels came out in large numbers. But there was no creative originality in any of them. Narayana Kurukkal (1861-1948) wrote Parappuram (during the 1890s) and Udayabhanu during the 1900s, which may be regarded as setting up a new genre, viz., the political novel, Virutan Sanku (Sanku, the smart fellow) by Karatt Achutha Menon (1867-1913) was written in 1913. Rama Varma Appan Thampuran (1876-1942) was the author among numerous other things the novel Bhootharayar (1923), Ambadi Narayana Poduvals Keralaputran also deserves mention here. These were not major achievements. Thus it might be said that the course of extended prose fiction in Malayalam appeared to have come to an end. It was then that in 1931 a work that was unique in many ways came out; it was Apphante Makal (Uncles Daughter) by Bhavatratan Nambudiripad. Like V.T. Bhattathiripads play Adukkalayil Ninnu Arangathekku, produced about the same time, this novel also had a profound social relevance. But apart from that, it was very readable story in prose, the characters were fully alive and the social situation, fully realized in the context of the novel. The fresh awakening of the

novel in the thirties was due to various factors such as the arrival on the scene of a new generation of writers, the demand for reading material for the newly literate, the exposure of Malayalam writers to the new vistas of Russian and French fiction through the writings of Balakrishna Pillai and a general interest among the people in matters social, political and cultural, which is also seen in our national life at the time. The forties and the early fifties were a busy period for the novelists as the following shows. 1942 Odayil Ninnu (Out of the Gutter, Kesava Dev) 1944 Balyakala Sakhi (Childhood friend; Basheer 1946 Nati (Actress: Dev) 1947 Sabdangal (Voices: Basheer) Thottiyude Makan (Scavengers Son:Thakazhi) 1948 Vishakanyaka (Poison Maid: Pottekkat) 1949 Randidangazhi (Two Measures; Thakazhi Bhrantalayam (Mad House: Dev) 1950 Arkuvendi (For Whose Sake: Dev) 1951 Entuppuppakkoranendarnnu (My Grandpa had an Elephant: Basheer) 1955 Ummachu (Kuttikrishnan) 1956 Chemmeen (Prawns; Thakazhi) 1957 Pathummuyude Aadu (Pattummas Goat; Basheer) 1958 Sundarikalum Sundaranrmarum (Women and Men of Charm: Kuttikrishnan). It is clear from the above list that most of the time the same people wrote short stories and novels. Thus the early modern novel is no more than an extended short story, if the novelist does not appear on the stage and add his own comments and explanations, the novel would be still shorter. Thakazhis early work Pathitha Pankajam (Fallen Lotus), Devs Odayil Ninnu, Pottekkats Nadan Premam (Country Love) and Basheers Balyakala Sakhi are novels of this kind. Devs Nati and Pottekkats Vishakanyaka have graduated into what may be called the novel proper. Thus the modern novel in Malayalam is mostly a post-war-phenomenon. What is important here is that aspects of life which had never entered into literature before with sufficient force or depth, swept into it now, through these novels. The novel as a genre in the hands of these writers is purely a western transplantation; none of them has tried to evolve an indigenous form of prose narration. The influence of Chekhov, Maupassant, Gorky, Hugo, Tolstoy, Steinbeck, Knut Hamsun and perhaps Dostoievsky; the list can be lengthened. But it must however be granted that these novelists widened the range of our readers interests and thus provided a much needed education in literary sensibility, Pappu, Chathan, Koran, Ummachu, Karuthamma, Majid, Suhra, Ouseph; they were all granted entry into the temple of Saraswati. The Pariah and the Nambudiri jostled shoulders in claiming the compassion and consideration of the reading public. And what is more, the novel was no more a mere means of entertainment, a decoration or an outgrowth. It was like life itself, as created by the artists vision. In the fifties the novel became the most productive literary form; but skeptics continued to feel there was not yet any one to challenge. Chandu Menon nor any novel yet to stand comparison with Ramaraja Bahadur. Literary Criticism Among the forms of non-fiction prose that received a tremendous onward push in the modern period, was literary criticism. In the 1930s and 40s three names became most influential. A Balakrishna Pillai (1889-1960), Joseph Mundasseri (1901-1977) and Kuttikrishna Marar (1900-1973). Their critical writings are mostly interpretative rather than theoretical. In

theory, they tried to draw upon literature in other languages. Balakrishna Pillai and Mundesseri mostly upon European literature, including Russian, while Marar was mainly confined to and contented with vedic and classical, Sanskrit literature. Balakrishna Pillai wrote elaborate studies of the selected lyrics of Edappalli Raghavan Pillai, Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, G. Sankara Kurup Kedamangalam Pappukutty and works like Kerala Varmas Mayurasandesam and Thakazhis Thalayode (skull). He had widely read in European literature, French, Russian, Italian etc., and often quoted from or referred to works in these languages for comparison and contrast with contemporary Malayalam literature. He was in a way responsible for the cultivation of the exotic in Malayalam literature. His obession with the theoretical aspects of literary schools and movements, with archaeology and ancient history, with myth and psycho analysis and with literary genres and formalist criticism, helped fertilize the otherwise barren ground of literary criticism in Malayalam. At times he seemed to indulge in oversimplification and categorization, but even then he did help readers to look for specific elements in literary works. He was mainly responsible for the modernization of literary taste in Malayalam. Respect for contemporary classics seems to have been his watchword. Joseph Mundasseri began his career as a critic by looking for a means of synthesizing Indian poetics with the insights of Western literary criticism. He was able to set forth some of these views in his early work Kavya Peetika. He applied these to the works of Kumaran Asan and tried to identify the elements of greatness in Asans work. Thus, like Balakrishna Pillai, he was also bent upon interpreting and highlighting contemporary classics. His essays in Manadandam, show his interest in ancient classics like Kalidasas Meghadoot. His controversial theory about Roopabhadrata formal excellence - showed that he was not evaluating a work of art solely on the basis of the proclaimed aims of a writer. But he saw the artist fundamentally as a spokesman of his age. This established his position as the chief architect of the theory of progressive literature in the 1940s. He was ably supported by a host of other critics like M.S. Devadas, S. Guptan Nair and K. Damodaran. Mundasseri demonstrated the usefulness of the comparative method even in contemporary studies in Mattoli (Echo), although his conclusions were not always logical. He tried his hand occasionally at fiction, but his place in literature is basically that of a critic. He was master of a sonorous kind of prose, full of sanskritisms and involved construction showing the influence of English syntax. He used this style to defend proletarian writing which employs the opposite kind of style. Exactly opposed to the stand of Mudasseri was that of Kuttikrishna Marar, a champion of Indian classics and the values of classical criticism. He started his careeer as an intepreter-commentator of the works of Vallathol, but soon emerged into the arena fully armed to defend values which seemed to be threatened with extinction under the onslaughts of the progressivists. His eleborate critical study of Mahabharata from the point of view of a dedicated and enlightened classicist (Bharataparyatanam), his open avowal that critical impartiality is a misconception where values are at stake, his advocacy of art as life itself, as against art for lifes sake, his wonderful penetration into the fundamental principles of spiritual and moral elements in literature enabled him to establish his position as a major critic although he did not know English well and did not have the benefits of western education. As sober as Marar, but with all the erudition of A. Balakrishna Pillai and the social commitment of Mundasseri was M.P. Paul who, however, did not live long enough to do justice to his talents. His studies of literary genres, especially the short story and the

novel, had a tremendous impact not only on critics, but on the novelists themselves. His attempt to study aesthetics as fundamental to the practice of literary criticism shows the influence of his English education. He had an easy, unaffected kind of middle style at his command, a prose free from the mannerisms of Mundasseri and the obscurantism of Balakrishna Pillai. A number of essayists had contributed to the growth of prose and literary criticism in the forties and fifties. K.R. Krishna Pillai, R. Narayana Panikkar, P. Sankaran Nambiar, Sooranad Kunjan Pillai, Govindankutty Nair, Kainikkara Kumara Pillai and A.D. Harisarma are only a few of them. Among the writers of biographical and critical studies may be mentioned P.K. Parameswaran Nair (Sahitya Panchananan, C.V. Raman Pillai), K.M. George (Sadhu Kochukunju, Jeevacharita Sahityam), K. Bhaskaran Nair, (Daivaneetikku Dakshinyam Illa), N. Krishna Pillai (Thiranjedutha Prabandhangal) and P.K. Balakrishnan (Narayanaguru, Tippu Sultan and Chandu Menon - A study), Among the travelogues are K.P. Kesava Menons Bilathivisesham and numerous volumes by S.K. Pottekkat. There have been many great masters of humour, the most important of them are E.V. Krishna Pillai (18951938) and M.R. Nair (Sanjayan, 1903-1944). Sanjayan had a more serious face too. In Sahityanikasham are collected a number of brilliant pieces of literary criticism, which anticipate later developments in comparative literature studies. Among their followers are N.P. Chellappan Nair and P.K. Rajaraja Varma. The most important autobiographies in the language include those of P.K. Narayana Pillai (Smaranamandalam, 1938), E.V. Krishna Pillai (Jeevithasmaranakal; 1941), K.M. Panikkar (Atmakatha 1953), K.P. Kesava Menon (Kazhinja Kalam), Mundasseri (Kozhinja Ilakal) and C. Kesavan (Jeevithasamaram). The informal essay has been enriched by the writings of E.V. Krishna Pillai (Chiriyum Chintayum in 2 parts. 1936), which are marked by satire. Sanjayan wrote social satire both in prose and in verse. The light essay has had a number of practitioners but they are mostly scattered in various periodicals. The tradition of Cherusseri and Kunchan Nambiar have been kept up by prose writers in our time. The literature of research has grown immensely, during the period. Among the histories of literature, the greatest monument is Ulloors Kerala Sahitya Charitram which is a compendium of the history of Sanskrit literature in Kerala too. Dictionaries like Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillais monumental Sabdataravali have been followed by other more diversified ones. Books on science and technology and on different aspects of Gandhism and Marx have come out in recent times. Journalism is a flourishing field and weeklies like Mathrubhumi and Malayalarajyam and monthlies like Mangalodayam used to cater to the tastes of the younger as well as the older generation of both readers and writers. The fifties began as a period of controversies set afloat by the progressive movement and its politicalization. Writers were often urged to take sides, and it was argued that not taking sides at all was itself taking a certain side. But amidst the din and noise of the polemics and the splash of slogans and catchwords and stereotyped formulas, it seems that efforts were being made somewhere for a powerful take-off after the fifties. After Independence Malayalam literature after independence has been making steady progress in almost all branches of literary endeavour. The influence of the poetic trinity (Asan, Ulloor, Vallathol) was on the wane, and new trends had taken roots even before the arrival of freedom. The period saw the continuation of neo-romanticism mixed with a touch of realism; theprogressive movement with its commitment to realism and even naturalism, had

dissipated with the Kollam conference because of internecine dispute between Communist party hardliners like E.M.S. Nambudiripad and writers like Kesava Dev, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and Joseph Mundassery. There was a short period of confusion among writers committed to leftist ideology, but fiction, poetry and drama appeared to steer clear of these ideological muddles and emerge into a new phase, throwing away hackneyed preoccupations and forms of expression. The second half of the 20th century could thus be termed post-progressive, post-romantic or modernist. As in many other Indian languages, changes continued to take place in Malayalam too on a par with what was happening in most literatures of the world. The quarter of a century after independence is often referred to as the modernist phase, which for a time coincided with the left-over progressive-romantic trends. And the last quarter-century has sometimes been identified as the post-modern phase. Just as independence ushered in modernism, certain political and social events, such as the Emergency (1975-77) helped the transition from modernism to post-modernism. While the emergence of no new movement marks a complete cut-off from the existing trends, there is a period of overlap, during which the dying past and the inchoate present face each other in an uneasy co-existence. Poetry Many of the senior poets at the coming of independence were still very productive with their mature works, marking the fruition of the tendencies that were visible in their early works. G. Sankara Kurup (1901-77) produced his magnum opus, Vishwadarshanam, at a time when some critics were arguing that the sprout of Malayalam poetry had stopped growing and that poetry had no future. He went on to write lyrical pieces like Shivatandavam(Dance of Shiva) and narratives like Chandanakattil (Sandalwood Bed). Petty-minded writers went on wondering whether Kurup was a poet at all, when he was chosen for the first ever Jnanpith Puraskar, which was an unpleasant surprise for them. P. Kunhiraman Nair (1906-78) too emerged from under the shadow of Vallathol and grew out of his early phase as a devotional poet; he too surprised his readers with new themes and striking imagery. Few poets have captured the beauty of Keralas land and landscape, people and nature, with such authenticity as he. He moved from place to place all through Kerala, looking for the vanished grace and wondrous beauty of yore. N. Balamani Amma (19092003), after writing brilliantly about mother and grandmother and the domestic virtues, produced a series of character studies, exploring the significance of puranic heroes like Parasurama, Vibhishana, Mahabali, Vishwamitra and others, and uncovering the hidden side of their prowess. Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon (1911-85), whose first collection came out only in 1948, achieved his full glory during the post-independence years. His narrative piece Kudiyozhikkal (Eviction) was a breakthrough in understanding the psychology of the middle class in the Kerala setting. His shorter poems like Oonjalil (On the Swing), Onappattukaar, Ujvalamuhurtam, and Savitri, reveal to the reader the quintessence of poetry in a variety of forms. Vennikulam Gopala Kurup, M.P. Appan, V.K. Govindan Nair and K.K. Raja were among the others who enriched Malayalam poetry in their own ways. Despite the difficult conditions of living, Appan always maintained a pleasant attitude to life. Palai Narayanan Nair (b. 1911) is the author of a series called Keralam Valarunnu (Kerala is Flourishing), tracing the growth and development of Kerala through myths, legends, history and social progress, in addition to several lyrical pieces with a romantic or realistic touch like

Amritakala (The Immortal Crescent) and Jeevitakahalam (The Bugle of Life). The dominant influence on young poets at mid-century, however, was that of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (1911-48) with his irrepressible romantic poetic vision and exuberant style. After his death this trend survived in the poets of the neo-romantic school, some of whom cherished the language and sentiments already employed by Changampuzha. P. Bhaskaran, Thirunalloor Karunakaran, Vayalar Rama Varma, Puthusseri Ramachandran, O.N.V. Kurup, Punalur Balan and others tried to combine the neo-romantic sentiments with the ideas of social revolution. They may be said to have shared up to a time the ideology of leftist politics. In some ways this trend has continued to the end of the 20th century. Some of these writers later turned away from their earlier preoccupations, but the language and style remained without change. P. Bhaskaran (b.1924) was a Communist, went underground in 1946-47 and wrote his famous poem Vayalar Garjikkunnu (Vayalar Cries Out), celebrating the violent protest against autocracy in the village of Vayalar in erstwhile Travancore. Later he left the party and entered the film world, directing films and writing lyrics for the films, where he distinguished himself as a film-song writer. He wrote a few anti-communist poems like Pretangalude Pattu (The Chorus of the Dead).Like his popular film songs, his later poems also evoke soft sentiments about love and nostalgia. Orkkuka Vallappozhum (Remember at Times) is a collection of personal lyrics rich in emotion. His mature poems have a sober vision of life and perhaps a sombre understanding of man and his environs. Vayalar Rama Varma (1928-75) too was inspired by ideas of social revolution and was for a time writing on the basis of leftist political ideology. He too gradually moved away from total commitment to politics and declared that the sword is not my weapon of war in his well-known poem Sargasangitam (The Song of Creation) His narrative poem Ayisha was of great popular appeal, though not obtrusively political. But his humanist fervor never subsided. Puthusseri Ramachandran (b.1928) and Punalur Balan (1929-87) too had their commitment to leftist politics, but did not stray into writing film lyrics. Avunnathra Ucchathil (At the Top of Ones Voice) is a collection of Puthusseri Ramachandrans representative poems. Punalur Balans mature poems are collected in the volumes Kottayile Pattu (The Song at the Fort) and Raman Raghavan. Thirunalloor Karunakaran added a classical touch to his poems with a rural background partly due to his close knowledge Sanskrit classics. O.N.V. Kurup (b. 1931) also belonged to this group of erstwhile pink poets for a while, but his later poems have a significance beyond any group allegiance, as is seen in his Chorunu (The First Feed of Rice), Nalumanippookkal (Four OClock Flowers), Suryagitam (Ode to the Sun) and Bhoomikkoru Charamagitam (A Requiem for the Earth). Among his more ambitious works are the two narratives, Ujjayini and Swayamvaram, where he achieves an excellence not quite possible in the short lyric. From historical and puranic legends he recreates in his own mellifluous style men and women who are archetypal in stature. The immediate postindependence scene in Malayalam literature presents a mixture of multiple visions and idioms: side by side with these neo-romantic trends there was another school that steered clear of the political claptrap and wrote about man as he was in everyday life, using a language that was as rugged as the life it wrote about. Edasseri Govindan Nair (1906-74) espoused a vision and a style that were diametrically opposed to those of the romantics and neo-romantics. He avoided poetic clichs, favoured common speech, had a dread of mellifluousness, cloying sentiments and hackneyed ideassometimes invoking a popular

myth to give the poem a public dimension, as in Poothappattu (The Song of the Sprite) or an incident from contemporary life to project the significance of the ordinary, as in Puthenkalavum Arivalum (The New Cooking Pot and the Sickle). The latter poem ends with the famous couplet: First we must reap power And after that the Aryan crop. Here there is no mincing of words, no resort to finery, no sound or word for its own sake. A provocative anti-romantic stance may be found in the early pieces of N.V. Krishna Warrior (1916-89). Madirasiyile Oru Sayahnam (An Evening in Madras) pokes fun at the infatuation a college student feels for his Anglo-Indian classmate, whom he idealizes, only to meet with a pitiable discomfiture at the end. His Rats written against the background of the famine during World War II, is marked by bitter irony and satire in favour of the rats at the expense of the humans. With the same vitriolic pen he wrote the poem Mohan Das Gandhi and Nathuram Godse, KallaDeivangal (False Gods) and Avasanathe Aspatri (The Last Hospital). M. Govindan (1919-89), an intellectual of no mean order, exposed through his poetry as through his prose essays the hypocrisy and corruption endemic in the contemporary Indian social milieu. His Gazette Notification, Lucifers Solicitor, and Pashanappattu (Poison Song) reveal the intensity of his repulsion for the evil forces in society. His biographical poem on Kunchan Nambiar, the 18th century master humorist in Malayalam, is a touching account of the last days of that great poet. These poets may be said to have pursued the Edasseri line, as opposed to the Edappalli line. To this may be said to belong writers like Kadavanat Kuttikrishnan, Olappamanna Subrahmanyan Nambudiripad and Akkitham Achyuthan Nambudiri. Akkitham (b. 1926) sprang a surprise on the readers with his long poem Irupathamnoottandinte Ithihasam ( The Epic of the 20th Century), which is a moving rejection of all the crippling ideologies in the minds of the young in the 1950s. He castigates those who maintain that the stomach is the central concern of man and plead that light brings grief, darkness is happiness. In his later writings like Balidarshanam and Karathalamalakam (lit. Gooseberry in the Hand) and Sparshamanikal he reveals his sterling qualities as a poet in the great Indian tradition. His Nityamegham (The Everlasting Cloud) is a poem that subtly invokes the spirit of Kalidasas Cloud Messenger: it opens with an image of the rain-cloud: With the fire and steam of the pain Of separation from the Beloved, With a sigh, with a tear, The spirit of time makes a rain-cloud, And flies it in play Through the sky of fancy As a child flies a kite. R. Ramachandran (1923-2005) had neo-romantic leanings to begin with, however he soon discovered his own style, which was not like that of anyone else. He wrote little but that little was worth a lot. G. Kumara Pillai (1923-2000) started off in the Changampuzha school, but as he grew up tried other styles. There are quite a few beautiful lyrics to his credit, such as Arorumorathe, Ee nalla nattilallo, Dharmadam Dharmasankatam, etc. Chemmanam Chacko (b. 1926) is obsessed with the decline of values in our society and he

exposes to ridicule our vanities and pretensions in a number of anthologies. In Rice, the speaker returns from North India, fed up with chappathi, only to find that rice is scarce in his own native village in Kerala. Kunjunni (b. 1927), who happens to be the best-known poet of childrens verse in modern times, is also quick to notice the ironies in contemporary life: After all, men rush forward With legs that bend only backward! But these discrepancies and resulting tensions in life go beyond simple humour and assume massive proportions of tragic irony in the poems of N.N. Kakkad (1927-87). He uses all the resources of puranic metaphors to conjure up images of horror stalking the corridors of life, as in Invocation: O Brobdingnagian monster jammingmyfleshinto a bowl of blood and sweat, you, my lord, come! Here is a worm that invokes you from the swarming gutter. Suddenly, as it were, the pseudoromantic illusions of fellow poets topple down and Kakkad evokes the epiphany of a face to face encounter with the reality of this world, couched in the language of the great myths of mankind. From the poems in his early collection 1963 to his last volume Saphalameeyatra (Journey Successful), he consistently worked out a scheme for modernist poetry in Malayalam. His early poems were a puzzle to many readers but by the time of his last poems, readers had grown attuned to his style and diction and vision. Swerving away from the trodden path of neo-romanticism was the poetry of Ayyappa Paniker (b.1930), whose Kurukshetram too upset many a gentle reader in the beginning. He went on to write a series of cartoon poems along with Kudumbapuranam (The Family Saga), Pakalukal, Ratrikal (Days, Nights) and Gopikadandakam and produced a long poem of an epic journey called Gotrayanam (The Journey of the Tribe). The modernist trend was fostered by poets like Attoor Ravi Varma (b. 1930), whose Cancer and Sankramanam questioned and broadened the sensibilities of the Malayali reading public. M.N. Paloor (b. 1932) too exposes the absurdities of modern urban life in Poet at the Airport, but always in his mind looms large the tragicomic vision of Vyasas Mahabharata. Cherian K. Cherian (b. 1932) is the author of well-known poems like Palazhimathanam (The Churning of the Ocean of Milk) and Bhasmasuran,. Madhavan Ayyappath (b. 1934) with his poems in Kilimozhikal introduced a new sensibility and vocabulary centring around the image of the bird, which was at variance with the fashion of the time. Yusafali Kecheri (b. 1934) is the author of many collections such as Aayiram Navulla Mounam (Silence with a Thousand Tongues) and Kecheripuzha (Kecheri River). He is also a well-known film lyricist. Sugathakumari (b.1934) uses a style that is reminiscent of the romantics, but realizes the contradictions between dream and reality. Her early poems are of a personal nature, introspective and self-centred, but later on she broadens her themes and concerns to include social inequalities, mans inhumanity to man, ecological imbalance and the problems of women, children and the tribal people. Ratrimazha (Rain at Night) and Colossus are good examples of these enlarged preoccupations. The latter poem closes with these lines: Whom do I call through this lute? Whom do I search for?

I search for a mighty one Mighty as the Varaha That rescued our Mother From the depths of the sea. The poetry of the sixties and seventies was marked by a renewed commitment to everyday life: it was felt that contemporary poetry had to be contemporary with our life. The echo of lifes rhythms may be heard in the poems of Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan (b.1935), such as Kattalan (The Woodsman), Kiratavritham (The Hunters Tale), Santha and Mazha Peyyunnu, Maddalam Kottunnu (It Rains and the Drums Beat). He may be said to have resuscitated the folk tradition behind the loud recitation of poetry before large crowds. He avoids the hackneyed vocabulary and stale imagery of the neo-romantics, and brings a fresh vigour into poetry. Kilimanoor Remakantan (b. 1935) has a more subdued tone and quieter rhythm in his narratives and lyrics. His translation of Dantes The Divine Comedy is a remarkable achievement. Neelamperoor Madhusudanan Nair (b. 1936) is a progressivist, as may be seen from his poems in Urangum Munpu (Before Going to Sleep). Pazhavila Ramesan (b. 1936) is not to be classed with any school, for his poetry pursues an independent channel of its own. K.V. Tampi (b. 1937) is the author of several works like Punarjanmam (Rebirth). Vishnu Narayanan Nambudiri (b. 1939) handles a variety of themes ranging from the age-old glory of Indian tradition (as in Pitryaanam) to the consternation of the modern Indian who wonders what has happened to his self-identity, as in his Where is my Face? This loss of face is a malady that he explores in a number of poems. Karoor Sasi (1939) has made his mark as a poet aware of developments in contemporary society. Sreekumaran Tampi (b. 1940), well-known as a writer of film songs, is also the author of poetry collections like Engineerude Veena (Engineers Lute).D. Vinayachandran Pillai (b. 1946) seems to look at poetry as a multifaceted celebration of life; he captures the rhythms of the carnival as he recites his poems aloud. His Vinayachandrika, Veettilekkulla Vazhi(The Homeward Path), Samastha-Keralam P.O. (All Kerala P.O.) and Samayamanasam (The Mind of Time) display an originality that is rare in these days of urbanized life. The breath of the open air gives them a special charm. Ezhachery Ramachandran (b. 1944) too invokes the folk tradition and espouses the tragic sufferings of poor people, as in his Neeli and Kavadichintu. The spirit of the seventies is most powerfully evoked in the writings of K. Sachidanandan (b. 1946), his ever-changing styles reveal a mind that is continually groping and growing. From Atmagita (Song of the Self) of 1974 onwards he has evolved into a mature poet of manifold themes and styles. Being a literary critic as well, he writes with an inner understanding of the potentialities of the varied styles and forms he experiments with. Lalita Lenin (b. 1946) is a poet of balanced outlook on life and literature, as is seen in her collection of poems, Karkitakavavu (The New Moon of July-August). K.G. Sankara Pillai (b.1948) is another product of the seventies, seeing life in the raw, but portraying it with imagination and intelligence. His early poems like Bengal, later poems like Kochiyile Vrikshangal (Trees of Kochi) and the more recent works embody a poetic vision which keeps his readers expecting something to turn up. This anxiety of expectation gives his poems a futuristic dimension. Nellickal Muralidharan (b. 1948), who is also a scholar and a critic, has several lyrics and narrative pieces to his credit, with a strong inclination to the folk tradition. S. Ramesan Nair (b.1948) is the author of several volumes like Suryahridayam (The Heart of the Sun); He is also

a film lyricist. Kunhappa Pattanur (b. 1947) captures the spirit of Northern Kerala in several of his poems of social commitment. Desamangalam Ramakrishnan (b. 1948), in his Tataramayanam, Vittupoya Vakkukal, Vicharichatalla and other collections, reveals an acute awareness of the subtleties of linguistic expression, coupled with the essence of folk culture. A. Ayyappan (b. 1949) is a breaker of conventions both as a man and as a poet. His poems, as in collections like Balikkurippukal ( Sacrificial Notes), have a secret fire in them. S. Madhusudanan Pillai (Kilimanoor Madhu, b. 1952) belongs to the modernist phase, with an occasional touch of the unfamiliar and the out of the way. Sasi Cheravalli (b. 1952), Rose Mary (b. 1956) and Umesh Babu (b. 1958) have made their own contribution to the growth of Malayalam poetic sensibility. Balachandran Chullikad (b. 1957) stormed into the scene with his vibrant voice and intensely emotional outbursts in poems like Amavasi (The New Moon) and Manasantaram. (Change of Mind).Evide John? (Where is John?) evokes strong memories of John Abraham, the film maker, who passed away long before his time. The oral recitative tradition, often represented by the term kavi arangu (poetry on the stage) is carried on by a brilliant array of poets who hold the audience spell-bound by the quality of their voice as well as by the melody and rhythm of their rendering. V. Madhusudanan Nair (b. 1950) is the author of Naranathu Bhrantan (The Mad One of Naranath) and Gandharvam. The title poem in the former volume concerns one of the twelve children of a pariah girl, who is supposed to be the grand ancestress of all the people of Kerala. O Mother, who has borne twelve children, I am the mad one among them. Invoking folk tradition and local mythology, Madhusudanan Nair narrates a captivating tale that appeals to all Malayalis. Kureepuzha Sreekumar (b.1955) also has a mastery of the folk style and his poems appeal best when they are read aloud, since part of the meaning comes from the rhythm. Jessy, Ninakkenthu Thonni? (What did you feel, Jessy?) and Keezhalan (The Downtrodden) are moving presentations of human suffering. There are a large number of poetic voices, now in their thirties and forties, and some in their early fifties too, who are capable of establishing a new movement with the spirit of the changing times in their new rhythms and visions. Methil Radhakrishnan is a pioneer avante garde writer. T.P. Rajeevan is equally enterprising. Civic Chandran (b. 1951), S. Ramesan (b. 1952), K.V. Baby (b. 1953, author of The Bird Brooding over the Eggs), V.G. Tampi (b. 1955), Savitri Rajeevan (b.1956, author of Cherivu) Raghavan Atholi (b. 1957), Prabha Varma (b. 1959, author of Chandananazhi), Vijayalakshmi (b. 1960, author of Mrigasikshakan), P.P, Ramachandran (b. 1962), K.R. Toni (b. 1964), Indrababu (b. 1965), Jayan, K.C. (b. 1966), Rafiq Ahamed (b.1967), Manoj Kuroor, Sreehari, Santhan, Raman, Anwar Ali, Anita Tampi, Sandhya, Rajan Kylas, Santhosh Kumar, S. Joseph, Shiraz Ali, Rupesh Paul, Sebastian, Pavithran Theekkuni and a large number of young poets have emerged during the past fifteen years, virtually constituting a new movement or new school. All of them are promising, only time can tell who among them will fulfill the promise. It is no doubt heartening to find that so many young writers are most active at the dawn of the new century, full of new visions and fresh energy and resist the attractions of sentimental cinematic verse. But the list of the movement must remain incomplete.

Drama As in poetry, in Malayalam drama too, a change was in the air even before independence. N. Krishna Pillai had written his Bhagnabhavanam, Kanyaka and Balabalam; his influence on later playwrights came to bear fruit in the early years of independence. K. Surendran, early C.N. Sreekantan Nair (1928-76), early G. Sankara Pillai bear marks of this influence. Pulimana Parameswaran Pillai (1916-49) wrote Samatvavadi, which had an experimental orientation: this trend also bore fruition in the years after independence, as in the works of N.N. Pillai (1918- 96), K.T. Mohamed (b, 1928), P.M.A.Aziz (b. 1936) and a host of others. The communist theatre, such as KPAC, Desabhimani, etc., and the commercial theatre (like those of N.N. Pillai, P.J. Antony, Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair etc.) vied with each other to win over the audience, (at times these two appeared to merge together), while amature theatre, like Shri Chithira Tirunal Vayanasala or Kalavedi or school groups, catered to the tastes of a limited number of enthusiasts. Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai, Kainikkara Kumara Pillai, N.P. Chellappan Nair, T.N. Gopinathan Nair, Nagavally R.S. Kurup etc.continued to write in the older tradition, either historical or puranic plays or comedies exposing the follies and foibles of contemporary urban middle class. They may be said to have drawn inspiration from C.V. Raman Pillai or E.V. Krishna Pillai. In Northern Kerala the Kendrakalasamiti was responsible forawakening an enlightened interest in drama and theatre. Like Thoppil Bhasi in the south, a number of playwrights in the north, like Cherukad (Govindappisharodi, 1914-76), Thikkodiyan (P. Kunhananthan Nair, 1916- 2001), P.C. Kuttikrishnan, Edasseri Govindan Nair and others produced socially relevant plays. Later K.T. Mohamed (b.1929), author of Karavatta Pasu (The Cow Gone Dry), Ithu Bhoomiyaanu (This is the Earth) and several other well- known plays, became the centre of theatre activities in Malabar. C.J. Thomas (1918-60), who was convinced that the life of the drama lay in its stage presentation and not in the written text, wrote three remarkable plays, Avan Veendum Varunnu! (Behold, He Comes Again), 1128-il Kraim 27 (Crime 27 of 1128) and Aa Manushyan Nee Thanne (Thou art That Man), but he could not see any of his plays performed to his satisfaction during his lifetime. There is no denying that there was a lot of genuine enthusiasm for theatre and the literature of theatre. The fifty years after independence was thus a very productive period, at least in terms of quantity. More plays were written and published during this time than during any earlier period. Theatre audience also grew in size throughout the length and breadth of Kerala. But there was a great divergence between theatre and drama all through the half-century. Good plays remained un-staged, while popular theatre pieces did not possess substantial literary qualities. This dilemma faced all good playwrights; some of them were satisfied with their written work. But Kavalam Narayana Panikker (b. 1928) and G. Sankara Pillai (1930-89) tried to find a solution for this anomaly in their own respective ways. Kavalam concentrated on poetic drama and drew inspiration from folk theatre and Indian tradition, not a mechanical adaptation of the peripheral features, but a creative adaptation of ancient techniques with a new meaning and new force. Sankara Pillai resorted to the use of imagination to supply whatever was deficient in experimental drama, avoiding the monotony of stereotyped dialogue and illusions of realism. Both Kavalam and Sankara Pillai were trying to explore the native theatre. The discussions that took place in the Natakakalaris at various centres, with the active participation of Sreekantan Nair, M. Govindan, M.V. Devan, M.K. Sanoo, Thomas Mathew,

Ayyappa Paniker, P.K. Venukuttan Nair, Kavalam Narayana Panikker and G. Sankara Pillai, along with the actual productions at these kalaris seemed to indicate a way of rediscovering our native theatre. This is borne out by the later experimental works of Kavalam and Sankara Pillai. Perhaps the establishment of the School of Drama at Thrissur under the University of Calicut could be seen as a byproduct of all these efforts. The later plays of C.N Sreekantan Nair (Kanchanasita, Saketam, and Lankalakshmi), the later plays of G. Sankara Pillai (Karutha Deivathe Thedi) and the mature plays of Kavalam (Deivathaar, Avanavankatampa, Theyyatheyyam, etc.) are brilliant examples of Malayalam drama in its maturity, along with the three plays of C.J. Thomas mentioned above. To this we may add Souparnika, Velliyazhcha and Padippura by Narendra Prasad (1946-2003). Prasad was also a sensitive director of plays, in addition to being a good film actor. He had a tragic understanding of life, which also took in its stride the lighter moments in it. Elamkulathe Amma by P.K. Venukuttan Nair, and several experimental works of K.T. Mohamed, Aziz and others could be mentioned here. Omcheri (N.N. Pillai, b.1924) has several plays to his credit, notably Thevarude Aana (Gods Elephant) and Ulakude Perumal (The Lord of the World). Vayala Vasudevan Pillai (b.1945), the erstwhile Director of the Calicut University School of Drama, is the author of Viswadarshanam (The Cosmic Vision), Thulasivanam and Agni Among the other playwrights of this half century, mention may be made of G. Gopalakrishnan, author of Semitheri (Cemetery), Sreerangam Vikraman Nair, author of Chithalpputtukal (Anthills), C.P Rajasekharan (b. 1949, author of plays like Pratimakal Vilkanuntu (Statues for Sale), P. Balachandran, author of Pavam Usman, T.M Abraham, who wrote Nizhalkootaram (Shadow Tent), Srijanardanan, author of Viralppadukal, Madhu Master, author of Caligula, K.S. Sreenath, author of Devashilakal, etc. These are many young artisans to theater, but not as many as crowd in the field of poetry and fiction. Fiction: The Novel The post-independence period saw a fresh start in the history of longer fiction in Malayalam as in many other Indian languages, parallel to the evolution of post-world war fiction in other parts of the world. It was both a break and a continuation. Kesava Dev, who was a Communist in the thirties and fourties turned away from diehard ideologies and wrote a symbolic novel called Arku Vendi? (For Whose Sake?) in 1950, challenging the philosophy of Stalinist liquidation of political enemies. It had a special significance in the context of the Calcutta thesis. After portraying the class struggle of farm labourers in Rantidangazhi (Two Measures) in 1949, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai turned away from party politics and produced a moving romance in Chemmeen (Shrimps) in 1956. For S.K. Pottekkatt and Vaikom Muhamed Basheer, who had not dabbled in politics, the continuity is marked in the formers Vishakanyaka (Poison Maid, 1948) and the latters Ntuppuppakkoranendarnnu (My Grandpa had an Elephant, 1951). The non-political social or domestic novel was championed by P.C. Kuttikrishnan (Uroob) with his Ummachu (1955) and Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum (Men and Women of Charm, 1958). In 1957 Basheers Pathummayude Aadu (Pathummas Goat) brought in a new kind of prose tale, which perhaps only Basheer could handle with dexterity. Vettoor Raman Nair (1919-2003) was a widely known writer who in his short stories portrayed either the life of the rural middle class or the life of army men in the barracks, but he also wrote the mini-novel Jeevikkan Marannupoya Stree (The Woman Who Forgot to Live), without any ostensible political affiliation. The fifties thus mark the evolution of a new kind of fiction,

which had its impact on the short stories as well. This was the auspicious moment for the entry of T. Padmanabhan and M.T. Vasudevan Nair upon the scene. It was recognized that politics often reduced the larger concerns of life to mere ideological issues, while the life of the individuals constituting the entire population has many other interests and perspectives. Any reductive over-simplification of life results in the emaciation of literature. The trend away from social realism interpreted in a narrow sense led to the growth of the Malayalam novel in the post-independence era. With the phenomenal success of Chemmeen as a novel and as a film made Thakazhi turn to write on a larger canvas the inclusive accounts of the people around him. The mature works of Pottekkatt, Basheer, Dev, Thakazhi and Uroob make the third quarter of the 20th century one of the brightest periods of the novel in Malayalam. Pottekkatts Oru Theruvinte Katha (The Tale of a Street) and Oru Desathinte Katha (The Tale of a Locale) gave the author ample canvas to narrate the stories of a number of individuals and groups. The day-to-day lives of this common humanity is the stuff of great fiction and Pottekkatt got the Jnanpith Puraskar for his magnum opus Oru Desathinte Katha. Thakazhi took up the portrayal of generations of families in Ouseppinte Makkal (Children of Ouseph) and extended it further to write a brihad akhyayika or grand narrative covering the lives of hundreds of characters and dozens of families and several generations. He was writing an entire era and entire region in his magnum opus Kayar (Coir), which procured him the Jnanpith Puraskar. Pottekkatt was perhaps the first to experiment with the writing of an entire region; Thakazhi added the historical dimension by bringing in centuries and generations. In Kayar the life of a whole community in the village complex of Kuttanad covering two centuries and a half, beginning with the land settlement and ending with the land legislation under the first Communist government in Kerala, is narrated. The central concern of the novel is the relation between man and the earth he cultivates. Already Uroob had developed the concept of an extensive canvas in Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum. The grand narrative found its rightful place in Malayalam fiction during the period after independence. Kesava Dev, in Ayalkar (Neighbours), used the large-framed novel to recount the intricate relationships between different castes and communities. The Nairs, Ezhavas and Christians figure dominantly in the complex and involved story of the people who live in any Kerala village as neighbours. These novelists were holding a mirror up to life in all its diversities, without identifying individual heroes and heroines or villains. M.K. Menon (Vilasini, 1928-93) attempted the biggest novel in Malayalam, perhaps also in any Indian language, in Avakasikal (Inheritors), probably motivated by the desire to write the grand narrative centring around a family. His other novels like Inangatha Kannikal (Unfit Chains) and Chundeli (Mouse) were also experimental. Puthoor Unnikrishnan (b. 1933) reveals his control over fictional material with remarkable narrative skill in Balikkallu and Aanappaka. K.L. Mohana Varma (b. 1936), author of novels like Chambal, Ohari (Share) and Cricket, extended the thematic range of fiction, bringing in urban concerns. Another tendency that could be found during this period is the attempt to retell puranic episodes. P.K. Balakrishnan set the trend with his popular redaction of the Mahabharata from the point of view of Droupadi: she is reflecting on the circuitous course of her life during the last night of the battle of Kurukshetra (Eni Njan Urangatte). M.T. Vasudevan Nairs Rantamoozham (The Second Turn) recounts the story of Bhimasena, supposed to be the son of Vayu; this is demystified or demythified in the novel. Other writers have also tried to retell other classics

in the form of the novel, since the novel has become the most popular form of the narrative in Malayalam. Some of the novels of Kovilan (V.V Ayyappan, b. 1923) are region-based like his masterpiece Thattakam, but some others are located away from Kerala, in the Himalayas, as in his military tales. His works have a remarkable philosophical insight and are written in an answerable style, unique to himself. K.E. Mathai (Parappurath, 1924-81), who also served in the army, is well known for his popular novels such as Panitheeratha Veedu (Unfinished House) Aranazhika Neram (Half an Hour). His friend K. Surendran (1922-97)) authored several popular novels like Thaalam (Rhythm), Maya and Kattukurangu (Wild Monkey). The postindependence novel has been enriched by the contribution of writers living outside Kerala. The pravasi novel has added a fresh chapter, bringing in new landscapes and new characters. The nagara tinai (city landscape) has provided the milieu for some of the best novels in Malayalam. Kakkanadan, O.V. Vijayan, M. Mukundan, P. Sachidanandan (Anand) and others have annexed these new areas to the concern of the Malayali fictionreaders. Not that all of them have located the action in all their writings outside Kerala, but they have brought a new perspective or sensibility, as the pravasi poets have done of late. Kakkanadan (George Varghese, b.1935), once attached to leftist ideology, turned away from it to write one of the most powerful narratives based on that experience in his novel Ushnamekhala (The Tropics). O.V. Vijayan (1931-2004), having spent a number of years in Delhi, locates his classic novel Khazakinte Itihasam (The Legend of Khazak) in the remote village in his native Palakkad. It has a simple plot but the inlaid narration invests it with a metaphysical or even mystical aura, which marks it out among the works of fiction attempted by Malayalis during the postfreedom period. It may be said that in novelettes like Khazak and Gurusagaram, he was turning away from the grand narrative in the realistic mode in favour of metaphorical or allegorical fiction, which was the forte of narratives in ancient India. To suggest a symbolically large design with a short physical frame, in other words to use a microscope as a magnifying glass, is the kind of technique that Vijayan resorted to. It was perhaps better suited to his world vision. Anand also seems to take a cue from Vijayan, but moves away from it so as to make fiction read less like fiction and more like pseudohistory, without abandoning the allegorical element. His Jaivamanushyan and later works follow this pattern, although his first novel Alkkoottam (The Crowd) had all the ingredients of normative fiction. Several younger novelists, like perhaps N.S. Madhavan (b. 1948), are apparently eager to follow this style of distorting reality for the sake of getting at truth. With their works one may say that Malayalam novel is entering the world of post-modernism. After a stint at the existentialist novel a la Sartre and Camus, Mukundan is a front runner in the post-modern trend with such works as Deivathinte Vikruthikal (Gods Mischief) and Kesavante Vilapangal (The lamentations of Kesavan). But to most readers Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil (On the Banks of Mayyazhi) is likely to remain his early masterpiece. He had also written a critique of modernism much earlier, called Enthanu Aadhunikata? (What is Modernism?). But he has apparently moved on from that position. N.P. Mohamed (1928-2003) too tried his hand at political allegory in Hiranyakasipu high-lighting the horrors of totalitarianism, but moved on to the social novel as in Ennappaadam (Oilfield) and Maram (Tree), which are very sensitive portrayals of the life of the Muslim community, different in style from that of Vaikom Mohamed Basheer. The novel is perhaps the best-seller in the consumerist book market today, and hence there are a large number of writers catering to that trend. Muttathu Varkey

(1918-89) has a number of popular novels to his credit, such as Inapravukal (A Pair of Doves), and Padatha Painkili (The Bird that Doesnt Sing). These works set a trend in story-telling, involving simple domestic characters in their everyday life with their joys and sorrows told in a rather sentimental melodramatic language. No wonder it attracted a vast number of readers and considerably helped to promote the popularity of the novel form. Today it commands the largest readership of all literary forms. It is even said that it contributed to the growth of literacy. They probably dominate the field of serial fiction in the pulp weeklies and magazines and are Kanam, E.J. (E.J. Philip, 1926-87), Pulinkunnu Antony, Kottayam Pushpanath, P.V. Thampi, Mallika Yunis, M.D. Ratnamma, etc. etc. It is not easy to list the novelists in this category; their name is a legion. Among the more serious and gifted of these novelists are Sarah Thomas (b. 1934) author of Narmadipudava), P.R. Syamala (1931-90), author of Shyamaranyam among other works), K.B. Sreedevi (b. 1940, author of Yajnam), P. Vatsala (b. 1938, author of Nellu, Agneyam), S.K. Marar ( b. 1930, author of Sharapolimala), G.N. Panikker (b.1937, author of Iruttinte Thazhvara) and George Onakkoor (b. 1941, author of well known novels like Illam and Ulkkadal (The Bay). Perumbadavam Sreedharan (b. 1938) has several novels to his credit, the best known among them being Oru Sankirtanam Pole (Verily like a Psalm), based on the life of Dostoevsky. Among those who have explored the regional novel with an intense flavour of the local language and local social fabric may be mentioned G. Vivekanandan (1923-99, author of Kallichellamma) and U.A. Khader (b.1935, author of Thrikkottoor Peruma). Several writers are there who portray the decline of the feudal system and of the old order of the joint family, among whom easily the most gifted is M.T. Vasudevan Nair (b.1933), author of a large number of popular favourites like Nalukettu (Fourchambered House), Asuravithu, etc. The landscape and ethos of the Valluvanad region and the transformations undergone by them in the course of the century, involving relics of the tarawad and the communal tensions provide a challenging theme for the highly evocative style of Vasudevan Nairs narrative art. The novels of V.K.N. (Narayanankutty Nair, 19322004) belong to the small sub-genre of satirical fiction, not largely explored after C.V. Raman Pillais Premamritam. His Pitamahan and General Chathans take us to the rarefied world of spoofs, giving us occasions for guffaws of laughter. Malayattoor Ramakrishnan (1927-97) wrote Verukal (Roots), depicting the story of his family or community, but he also fictionalized his experience as a senior civil servant in Yantram (The Machine). Something of the latter kind we find in Chuvappunada (The Red Tape) by E. Vasu (b. 1939), exposing and denouncing the stranglehold of officialdom in the life of the average citizen. C. Radhakrishnan (b. 1939) is a prolific writer of both novels and short stories, with a wide variety of themes and experimental in the narrative mode. Narain (b. 1939), perhaps a late entrant in the field, came up with his own account of tribal life, otherwise not adequately presented in Malayalam fiction. His short stories as well as his novelettes like Kocharethi have their own special narrative mode and flavour. Punathil Kunhabdulla (b. 1940) is rightly famous as the author of popular novels like Smarakasilakal (Memorial Stones) and Marunnu (Medicine). Madampu Kunjikkuttan (b.1941) has authored a few very powerful novels, including Ashwathamavu and Bhrashtu. Among the younger generation of novelists born after independence, there are many who have proved their mettle and may yet spring surprises in the years to come. N.S. Madhavan (b. 1948), in his short stories as well as his novels, chooses unfamiliar themes or unfamiliar treatment, as may be seen in Choolaimettile Savangal (The

Corpses of Chulaimedu) and Higuita. U.K. Kumaran (b. 1950) is indefatigable in his search for new themes and plots. C.V. Balakrishnan (b. 1952) is the author of Ayussinte Pustakam and T.V. Kochubawa (1955-99) that of Vriddhasadanam (Old Age Home), both eager to explore new areas of experience. Akbar Kakkattil (b. 1954) keeps widening his canvas from time to time. Shihabudin Poythumkadavu (b. 1963) is a rising novelist and short story writer. Young novelists today are deeply interested in experimentation both in theme and technique, taking long strides in the post modern direction. Fiction: The Short Story Of all the forms of literary expression in modern Malayalam the short story had the fastest and steadiest growth. Already at the time of independence, there were a number of stalwarts who continued to write equally well in the half century that followed. As in the case of other forms like poetry and the novel, there was a kind of inevitable overlap, since developments in the cultural field do not strictly follow the contours of political events. Karoor, Basheer, Dev, Thakazhi, Varkey, Pottekkatt and Kuttikrishnan were doing excellent work although some of them had vegetated from shorter to longer fiction, prompted by the confidence gained from the experience of the short story. The limited canvas gave scope for greater variety and concentration. Dalit life was also portrayed in short fiction as in the writings of T.K.C. Vaduthala (T.K. Chathan, 1921-88). He has his followers in a number of writers now like Paul Chirackarode.The new writers had new experiences to narrate and new ways of doing it. Corresponding to the Changampuzha style in poetry, there was a tender, romantically inclined, narrative seeping into shorter fiction in the fifties. Unsuccessful love, which captures the imagination in early youth, dominated the thematic concerns of the younger generation. T. Padmanabhan (b. 1931), who swore allegiance only to the short story, and has jealously maintained it all through his life without casting even a surreptitious glance at longer fiction, was in the vanguard of the new short story. In a series of brilliant collections like Prakasam Parathunna Penkutty (The Girl Spreading Light Around), Makhansinghinte Maranam (The Death of Makhan Singh), Sakshi (Witness) and Kaalabhairavan, he has explored both the form of the short story and the psychology of the people involved in each story. What appeals most to his readers in all his early and recent stories is the lyrical quality of the language and the aesthetics of his perceptions, especially in the portrayal of loneliness and helplessness. M.T. Vasudevan Nair too is a master of the art of short fiction with an unerring eye for detail: stories like Kuttiedathi are classics in the genre. The same is true of Pathanam (The Fall) and Abhayam (Refuge). His protagonists pass through different stages of evolution. Maybe, because the space in a short story is very limited, he later on opted for the larger canvas of extended fiction. His study of Hemingway gives a clue to his own art of fiction. T. Padmanabhan and M.T. Vasudevan Nair serve as bridges between the early modern short story writers in Malayalam, of the socalled renaissance, and the new short story of the late fifties and sixties. Through introspection, loneliness, angst, the need for self-definition, they, like their protagonists, lead the reader towards the inner world of individuals, often living outside the conventions of social life. The rebels and the outcasts, the insulted and the injured, receive a sympathetic treatment. The modernists who come in the wake of these master story tellers include O.V. Vijayan, Kakkanadan, Madhavikutty (Kamala Das/Kamala Soraiya b. 1932), M.P.Narayana Pillai (1939-98) M. Mukundan, Vaishakhan (M.K. Gopinathan Nair, b. 1940), M. Sukumaran (b. 1943), Zachariah (b. 1945), S.V.

Venugopan Nair (b. 1945) P. Padmarajan (1945-90), Sarah Joseph (b. 1946), V.P. Sivakumar (1947-93): a brilliant galaxy of writers who looked at life with a fresh mind and recorded their creative responses in a highly sensitive idiom. With their writings Malayalam fiction comes to be on a par with world fiction, truly contemporary in spirit and form. Vijayans Parakal (Rocks),Kadaltheerathu (On the Seashore), Ettukali (The Spider), Chengannur Vandi (The Chengannur Train) and Arimpara are classics of their kind. They are moulded by the post-war, post-independence sensibility, just as the sensibility of the times was moulded by these very writings and have a profundity lacking in most of the writings of the progressive realists before independence. It is almost a new grammar, as it were, that like his contemporaries Vijayan uses. In the hands of the naturalistic writers, creative imagination had suffered a great deal and lost its freedom and freshness. Kakkanadan in his stories like Nishadasankirtanam and Shrichakram employs language to reach out to the ineffable and beyond. Language is employed to serve a function it does not normally serve in conventional writing. Here it is not the given language, but the one created by the author. N. Mohanan (1933-99) was a writer of very delicate touches, as may be seen in his Ente Katha (Ninteyum) (My Story as well as Yours). C.V. Sreeraman (b.1933) has written several beautiful short stories, exquisitely chiseled, such as Irickappindam and Vastuhara. Madhavikutty in her early short stories explores her own uncommon experiences; the effort is not to tell a pleasing story or entertain the reader, but understand oneself. It is not the language of communication in the vulgar sense, but that of confession or communion. Pakshiyude Manam (The Scent of the Bird) and Kalyani are good examples of the new sensibility. M.P. Narayana Pillai (1939-98) was a resourceful writer with an original mind, and his stories in the collection Murugan Enna Pampatty (Murugan, the Snake-charmer) reveals a sense of the weird coupled with a sense of refined humour. Mukundan, perhaps more than in his novels, deals with the unknown aspects of everyday life, as in Radha, Radha Alone and in his story of the footballer. Partly because of his familiarity with French existentialists, he is selfconscious in his modernist writing. He seems to choose his themes and subjects to suit his own preconceived idea. This gives a philosophical edge to some of his stories. Zachariah starts off with a native intuition about the nature of human experience; he is not unduly worried about the possible implications of the images he creates. In his early stories he just creates an image or a series of scattered images, which the readers might use to make out their own meanings. S.V. Venugopan Nair looks at the situations in life with a sense of humour and exposes lifes little follies and ironies, as in Rekhayilillatha Oral (One Who is not in the Records). Padmarajan seems to examine his experience of the world under a microscope and speculates on the potential significance of what he is able to see. He is sometimes lured by unfamiliar events or scenes, and, as in his novels, idealizes the situations so as to make a powerful impact on the reader. His films also centre around the out of the way or abnormal aspects of life. Sarah Joseph in the collection Papathara (The Place of Sin) questions the assumptions prevalent in society with an acutely sensitive mind. Prakasiniyude Makkal (Children of Prakasini) and Muditheyyam reveal her obsession with near-surrealistic images. Her novels, like Alahayude Makkal also are preoccupied with the un-hackneyed aspects of life and her perceptions are rendered exact by her mastery of her dialect. V.P. Sivakumar, perhaps the youngest of the modernists born in the very year of independence, is also among the first of the postmodernists, and his experience of translating

some of the postmodern short story writers in world literature, like his favourite Borhes, may have given him the push to move further into the future. The virtual reality he himself creates is the substance of his writings. In a sense that spirit is still guiding some of the more recent short fiction writers in Malayalam. The transition to the postmodern is already charted out in the latest stories of Sivakumar like Pratishta (Installation). M. Sukumarans stories like Thookkumarangal Njanngalkku, (The Gallows are for Us) are marked by unusual intensity of vision. Payipra Radhakrishnan (Radhakrishnan Kartha, (b. 1952), author of Swarnamedal and his wife Nalini Bekal (b. 1955), who wrote Hamsaganam and Muchilottamma also deserve mention here. The new trend has found enthusiastic followers, who have tried to de-familiarize the real and to realize the unfamiliar. Victor Leenus (1946-92) also may be said to belong to this category, like T.P. Kishore (1957-98). Manasi (P.A. Rugmini, b. 1948), author of Idivalinte Thengal (The Sobs of the Sword of Thunder), Ashita (b. 1956), who has authored Apoornaviramangal (Incomplete Stops), Gita Hiranyan (b. 1956-2002, author of Ottasnappil Othukkanavilla Janmasatyam (The Truth of a Lifetime Cannot be Compressed in a Single Snap), Chandramati (Chandrika, b. 1954), author of Aryavartanam, Devigramam and Reindeer, depicting lifes impressions with the clarity and sharpness of a cut diamond, N. Prabhakaran, Harikumar, Fantasy and fabulations fresh enter into their fiction etc. The tradition extends further to include the youngest generation of writers who are very creative, like A.S. Priya, Indu Menon, B. Murali, R. Unny, Santhosh Echikanam, K.R. Meera, and others in an apparently unending line. As in the case of poetry, the beginning of the new country is marked by the active involvement of ever so many young writers which should be a source of encouragement to the senior writers too. Literary Criticism The growth of higher institutions of learning. the achievement of total literacy for the state, the spread of the library movement and the popularity of literary periodicals were all factors leading to a boom of critical enterprises among the writers. At the time of independence the major literary critics active in the field were not more than a dozen or score, but by the beginning of the 21st century, virtually every reader seems to have graduated into a potential critic. Traditional poetics, western literary theories, newfangled ideas, apart from the hold of various ideologies, not necessarily political, inspire practically every reader to read book reviews and even books of literary criticism. It is now not the idle pastime of scholars, but the concerned loud and not so loud thinking of every teacher, student, journalist, visitor to the library or bookshop. Leading publishers are now interested in bringing out collections of literary essays or even whole books of literary criticism. However, for the proper presentation of the subject in the present historical account, it may be necessary to identify the most important of the critics, without meaning to ignore the others, including the ever active younger critics. As in the case of the other genres, in literary criticism too there was the inevitable overlap of tendencies and personalities. Kuttikrishna Marar and Joseph Mundassery were the major figures, Marar concentrating on poetry, Mundassery focusing attention on fiction and not only poetry. In their wake, K. Bhaskaran Nair, K.M. George, C.J. Thomas, S. Guptan Nair, Sukumar Azhicode, P.K. Balakrishnan, M.K. Sanoo, M. Leelavathy, K.S. Narayana Pillai, K.P. Appan, K.P. Sankaran, M. Thomas Mathew, V. Rajakrishnan and others have enlarged the concerns of the critic and rectified the imbalance and brought other forms of literature within the purview of criticism. M.P. Paul was mainly a critic of fiction,

and his two books on the novel and the short story, for all their obvious limitations, were very timely publications. He commanded special respect among the creative writers of the period and was therefore quite influential. The growth of fiction, both the novel and the short story, and their increasing popularity among the students as well as the general reading public, and the opportunity to publish writings on so-called creative writing gave an unprecedented opportunity for budding critics to set forth on their grand journey. Many not only ventured to do so, but also stayed on as fulltime critics. Literary criticism may be said to have become a profession for many, and this promoted the professionalism of the critical entrepreneurs. Academic scholarship flourished alongside freelance criticism, and both filled a gap that was there in the earlier period. The institution of awards and prizes at the national and state levels provided occasion for considering the merits and defects of published works. K. Bhaskaran Nair (1913-82), although a scientist by training, wrote on criticism and poetics: among his works are Kalayum Kaalavum (Art and Life) and Deivaneetikku Dakshinyamilla (Divine Justice has no Compunction). K.M. George (1914- 2002) is remembered as the champion of comparative literary studies and the works he has edited, such as encyclopedias, anthologies, histories of literature etc. are important sources for literary interpretation. He is also the author of critical monographs on several Malayalam authors. M.P. Sankunni Nair (b.1917), who is a scholar critic, well versed in Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam, has authored Chhatravum Chaamaravum and Natyamandapam. C.J. Thomas (191860), more famous as a playwright, was a good critic of not only theatre and drama, but also of society and life. Like him, M. Govindan was a seminal thinker and had a profound impact on the writers of his time. His Anveshanathinte Aarambham was an epochmaking treatise on the spirit of enlightened enquiry into mans contemporary estate. S. Guptan Nair (b. 1919) brings the qualities of a responsible teacher to his practice of criticism: well-informed, balanced and judicious, as in Samalochana. K. Raghavan Pillai (1920-87), knowledgable in western and Sanskrit criticism, was an academic who edited several ancient classics. M. Krishnan Nair (b. 1923) through his literary column Sahityavaraphalam has introduced a number of distinguished foreign writers to the reading public in Kerala. Sukumar Azhicode (b.1926), famous as an orator and critic of criticism, specializes in both mandana vimarsham and khandana vimarsham: his early book Asante Sitakavyam (Asans poem on Sita) is a good example of the former, while his G. Sankara Kurup Vimarsikkappedunnu (A. Critique of G. Sankara Kurup) is an example of the latter. P.K. Balakrishnan (1925-91) has written a number of seminal critical works on fiction (Novel: Siddhiyum Sadhanayum), on poetry (Kavyakala Kumaran Asanilude) and on society (Jathivyavasththiyum Keralacharitravum). Thayatt Sankaran (1926-85) and P. Govinda Pillai (b. 1926) may come under the category of social thinkers and culture critics. M.K. Sanoo (b. 1928) has several critical works to his credit, especially biographical studies of authors like Changampuzha, M. Govindan, Sahodaran Ayyappan and Shri Narayana Guru. M. Leelavathy (b. 1929), perhaps the best known woman critic in Malayalam, is a prolific writer of books such as Varnaraji, Kavitayum Sastravum (Poetry and Science), Kavitadhwani, and a comprehensive history of Malayalam poetry. M.R. Chandrasekharan (b. 1929) is well known as the author of Nirupakante Rajyabharam (The Critics Governance).M. Achuthan (b. 1930) is the author of Pashchathya Sahitya Darshanam (Western Literary View) and Cherukatha: Innale, Innu (The Short Story: Yesterday, Today). K.M. Tharakan (1930-2003) was a critic quite familiar with western rhetoric and poetics, and

has written perceptively on Malayalam fiction and poetry. Slightly younger to these but equally forceful is K.P. Appan (b. 1936), a theorist and practical critic, with concepts such as thiraskaram, kalaham, kshobham, kalapam, etc. as basic to the function of criticism in our time, who has written a number of books, mainly commenting on contemporary Malayalam fiction, and explaining post-modernism. He has been an important influence on the thinking of younger writers. Likewise M. Gangadharan and M. Thomas Mathew, the former well anchored in social history and the latter in aesthetics, have analyzed literary and sociocultural issues that have affected our life and thought. K. Venu (b.1945), with such books as Prapanchavum Manushyanum, helped to deepen our awareness of man and nature. Ayyappa Paniker and Sachidanandan are creative writers who have brought to bear on criticism ideas gleaned from literary creation. K.P. Sankaran brings out the nuances of literary expression with an innate understanding of poetry and life. Chathanath Achyuthanunni is a classicist who understands what modern western criticism has added to our traditional wisdom. M.M. Basheer (1940) has done a monumental scholarly work on Kumaran Asans poetic craft. R. Viswanathan (1942- 2005) is the author of Anvayam, a work of rare critical insight. D. Benjamin (1948) comments on literary works from an aesthetic humanist point of view. V. Rajakrishnan and Narendra Prasad are able to look at the many facets of contemporary Malayalam literature and culture with fresh insights received from western sources. B. Rajeevan is able to bring to bear on his criticism the impact of sociopolitical thought. Desamangalam Ramakrishnan is again a poet who can use the awareness of linguistics as a key to the interpretation of poetry. Asha Menon, V.C. Sreejan and Prasannarajan are among the large number of interpretive critics with sharp perceptions. P.P. Raveendran extends the frontiers of conventional literary criticism to cover such new developments as cultural studies. Ezhumattoor Rajaraja Varma (b. 1953) has an illuminating study of Vilapakavya-prasthanam (The Elegy), apart from a biography of N. Krishna Pillai. Balachandran Vadakkedath (b. 1954), K.S. Ravikumar (b.1957), S. Rajasekharan, E.D. Rajagopalan, N. Sasidharan, C.R. Prasad, P.K. Rajasekharan etc are among the important voices in criticism as in poetry, novel and short story, the number of young enthusiasts in the field of criticism is also very large and the new generation is gifted with a triple insight, combining the essence of ancient Sanskrit and Dravidian lore with new western thinking and their own personal preoccupations with current literary affairs. Academic scholarship is also flourishing as a small scale industry in the form of doctoral theses from the different universities, some of them have a genuine critical importance. General Literature The past fifty years have seen an upward trend not only in all branches of literature, but also in what makes literature possible. Apart from poetry, drama, fiction and criticism, innumerable books have been published on general knowledge, science, particularly information technology, law, areas of social concern like feminism, dalit awareness, tribal culture, folklore and what not. There is hardly any subject of general human interest on which some books have not been produced. Biographies and autobiographies have had a boom: various national and state leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, C. Kesavan, E.M.S Nambudiripad, K. Ayyappan, Chattampi Swamikal, Sri Narayana Guru, major writers like Asan, Vallathol, Changampuzha, Edasseri Govindan Nair, M. Govindan, Panampilli Govinda Menon, Suranad Kunjan Pillai, etc. Autobiographical literature is also growing,

thanks to the efforts of authors like K.P. Kesava Menon, A.K. Gopalan, C. Kesavan, Pavanan, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Thikkodiyan, Cherukad, Guptan Nair, etc. Books on scientific subjects have registered a phenomenal increase. A similar growth may be perceived in the field of childrens literature for all age groups from nursery songs onwards. Encyclopedias are being brought out by both government and private agencies. The government is bringing out even an encyclopedia of world literature. The cultural wings of the government are bringing out books and journals of special interest to those interested in literature, visual arts, theatre, folklore, literacy etc. In keeping with the explosion in general knowledge, there has been corresponding explosion in the production of books on every subject. Politics and economics vie with sociology and history among works on general information. Wellinformed travel literature based on first-hand experience is another field of growing interest. S.K. Pottekkatt has laid strong foundations for travelogue in Malayalam, followed by many others. K.V. Surendranath wrote about his travel to Kailas in his book Lokathinte Mukalthattil (On the Top of the World). M.P. Virendra Kumar has written about travels to countries rarely visited by professional travel-mongers, although he has also authored other works like Buddhante Chiri (Buddhans Smile) and Ramante Dukkham (Ramas Sorrow). The literature of humour has also found a large number of patrons and practitioners in the tradition of E.V. Krishna Pillai and Sanjayan: they include P.K. Rajaraja Varma, M.N. Govindan Nair, Anandakuttan Nair, Narayanan Nair, Veloor Krishnankutty, Subbiah Pillai, K.S. Krishnan, Sukumar, Jose Panachipuram, etc. Translations have always furthered the progress of Malayalam language and literature, and the modern period has borne witness to the translation of classics from world languages like Homers Iliad and Odyssey, Dantes Divine Comedy, Shakespeares Complete Works, Sherlock Holmes complete, and Kahlil Gibran complete, so many Latin American authors, works from other Indian languages, world fiction, world poetry and world drama: all the doors are always kept open. Little by little, Malayalam literature also gets translated into other languages, although only in trickles, compared to what we get translated into Malayalam. There are a few instances of nonMalayalis translating Malayalam literary works into other languages like English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, etc. Before independence these were few and far between, but during the past fifty years the number has been increasing. Apart from translations sponsored by National Book Trust and Sahitya Akademis, individuals also have taken the initiative. R.E. Asher has translated Thakazhi and Basheer directly from Malayalam into English, Reade Wood Ezhuthacchans Adhyatma Ramayana, Harinama Kirtana, etc.into English, Rati Saxena Balamani Ammas Naivedyam, Thakazhis Kayar (abridged) and short stories, Karoors short stories, as well as poems by Sachidanandan and Ayyappa Paniker, etc.into Hindi, Sudhamshu Chaturvedi into Hindi, Nileena Abraham into Bengali, C. Raghavan into Kannada, Neela Padmanabhan into Tamil, Kurinchivelan into Tamil and others. Malayali authors also write in English, especially on non-literary topics (as there were people in the past who used to write in Sanskrit on literary and nonliterary themes), but there are a few who write poetry and fiction in other languages: Shashi Tharoor, Arundhati Roy, Anita Nair, Jayashri Mishra, and others, on whom Malayalis can have a clandestine claim, for theirs is a composite and cosmopolitan culture, and the exodus every year of literate population to other parts of the world is on the increase from Gods own country, where in the old days people from other lands used to come and settle down and were received with warmth and

affection. In the years to come this cosmopolitanism is likely to develop further. Consistent with the international presence of the Malayalis, their literature is also likely to be more and more inclusive and open to influences from abroad. But no culture can afford to forget or neglect its roots. It is to be hoped that every contact with the outside world will further strengthen the roots, thereby promoting the general growth. The New Century As we greet the new century, the turbulence and anxieties faced by people all over the world seem to be on the increase. We may have learned to look at life and literature from a global angle, but a small population inhabiting a small part of the earth with a little known language has its own share of aspirations and difficulties. To be part of a larger system and yet to maintain its own individuality and local identity in this highly competitive set up is a major problem affecting the life of every serious writer. The rapid changes taking place in every field of life in our time family, economy, education, large scale migration, cultural encounters and so forth leave their mark on the tune and temper of literature, and Malayalam literature of the 21st century, now being shaped by the creative favour of our young writers, will be an adequate record of all these developments along with their own anguish and uncertainties. Our readers and critics eagerly look forward to their new generation of writers to redefine the life and literature of the new century, which they have started doing in right earnest.