The Anxiety of Inheritance: Elizabethan and Victorian Imprints on the Genesis of Indian Writing in English

Author(s): Dr. Suchi Shukla

Abstract:

The emergence of Indian Writing in English (IWE) in the nineteenth century was not a spontaneous literary event but a complex, socio-cultural negotiation with the English canon. This article examines the profound impact of two pivotal British literary epochs-the Elizabethan and the Victorian-on the nascent style, vocabulary, and thematic choices of early Indian writers. Through a doctoral-level analysis of key figures such as Henry Derozio, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Toru Dutt, and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, we explore how the 'mighty line' of Marlowe and the 'earnestness' of Victorian prose provided the structural scaffolding for Indian expression. By tracing the transition from Elizabethan ornate grandeur to Victorian social realism, this study argues that the early Indian literati did not merely imitate British models but strategically 'appropriated' them to articulate a burgeoning national identity and a critique of colonial reality.

keywords:
Genesis; hegemony; humanized; realism.

Pages: 70-72     |    17 View     |    1 Download