User talk:Mark East5

THE INDIAN SHORT STORY IN ENGLISH
The Indian short story in English, second to poetry, is the literary form most suitable for recording the variety and nuance of Indian experience. Because it is governed by tradition, Indian life has little place for individual dictates. The result is that whatever experience it yields is predictable instead of unusual or dramatic. Variation is provided by details within this pattern. There are thus moments of dramatic or lyrical or tragic intensity, rather than a sustained experience, which offer insights into human nature. The short story with its concentration, brevity, and sensitivity can better record these moments than can the broader canvas of the novel.

The Indian short story written originally in English has been neglected by critics. This is true even with the short story’s advantages over other literary forms and in spite of its considerable achievement. A number of books of criticism on other genres of Indian writing in English – the novel, poetry, drama – have been written. However, there is little criticism of consequence on the short story. This lack is surprising in view of the facts that Indian colleges and universities include a paper on Indian Writing in English in their literature syllabi and there is a lot of interest in this as evidenced by the number of collections of short stories Indian publishers have been bringing out.

C.V.Venugopal’s book, The Indian Short Story in English: a Survey, published in 1976, has long been out of print. The Indian Short Story in English 1835-2008, written by Murli Melwani and published in 2009, is  an historical and a critical survey that critiques this genre, needs to be updated. Indian publishing has mushroomed (this word has been advisedly chosen) since 2010, and a large number of collections of short stories in English have been published since then. These collections merit critical attention.

These collections continued to be reviewed but until the advent of the website: www.indianshortinenglish.com there was no archival database. This is an open-ended link; the collaborative efforts of readers and writers should help to grow the website.