Ranga Rao
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199470754
- eISBN:
- 9780199087624
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199470754.003.0020
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, World Literature
From our reading of Narayan’s fifteen novels and novellas, it seems that Narayan’s imagination had struck early a new vein of comedy which he cultivated, not consciously, but consistently and ...
More
From our reading of Narayan’s fifteen novels and novellas, it seems that Narayan’s imagination had struck early a new vein of comedy which he cultivated, not consciously, but consistently and progressively. Narayan’s interest in people, a wide range of characters, leads us to believe that we have a conceptual possibility here, of a different species of comedy, the gunas comedy. The three gunas or qualities bear the names of satva, rajas, and tamas. The terms denote three personality types: ‘sattvic’ means gentle, mild, kindly, amiable. Similarly, ‘rajasic’ denotes domineering spirit, haughty, arrogant; and ‘tamasic’ is angry and wicked. These terms have their origin in the Gita. However, there are no pure categories: there is only predominance, and, more significantly, whatever the karmic make-up evolution runs its course. There is hope for everyone, for success is inevitable. With the gunas comedy we are in an ambience of R.K. Narayan’s humanism.Less
From our reading of Narayan’s fifteen novels and novellas, it seems that Narayan’s imagination had struck early a new vein of comedy which he cultivated, not consciously, but consistently and progressively. Narayan’s interest in people, a wide range of characters, leads us to believe that we have a conceptual possibility here, of a different species of comedy, the gunas comedy. The three gunas or qualities bear the names of satva, rajas, and tamas. The terms denote three personality types: ‘sattvic’ means gentle, mild, kindly, amiable. Similarly, ‘rajasic’ denotes domineering spirit, haughty, arrogant; and ‘tamasic’ is angry and wicked. These terms have their origin in the Gita. However, there are no pure categories: there is only predominance, and, more significantly, whatever the karmic make-up evolution runs its course. There is hope for everyone, for success is inevitable. With the gunas comedy we are in an ambience of R.K. Narayan’s humanism.
Ranga Rao
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199470754
- eISBN:
- 9780199087624
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199470754.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature, World Literature
Ranga Rao furthers his critique by picking up Narayan’s debut novel, Swami and Friends. The very simplicity of the story signals thrifty talent and daring originality of theme. This novel also ...
More
Ranga Rao furthers his critique by picking up Narayan’s debut novel, Swami and Friends. The very simplicity of the story signals thrifty talent and daring originality of theme. This novel also establishes the character of Malgudi, a small town located in a corner of south India. Swami and Friends also presents a basic plan common to so many of Narayan’s novels, that is, an uprooting followed by a return, a renewal, and a restoration of normalcy. The protagonist, Swami, establishes the sattvic temper, the truth-searching mind, the conscionability, which are the hallmarks of Narayan’s heroes, especially, of the pre-Independence novels. The slim novel is also epochal in the history of the Indian novel in English: one of the three novels—with Anand’s Untouchable and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura—in the 1930s, launching a new phase in the development of the Indian novel in English.Less
Ranga Rao furthers his critique by picking up Narayan’s debut novel, Swami and Friends. The very simplicity of the story signals thrifty talent and daring originality of theme. This novel also establishes the character of Malgudi, a small town located in a corner of south India. Swami and Friends also presents a basic plan common to so many of Narayan’s novels, that is, an uprooting followed by a return, a renewal, and a restoration of normalcy. The protagonist, Swami, establishes the sattvic temper, the truth-searching mind, the conscionability, which are the hallmarks of Narayan’s heroes, especially, of the pre-Independence novels. The slim novel is also epochal in the history of the Indian novel in English: one of the three novels—with Anand’s Untouchable and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura—in the 1930s, launching a new phase in the development of the Indian novel in English.
