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Contemporary Marathi Fiction: Obscenity or Realism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Mahadeo L. Apte
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Extract

In Marathi literature, the issue of obscenity is more alive today than it ever has been during the last sixty years. Several new novels and short stories have been criticized during the last few years by the so-called defenders of morality as obscene, raw, or sexual. Both readers and critics are divided on this issue, and as more such novels and short stories are being published every year, many by prominent young writers, the reactions get more and more mixed. This new fictional writing is an attempt at depicting what may, within the context of Indian culture, be called unconventional themes, such as slum life, deviant behavior, and physical love.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , November 1969 , pp. 55 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1969

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References

1 Marathi is one of the major Indo-Aryan languages of India and is spoken by approximately thirty-three million persons. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra located on the west coast of India. The history of the language goes back to the twelfth century. Most of the literature until the nineteenth century was in verse form. For the development of prose fiction in Marathi see Raeside, Ian, “Early Prose Fiction in Marathi 1828–1885,” Journal of Asian Studies, XXVII, No. 4 (August 1968), 791–808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Beḍekar, D. K., “Contemporary Marathi Literature,” Indian Writing Today, I, (July–Sept. 1967). 51.Google Scholar

3 Phaḍke has by now published sixty novels while Khāṇḍekar and Māḍkholkar have each published over fifteen novels. All three arc still writing.

4 Rājādhyakśa, M. V., “Marathi Literature,” Contemporary Indian Literature: A Symposium, 2nd ed. (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1959), p. 163.Google Scholar

5 Rājādhyakśa, , op. cit., p. 163.Google Scholar

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9 Dāvtar, Vasant, “Navī Marāṭhī Kavitā,” Ālochanā (June 1965), p. 4.Google Scholar

10 Words in single quotation marks in the translations appear in the original passages.

11 Vāsūnākā, p. 105.Google Scholar

12 Vāsūnākā, p. 3.Google Scholar

13 Vāsūnākā, p. 51.Google Scholar

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20 Ālochanā, August 1966Google Scholar. Also sec comments of D. K. Beḍekar, a prominent Marathi critic, quoted on the jacket of Vāsūnākā.

21 Beḍekar, D. K., op. cit., p. 50.Google Scholar