1st Edition
Vyankatesh Madgulkar A Villageful of Stories and a Forestful of Tales
Vyankatesh Madgulkar (1927–2001) was one of the pioneers of modernist short fiction (nav katha) as well as ‘rural’ (grameen) fiction in Marathi in the post-World War II era. He wrote eight novels, two hundred short stories, several plays, including some notable ‘folk plays’ (loknatya), screenplays and dialogues for more than eighty Marathi films. This book offers a comprehensive understanding of Vyankatesh Madgulkar’s work by analysing selections from his major creative fictions and nonfictions. This is augmented with important writings on him by his contemporaries, as well as critical writings, commentaries and reviews by present-day scholars. It situates Madgulkar in the context of Marathi literary tradition and Indian literature in general.
Part of the Writer in Context series, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of Indian literature, Marathi literature, English literature, comparative literature, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, global south studies and translation studies.
List of Figures x
Preface to the Series xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction: Situating Vyankatesh Madgulkar 1
SACHIN KETKAR AND KEERTI RAMACHANDRA
SECTION 1
Chitrakathi: Selections from Madgulkar’s Creative Writing 23
Short Stories 25
1 The Black-faced One (Kalya Tondachi) 27
TRANSLATED BY SHANTA GOKHALE
2 Deva Satva Mahar 32
TRANSLATED BY SUDHAKAR MARATHE
3 Dharma Ramoshi 40
TRANSLATED BY CHINMAY DHARURKAR
4 Vyaghri 45
TRANSLATED BY VIKRAM BHAGWAT
5 Way to the Bazaar (Bajarachi Vaat) 53
TRANSLATED BY KEERTI RAMACHANDRA
Excerpts from the Novels 61
6 The Village Had No Walls (Bangarwadi) 63
TRANSLATED BY RAM DESHMUKH
7 Whirlwind (Vavtal) 67
TRANSLATED BY SACHIN KETKAR
8 Tender Days (Kovale Divas) 70
TRANSLATED BY SACHIN KETKAR
9 Transfer of Power (Sattantar) 73
TRANSLATED BY SACHIN KETKAR
Excerpts from the Plays 77
10 Oh, You Silly Potter (Tu Veda Kumbhar) 79
TRANSLATED BY SHANTA GOKHALE
11 Sati 84
TRANSLATED BY VRUSHALI DESHPANDE
12 Oh, The Husband Has Gone to Kathewadi (Pati Gele Ga Kathewadi) 87
TRANSLATED BY CHINMAY DHARURKAR
SECTION 2
When The Brush Was Not Enough 93
13 Presidential Address at the 57th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Ambejogai on 4 February 1983 95
TRANSLATED BY MANALI SHARMA, SACHIN KETKAR AND CHINMAY GHAISAS
14 A Conversation with Vyankatesh Madgulkar 110
VIDYADHAR PUNDALIK
TRANSLATED BY MEERA MARATHE
15 My Life as a Hunter 119
VYANKATESH MADGULKAR
TRANSLATED BY SACHIN KETKAR AND PUNIT PATHAK
16 Vyankatesh Madgulkar’s Work in the World of Art, Writing on Art, and His Art 124
VASANT SARAWATE
TRANSLATED BY WANDANA SONALKAR
17 Madgulkar’s Drawings and Illustrations 133
VYANKATESH MADGULKAR
SECTION 3
Between the Regional and the Universal 137
3.1 Critical Reception and Legacy 139
18 The Course of the New Short Story and Madgulkar’s Story 141
SUDHA JOSHI
TRANSLATED BY MEERA MARATHE
19 The Regional and the Rural Reality in Vyankatesh Madgulkar’s Short Stories 145
RAVINDRA KIMBAHUNE
TRANSLATED BY MANALI SHARMA AND SACHIN KETKAR
20 Limitations of Language in Rural Literature and the Way Forward 149
ANAND YADAV
TRANSLATED BY NADEEM KHAN
21 Plays of Vyankatesh Madgulkar: Some Observations, Some Questions 158
ANAGHA MANDAVKAR
TRANSLATED BY CHINMAY DHARURKAR
22 Vyankatesh Madgulkar (Vyama): Depiction of Dalit Life 168
GO MA PAWAR
TRANSLATED BY MADHURI DIXIT AND DEEPAK BORGAVE
23 Female Characters in Vyankatesh Madgulkar’s Narrative Prose 186
VANDANA BOKIL-KULKARNI
TRANSLATED BY VRUSHALI DESHPANDE
24 Reconnoitring Caste, Language and Folklore in the Novels Vavtal by Vyankatesh Madgulkar and Fakira by Anna Bhau Sathe 192
BALIRAM GAIKWAD
25 Nature of Political Consciousness in Vyankatesh Madgulkar’s Writings 197
BHASKAR L. BHOLE
TRANSLATED BY MADHURI DIXIT
26 Tatya: A Tribute 208
VINAY HARDIKAR
TRANSLATED BY CHINMAY DHARURKAR
27 The Inseparable Relationship between Man and Water-culture As Seen in Madgulkar’s Writings 215
RAJANISH JOSHI
TRANSLATED BY NADEEM KHAN
28 Vyankatesh Madgulkar’s Nature Writing – A Love and a Passion 219
SUHAS PUJARI
TRANSLATED BY MEERA MARATHE
3.2 Remembering Tatya 223
29 Loving Yet Detached 224
DNYANADA NAIK
TRANSLATED BY MEERA MARATHE
30 Dear Tatya 230
RAVI MUKUL
TRANSLATED BY CHINMAY DHARURKAR
31 The Rustic Journey of Bangarwadi 235
AMOL PALEKAR
CURATED BY SAMIHA DABHOLKAR
32 Memorabilia and Image Photo Gallery 238
SECTION 4
Biochronology and Bibliography 247
33 A Biochronology 249
VYANKATESH MADGULKAR
COMPILED BY CHINMAY DHARURKAR AND SACHIN KETKAR
Vyankatesh Madgulkar: A Select Bibliography 255
List of Contributors 259
Index 263
Biography
Sachin Ketkar is a bilingual writer and translator. He is Professor in English, Faculty of Arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India.
Keerti Ramachandra is a teacher, freelance editor and translator of fiction and nonfiction from Marathi, Kannada and Hindi into English.
