LITERATURE is a reflection of life. It is the
manifestation of human emotions. A writer is primarily a
spokesman of a free spirit, a spokesman of his own conscience. He
derives his subjects from the community to which he belongs. And
if literature tries, consciously to combat the various divisive
forces and tendencies it would only lead to propaganda and as
such it would defeat the very purpose of literature.
Protest in literature has always existed. It is symbolic
of the changing times. Literature of protest is the voice of the
new generation.
To quote: Sri D. Anjaneyulu on modern Telugu poetry:
``Heartening to see the richness and variety of poetic
talent now making its presence felt on the Telugu literary scene.
In the contemporary situation, the lines of demarcation may not
be so clearly drawn, as they were in the past fifty or sixty
years between the Classicists and the Romantics, between the
Traditionalists and the Modernists, between the Progressives and
the Revolutionaries, between the Metrical composers and the Free
verse writers and so on''.
It may or may not be correct to compare the present
situation to that of an earlier generation of charismatic poets
like Vishwanadha Sathyanarayana, Devulapalli Krishna Sastry and
Sri Sri.
Viresalingam was the author of the first novel in Telugu.
His Rajasekhara charitram published during 1880s is the picture
of a middle class family. The synthesis of the east and west
evolved by Raja Rammohan Roy deeply influenced this dynamic
literary figure.
His successor in the field was Chilakamarti
Laxminarasimham. His excellent translation of Romesh Dutt's `Lake
of palms' made the Andraites of the generation familiar with
Bengali life and aspirations. Adavi Bapi Raju captured the early
characters of Andhra history in his novels.
Himabindu, Gona Ganna Reddy Adavi Santisri, Tufanu,
Narayana Rao and Konangi are some of his noted social novels.
After 1935 there was a swing of leftism in Telugu poetry.
Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Sri Sri led a revolt
against the Romantic movement which commenced with Rayaprolu
Subba Rao.
`Maro prapancham maro prapancham'. A new world is in the
making sings Sri Sri, a world in which sweat and toil must lead
to vindication of the rights of the worker. There is no sense in
celebrating the goal of the Taj Mahal, think of the forced labour
which made the Taj possible.
The modern poets sought to break away from conventional
verse forms, including the `Gita' metre. Free verse is their
medium.
While the leftists and surrealists rebelled against the
romanticism of the earlier decades, the neo-classists like
Karunasree Jandhyala Papiah Sastry and Kavi Kokila Gurram Jashua
are questioning the values of surrealism.
This return to classicism is also emphasised by
Vishwanatha Sathyanarayana writing an epic with the story of Rama
as the background. Vishwanatha Sathyanarayana's magnum opus was
Srimadramayana Kalpa Vriksham which won the Jnanapeeth Award.
It is considered as the culmination of his erudition and
chiseled poetic skill. He wrote novels of which Veyi Padagalu is
widely acclaimed. Gadiyaram Sesha Sastri's Siva Bharatham and
Dhurbaka Raja Sekhara Satavadhani's Rana Pratapa Simha charitra
are also of classical nature.
Narayana Reddy and Dasarathi are known as `Telangana
surya chandras'. Narayana Reddi's works Nagarjuna Sagaram,
Karpoora Vasantha Rayalu, Mantalu-Manavudu and Vishwambara are
known for their poetic excellence.
Dr. C. Narayana Reddy was awarded Jnanapeeth Award for
his work Vishwambara. Dasarathi succeeded Vishwanatha as poet
laureate of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Various poetic
movements associated with the Vachana kavita, Abhyudaya kavita,
Viplava kavita, Digambara kavita have attracted many a scholarly
poets. Nikhileswar, Jwalamukhi, Bhiravayya and Cherabanda Raju
are the popular Digambara poets.
The hungry generation of Bengal, the Digambaras (naked
generation) of Telugu, the new poets of Marathi, Hindi, and
Punjabi all reveal the same mood-hatred for everything phony,
protest against bureaucracy and concern for the exploited.
Inspite of all these modern movements classical poetry
had its glory. The popular art of Ashtavadhanam flourished during
the beginning of the century with duo poets Tirupati Venkata
Kavulu popularising it throughout the state.
It is a rare art in Andhra still practised by young
scholars, noted for excellent remembrance power (Dharana
Shakthi). Asthavadhanam means concentration of eight subjects at
a given point of time. Similarly, Satavadhanam is also being
performed.
In the field of prose fiction, it seems to be the season p73
for popular serials of different kinds, all with an eye on the
main chance of attracting the readers. No wonder it is being
realised that it is easier to attract attention than to sustain
it for any length of time. Not only the magazines and the Sunday
supplements of dailies thrive on serial novels, but the regular
dailies themselves carry a serial everyday.
Short story in modern Telugu originated with Gurujada
Appa Rao. Its growth in subsequent years and its elevation to the
present high pedestal in literature is due to a band of writers
like Chinta Deekshitulu, Butchi Babu and Gopichand.
Gudipati Venkata Chalam popularly known as Chalam was the
stormy petrel of modern literature. He was concerned with the
place and plight of women in contemporary society. He rebelled
himself to champion the cause of women. Chalam reinterpreted the
epic characters held as model women.
He scrutinised the sex relations from an extra-
traditional angle. He was too much for the society and there was
a time when youngsters were prohibited from touching his works.
Munimanikyam's greatest creation is Kantam the wife of a
school teacher and writer. He wrote several episodes around
Kantam and her family in `Kantam kathalu'. He depicts how even
today life with its myriad problems big and small could be
converted into a bliss.
A recognition of the high level of achievement in the
realm of short story in Telugu is the award of second prize in a
world wide competition to Palagummi Padma Raju.
The modern stage play as distinguished from the open air
dance drama veedhi natakam of previous centuries was brought
into being. Pioneers in the field are Dharmavaram
Ramakrishnamacharyulu, Vedam Venkataraya Sastry, Panuganti
Laxminarasimha Rao, and Gurajada Appa Rao.
Gurajada is apparently a man of original ideas in
literary matters. He has widely and happily used for the purpose
of comedy in his `Kanya Sulkam' discarded unnatural, pedantic
literary dialect. Instead the simple ordinary language of common
life was choosen. His Gireesam is immortal.
It is in the field of literary art and criticism that one
has to seek the best in Telugu writing. This is in continuation
of the work of an earlier generation of scholars like Dr. C. R.
Reddy, Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma and Pingali Laxmi Kantam.
A welcome feature is the growth of interpretative criticism of
the literature in other Indian languages.
Telugu has great and growing literature from the 11th
century onwards. The perfect blending of Sanskrit with Telugu
invests it with sweetness and beauty which made Thyagaraja's
songs world famous. Thanks to the progressive development of p73
Telugu Departments in the universities, there are increasing
facilities for research facilities in both language and
literature.
R. A. Padmanabha Rao