Premchand in World Languages


Book Description

This volume explores the reception of Premchand’s works and his influence in the perception of India among Western cultures, especially Russian, German, French, Spanish and English. The essays in the collection also take a critical look at multiple translations of the same work (and examine how each new translation expands the work’s textuality and annexes new readership for the author) as well as representations of celluloid adaptations of Premchand’s works. An important intervention in the field of translation studies, this book will interest scholars and researchers of comparative literature, cultural studies and film studies.




The Co-wife and Other Stories


Book Description

Premchand Is India . . . If You Haven T Read Premchand, You Have Missed Out On A Lot The Hindu Considered One Of The Greatest Fiction Writers In Hindi, Munshi Premchand (1880 1936) Wrote Over Three Hundred Short Stories, A Dozen Novels And Two Plays Over A Prolific Career Spanning Three Decades. Though Best Known For His Stories Exposing The Horrors Of Poverty And Social Injustice, He Wrote On A Variety Of Themes With Equal Facility Romance, Satire, Social Dramas, Nationalist Tales, And Yarns Steeped In Folklore. The Co-Wife And Other Stories Brings Together Twenty Classic Tales Of Premchand Which Provide A Glimpse Of The Author S Extraordinary Range And Diversity. While Some Cast A Harrowing Look At Poverty, Reflecting Premchand S Sympathy With The Underdog, Others Expose Human Foibles Without Being Judgmental And Tackle Gender Politics In A Humorous And Ironic Manner. This Collection Also Includes An Imaginative Foray Into Historical Fiction, A Nostalgic Look At Childhood, A Comic Exploration Of The Theme Of Women S Autonomy, And Stories That Reveal The Writer S Profound Empathy With Animals. Ruth Vanita S Sensitive Translation Captures The Power And Beauty Of Premchand S Language, Conveying The Nuances Of The Original And Bringing To Life The Author S Inherent Humanism.




The Gift of a Cow


Book Description

Story of Hori, a poor peasant who yearns to own a cow and to make the pious Hindu's traditional gift to a Brahmin when he dies. Through Premchand's vivid character portrayals we witness the efforts of Hori's family to survive the conflicts of village politics and the webs spun by colonial landownership patterns. Counterposed to the culture of rural connectedness but also constriction is the isolation but also freedom of the city. Here the rigors of industrialization and empty materialism only can be offset by the promise of Gandhian idealism.




11 Selected Stories of Munshi Premchand


Book Description

It is an attainment for the Hindi Literature that at the very initial times of its journey, it got a deft painter of human mind like Munshi Premchand. As a story writer Munshi Premchand had become a legend in his own life time. The themes of his stories are rooted to the rural life with urban social life appearing as the contrast to illustrate a complete picture of contemporary life. They also effected the foundation of a new philanthropic heritage of welfare of society. His distinctive style and content are deeply steeped in the hardcore of reality. In view of variety of topics, he, as though, has encompassed the entire sky of humane world into his fold, and are generally based upon some inspiration or experience. Each of Munshi Premchand’s stories unravels many sides of human mind, streaks of human’s conscience, the evils in some societal practices and heterogeneous angles of economic tortures. His stories are the strongest assets of our literature, thus are still relevant today, as much as they were five decades ago. His stories have been translated in almost all the languages of India and world.




Premchand on Culture and Education


Book Description

Premchand on Culture and Education is a select collection of Premchand's journalistic articles, essays, and editorials, in English translation, written in journals like Madhuri, Hans and Jagran from 1928 to 1936. Indian society then witnessed an extemely perilous phase with British imperialism, capitalism, and aggressive nationalism distracting indians from the path of honesty, equality, and brotherhood. The present collection of Premchand's non-fiction prose is an amalagamation of his impressions of, and responses to, the upheavals taking place in the politically and socially charged decade of the 1930s of the 20th century. Like a torchbearer, Premchand educated and guided public opinion on a wide range of issues such as education, culture, communalism, language, arts, and the Gurukul system of education, famous universities, broadcasting, and cinema. Nearly all the articles/essays/editorials were written to combat the topical crisis, but the nature of the articles and the solutions provided have a bearing even today. Just as non-fiction is called the genre of the future, this collection of Premchand's non-fiction prose will be conducive for posterity and will facilitate fresh avenues of research on Premchand. This book is co-published with Aakar Books, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the print versions of this book in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.




The Complete Short Stories


Book Description

Munshi Premchand, widely lauded as the greatest Hindi fiction writer of the twentieth century, wrote close to 300 short stories over the course of a prolific career spanning three decades. His range and diversity were limitless as he tackled themes of romance and satire, gender politics and social inequality, with unmatched skill and compassion. By turns poignant, acerbic, comical and tragic, many of his stories powerfully invoke the countryside-its pastoral simplicity as well as its harsh realities-while others capture the hopes and anxieties that accompany life in a teeming city where the underdog and the exploiter are caught in an age-old conflict. For the first time ever, Penguin Classics brings together Premchand's entire short-fiction oeuvre for the delight of the English-speaking world. Along with M. Asaduddin's illuminating Introduction, this pathbreaking anthology features several stories not hitherto available either in Hindi or Urdu. Also included are comprehensive notes that provide the publication history of each story-highlighting the differences, sometimes significant and radical, between the Hindi and the Urdu versions of the same story-as well as a definitive chronology, making this a truly singular collection.




PREMCHAND AND THE ARAB WORLD


Book Description

The book Premchand and The Arab World is an attempt that states that Munshi Premchand’s literal work holds an exclusive position in Indian literature as well as in world literature. Even eighty-six years of his death, the discussions and research on Premchand and his achievements through his literary work are not only in the department of Hindi, Urdu, English, and Arabic of Indian Universities but also in several universities of the Arab World. We have tried to ensure that the cultural, political, and social imports of his work are not neglected. We have attempted to bring out its cultural and moral significance. The primary stress in the rest of the study is on a close analysis of the individual short stories and novels, respecting their integrity and autonomy as works of art owing to space limitations.




Munshi Premchand's Godaan


Book Description

Godaan is one of the most celebrated novels of Munshi Premchand. Set in pre-independence India, the novel captures social and economic conflict in a north Indian village. The story revolves around Horiram, a poor village farmer, and the struggle of his family to survive and maintain their self-respect. Horiram does everything in his capacity to fulfil his sole desire to own a cow, which is considered a farmer's source of wealth and happiness. One of the classics of Indian literature, the book offers an insight into the colonial history of India, captures the ethnic flavour of the Indian villages and also catches the human emotions in all their rawness.




The Oxford India Premchand


Book Description

Premchand (1880-1936) was a pioneering figure in modern Hindi literature. This omnibus edition of his works gathers together two distinguished novels (Nirmala and Gaban) and two short-story collections (The World of Premchand and Widows, Wives and Other Heroines). It also includes an introduction by Premchand scholar Francesca Orsini.