Abstract

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ON POST INDEPENDENCE INDIAN DRAMA

Dr. Dhananjay Kumar Singh

Volume: 4 Issue: 3 2014

Abstract:

Giving a historically accurate account of the dominant socio-cultural paradigms in Post-Independence Indian drama in English is both challenging and rewarding and more so when the treatment of the subject is textual compounded further by its being non- literary. Drama, being a multi- dimensional literary form (visual, textual, etc.) entirely different from novel and poetry owes its origin to religion and it has a distinguished history. In an attempt to provide a most sustained example of the evolution of Indian drama in English right from the Pre-Independence era to the present day I have highlighted the outstanding contributions of dramatists like Gurucharan Das, Asif Karrimboy, Mahesh Dattani, Nissim Ezeikel etc. without getting into the claptrap. That is, literary theory. There is also a detailed discussion on Nissim Ezeikel’s ‘Romantic Poem’ as a representative text of the New Woman in the Post-Independence period. This is an argumentative essay divided in to namely three parts- introduction, body and conclusion. The introductory paragraph deals with the salient features of drama. It is in the body of this research article that I have explained the dominant socio-cultural paradigm of the Post-Independence India. I conclude with a remark that Indian drama in English is deeply rooted in our cultural traditions. It has a glorious past and also an enviable future.

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