The Dialectic of Historicity in Modernist Fiction: a Study Based on Select Works of O V Vijayan and M Mukundan

Download or read book The Dialectic of Historicity in Modernist Fiction: a Study Based on Select Works of O V Vijayan and M Mukundan written by Swapna Gopinath and published by Partridge Publishing. This book was released on 2017-12-15 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modernism when viewed through the spectacles of Marxian aesthetics emerges as a problematic artistic movement, especially when placed within the context of social structures that define the cultural practices at any given point in time. The much discussed debate within the Marxist canon regarding the dialectic relationship between society and art in the context of modernism had stalwarts of Marxist criticism deliberating this relationship between art and society. From Europe, modernism spread to other parts of the world, including India where it captured the imagination of the writers of regional languages as well. In Kerala, with its staunch Marxian perspectives and its supporters including a faithful political network of leaders and followers, modernism invited heated debates of a similar nature. A debate was triggered off challenging the ideological frameworks of modernist aesthetics with a large part of the intelligentsia actively participating in it. Kerala Kaumudi magazine published these arguments as a series, leading to further discussions in the cultural and political discourses that shaped the sensibility of the times. This book is an attempt to explore this relationship with these debates and discussions as referral points. To substantiate the arguments, four texts that emerged as iconic texts are studied - O V Vijayan's The Legends of Khasak (1969)and The Saga of Dharmapuri (1985)and M Mukundan's On the Banks of Mayyazhi (1974) and God's Mischief (1989).