Kannada Nataka Mattu Vastavate
Publisher: Kannada Sahitya Parishad, Bangalore
Published: 2007
Language: kan
Format: Ph D dissertation
Number of pages: 210
Table of contents: title: Basavaraj Donur’s critical and perceptive study of realism in modern Kannada drama is a welcome addition to the somewhat sparsely cultivated field of critical scholarship on modern Kannada drama. His dual competence in English and Kannada literatures (he has a doctorate in each of them) has been harnessed here to illuminate the nature, quality and problems of realistic drama in modern Kannada literature. His discussion of realism in Western tradition starting from Aristotle is both comprehensive and critical, though he could have given space to a more detailed account of Lukacs’s theory of realism. His assumption that realism in modern Kannada literature is a purely Western phenomenon prevents him from looking at classical Indian aesthetics centering on the concepts of Rasa, Dhwani and Vakrokti to discover any traces of a realistic tradition. If the classical Indian tradition lacked any realistic component, the author could have tried to account for its absence.; title: His account of the western realistic tradition is particular dependable as it shows some sensitivity to its historical and ideological dimensions.; title: He focuses on four writers-Kailasam, Sriranga, Karnad and Kambar- while mentioning others casually. But why does he not mention Chandrashekhar Patil, a considerable playwright? His discussion of the first two is both analytical and descriptive. His critical point that Sriranga’s plays lack action and also individuated characters is insightful. But his study of Karnad and Kambar could have been more critical. These two writers cannot be assimilated easily to a realistic tradition as they revel in fantasy and magical realism.; title: Though Donur’s analysis of their plays in isolation is fascinating, he does not suggest in what reformulated definition of realism these playwrights can be called practitioners of the realistic mode. All in all, Donur has made a significant contribution to the as yet undeveloped area of critical scholarship on modern Kannada drama. One looks forward to a more comprehensive work on modern Kannada drama from his pen.; title: * *