Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh

Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh
Born (1917-11-13)13 November 1917
Sheopur district, chambal region (m.p.),[1] India
Died 11 September 1964(1964-09-11) (aged 46)
Habibganj, India
Occupation Writer, poet, essayist, literary critic, political critic

Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh (गजानन माधव मुक्तिबोध) (13 November 1917 – 11 September 1964)[1] was one of the most prominent Hindi poets, essayist, literary and political critic, and fiction writers of the 20th century.[2] He also remained assistant-editor of journals like, Naya Khun and Vasudha etc.[2]

He is widely considered one of the pioneers of modern poetry in India,[3] and doyen of Hindi poetry after, Surya Kant Tripathi 'Nirala',[4] and known as being a pioneer, the mainstay of Prayogvaad Experimentalism movement of Hindi literature and it was also his work, which also marked the culmination of this literary movement and its evolution into the Nayi Kahani and Nayi Kavita Modernism in 1950s,[5] his presence is equally important in the rise of 'New Criticism' in Indian literature.

Muktibodh was born in Madhya Pradesh. He started out as an important poet, being published in the first three volumes of Tar Saptak, series of anthologies (1943), which marked a transition in Hindi literature, from the prevalent Chhayavaad movement; this led to the initiation of Prayogvaad Experimentalism in Hindi poetry, and developing along with Pragativaad Progressivism, eventually led to the creation of the 'Nayi Kahani' (New Story) movement, Modernism .

Brahmarakshas (ब्रह्मराक्षस) is considered his most influential work in experimental poems, noted for the use of archetypal imagery, and the stark depiction of the contemporary intellectual, who gets so lost in his own sense of perfectionism, unending calculations, and subjective interpretation of the external reality that soon he loses touch with the reality itself, and eventually dies and fades away like dead bird.[6]

His work was deeply influenced by his viewpoints of Marxism, Socialism and Existentialism, and carried an innate expression of his deep discontent, heightened by his virulent imagery.[7] He continued to show his progressive streak even after the disintegration of the Progressive Writers' Movement after 1953; and, through the rest of his career, he along with writers like, Yashpal, continued his ideological fight against modernist and formalist trends in Hindi literature.[8]

He is best known for his long poems:Brahma-rakshasa (ब्रह्मराक्षस), Chand ka Muh Teda hai (The Moon Wears a Crooked Smile) (चाँद का मुहँ टेढ़ा है),[9] Andhere Mein (In the Dark) (अंधेरे में) and Bhuri Bhuri Khak Dhul (The Brown Dry Dust) (भूरी भूरी ख़ाक धूल); his complete works extending to 6 volumes, were published in 1980, as Muktibodh Rachnavali.

'Sharadchandra Madhav Muktibodh' (1921–1985) a Marathi poet, novelist, and Marxist critic, winner of 1979, Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi, was the younger brother of Muktibodh[10]

Works

His first individual book was published in 1964, when he was on his death-bed: [Chand Ka Muh Teda Hai (चाँद का मुहँ टेढ़ा है).[5] Although Muktibodh could not manage to get his works published, as a book in his lifetime, he was one of the contributing poets to the first three volumes of Tar Saptak, a series of path-breaking poetry anthologies, edited by Ajneya."Bhoori Bhoori Khak Dhool"is the collection of his remaining poems.His complete work is available as 'Muktibodh Rachnavali"edited by Nemichand Jain.

He is today considered a bridge between the Progressive movement in Hindi poetry and the Nayi Kavita (Modern Poetry) movement.[2]

Muktibodh made a name for himself in the field of criticism as well, with his strong views on the upper caste influence on the disintegration of Bhakti movement in India, which he viewed a lower caste uprising against the hegemony upper caste.[11] In literary criticism, he wrote a critical work on Kamayani of literary doyen, Jaishankar Prasad titled: Kamayani, Ek Punarvichar.[2]

Ek Sahityik ki Diary, first written for his column in the weekly Naya Khun, and later continued in the journal Vasudha, published from Jabalpur (1957–60), offers a glimpse of his literary and socio-political criticism, and insights into his way of thinking, and was first published in 1964. It is most noted for the article, Teesra Kshana (Third Moment), where he shows his preference for the hypothesis of three successive stages in the creative process, of inspiration, impersonalisation and expression, rather than a single moment of inspiration[12][13]

Media

(चाँद का मुहँ टेढ़ा है)

नगर के बीचों-बीच
आधी रात--
अंधेरे की काली स्याह
शिलाओं से बनी हुई
भीतों और अहातों के,
काँच-टुकड़े जमे हुए
ऊँचे-ऊँचे कन्धों पर
चांदनी की फैली हुई
सँवलायी झालरें।
कारखाना--
अहाते के उस पार
धूम्र मुख चिमनियों के ऊँचे-ऊँचे
उद्गार--चिह्नाकार--मीनार
मीनारों के बीचों-बीच
चांद का है टेढ़ा मुँह!![1]

  1. ^ चाँद का मुहँ टेढ़ा है
 The wind's sari border quivers

bullets pierce empty
nests on the fig-tree
Bald detective of pale moonlight
wander the city streets
penetrating its many secret woes
in multiangular corners...
and further on:
Her lips turn dark
Suspended on
a sculpted torso in a harijan temple
greying thatch-roofs
gnarled banyan roots
misty ghosts of lime-smeared rags
arrested in
blouses, petticoats
tattered bedsheets
The lustful eye of the bald crooked moon...

– Muktibodh[9]

A Hindi feature film, Satah Se Uthata Aadmi (Arising from the Surface), with script and dialogues by him, was directed by veteran film director, Mani Kaul, and shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981.[14] In 2004, "Brahmarakshas ka Shishya", a dramatization of Muktibodh's story, was presented in New Delhi by Soumyabrata Choudhury.[15][16]

His novel, Vipatra has also been made into an audio book for the blind.[17]

Legacy

His brilliance was recognised by the literary world after the posthumous publication of Chand Ka Munh Tedha Hai, the first collection of his poems, in the early 1960s. Ever since, the book has run into several editions, and is recognised as a modern classic. In his memory, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, has instituted the annual MuktiBodh Puraskar.

In 2004, 'Muktibodh Smarak', a memorial was set up at the 'Triveni Sangrahalaya' in Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh, along with fellow poets of Chhattisgarh, Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi and Baldeo Prasad Mishra.[18][19]

Bibliography

Further reading

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Biography and Works of Muktibodh
  2. 1 2 3 4 Muktibodh Profile www.abhivyakti-hindi.org.
  3. ↑ Muktibodh Sahitya Akademi Official website.
  4. ↑ Resurrection of Kumar Vikal The Tribune, 10 September 2000.
  5. 1 2 3 Indian Poets – Hindi at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 October 2009)
  6. ↑ Experimentalism Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: An Anthology, by K. M. George, 1992, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-7201-324-8. Page 161-162.
  7. ↑ Muktibodh -Brahmarakshas Modern Indian Literature: An Anthology, by K. M. George, 1992, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-7201-324-8. Page 621.
  8. ↑ Issues in Literature Janwadi Lekhak Sangh.
  9. 1 2 Literary Resurrections www.himalmag.com, October 2001.
  10. ↑ NOTES 12 www.ciil-ebooks.net.
  11. ↑ Dalit "According to Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh: the Bhakti movement began as a revolt of the lower castes/lower classes against the upper castes/upper classes; it drew people from all castes/classes but the egalitarian agenda was generally raised by the lower caste saints; and, when the movement was taken over by the upper castes, the entire movement disintegrated."
  12. ↑ Dairies Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 2, 1988, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-1194-7. Page 1017 .
  13. ↑ Ek Sahityik ki Diary Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 2, 1988, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-1194-7. Page 1138.
  14. ↑ Films presented in Cannes 1981 Cannes Film Festival Official website.
  15. ↑ Calendar of Events – October 2004 India Habitat Centre website.
  16. ↑ Brahmarakshas ka Shishya Text www.abhivyakti-hindi.org.
  17. ↑ #194 Muktibodh – Viptara Blind Relief Association.
  18. ↑ History Rajnandgaon Official website.
  19. ↑ The Muktibodh Smarak at Triveni Sangrahalaya is at coordinates 21°05′32″N 81°01′40″E / 21.092136°N 81.027751°E
  20. ↑ Muktibodh Books
  21. ↑ Books by Muktibodh www.lib.virginia.edu.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.