Nepali literature

A statue of Nepali writer Parijat

Nepali Literature (Nepali: नेपाली साहित्य) refers to the literature of Nepal written in the Nepali language. The Nepali language has been the national language of Nepal since 1958.[1]

The Nepali language evolved from Sanskrit and it is difficult to exactly date the history of Nepali literature since most early scholars wrote in [[San skrit]]. It is however possible to roughly divide Nepali literature into five periods.

Pre-Bhanubhakta Era

It is thought that Nepali literature has existed in verbal folklore for the past hundreds of years; however their exists no evidence of a written literary work before the Bhanubhakta. Before Bhanubhakta, writing was done in Sanskrit, and because it was a language accessible by high-caste Brahmins only at that time, many Nepali people were not involved in literature. A few scholars have argued that poet Suwananda Daas was the first literary figure in the history of Modern Nepal.

Bhanubhakta Era

Nepali speakers honor Bhanubhakta as the "Adikavi" (literally meaning 'first poet') of the Nepali language. Bhanubhakta's most important contribution to Nepali literature is probably his translation of the holy Ramayana into Nepali language. He wrote the Ramayana in metric form, using the same form as Sanskrit scholars. Besides translating the Ramayana, Bhanubhakta also wrote original poems on a diverse range of subjects: from advocacy of family morals to satires of bureaucracy and poor conditions of prisoners.

Early 20th century

Motiram Bhatta (1923–1953) revived the legacy of Bhanubhakta and publicized the contributions of the latter. Motiram played such a fundamental role in the legacy of Bhanubhakta that some allege that Bhanubhakta was just a fabrication of Motiram's mind.

1960-1991

The Pre-Revolution Era was a very prolific time for creative writing despite the lack of freedom of expression, during the period the independent magazine "Sharada" was the only printed medium available for publication of Nepali literature. Short stories by Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Guru Prasad Mainali, Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala and Gadul Singh Lama (Sanu Lama),[2] has become recognized as of tremendous importance. It is arguably the most significant period for the development of Nepali literature.

Plays like the influential Muna Madan by Laxmi Prasad Devkota tell the tales of human lives: the story is about a man who leaves his wife mother and home, goes abroad in order to earn money and his mother and wife are already dead when he returns home. However, the story also portrays the life of the wife who suffered greatly without her husband. Other stories by Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala introduced psychology into literature, for instance through creations such as "Teen Ghumti", "Doshi Chasma" and "Narendra Dai".

This regime produced several prominent poets like Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Gopal Prasad Rimal, Siddhicharan Shrestha, Bhim Nidhi Tiwari and Balkrishna Sama. Later Period several poets come into light during one Panchayat regime. Indra Bahadur Rai,[3] Parijat, Bhupi Sherchan, Madhav Prasad Ghimire, Bairagi Kainla, Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, Madan Regmi, Dwarika Shrestha, Mohan Koirala, Upendra Shrestha, Ishwor Ballav and Tulasi Diwas and Krishnabhushan Bal can be named in this regard.

Post-Revolution Era

There are many modern Nepali authors who have been active in writing groundbreaking, innovative Nepali literature in the era after the Democracy Revolution of 1991 and continuing into the present day, e.g. Khagendra Sangraula, Shailendra Sakar, Yuyutsu Sharma, Bimal Nibha, Nayan Raj Pandey, Narayan Wagle, Mahananda Poudyal, Toya Gurung, Durba Chandra Gautam, Bakhat Bahadur Thapa, Roshan Thapa, Saru Bhakta, etc.

Among the younger generation poets the names of Sarada Sharma, Buddhi Sagar, Ramesh Kshitij, Nawa Raj Subba, Suman Pokhrel, Homraj Acharya, Netra Atom, Raj Kumar Bania, Vivash Basti, Bimal Bhoikaje, Gayatri Bist, R. M. Dangol, Prateek Dhakal, Padam Gautam, Jyoti Jungle, Amog Kafle, Khadga Sen Oli, Sudip Pakhrin, Ramesh Paudel, Biplov Prateek, Hom Parbag, Vyakul Pathak, Khumnarayan Poudel, Saran Rai, Vishnu Rai, Rasa, Shyam Rimal, Promod Snehi, Chunky Shrestha, Rajendra Shrestha, Prakash Silwal, Prahlas Sindulee, Lal Gopal Subedi, Bimala Tumkhewa, Tanka Uprety, and Gyanendra Vivash can be cited.

Nepali speakers are rapidly migrating around the globe and many books of Nepali literature are published from different corners of the world. Diasporic literature has developed new ways of thinking and new branches in Nepali literature.

References

  1. ↑ Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature (Voices from Asia), edited and translated by Michael J. Hutt, University of California Press, 1991. p. 5. ISBN 9780520910263
  2. ↑ "The Gentle Literary Giant" (PDF). Government of Sikkim. 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Gorkhas Imagined: I.B. Rai in Translation, Eds. Prem Poddar and Anmole Prasad, Mukti Prakashan, 2009

Further reading

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