Kosala (novel)

Kosala
Author Bhalchandra Nemade
Original title Kosala
Translator Sudhakar Marathe[1]
Country India
Language Marathi
Publisher Popular Publications[2]
Publication date
 1963
Published in English
 1997
OCLC 38258018

Kosala (English: Cocoon), sometime spelled as Kosla, is a 1963 Marathi novel by Bhalchandra Nemade. Considered to be a magnum opus of Nemade and accepted as a modern classic in Marathi literature, it narrates the journey of a young man, Pandurang Sangvikar, and his friends through his college years. Nemade wrote this novel at the age of 25.[3][4] Since its publications the novel is considered a trendsetter in Marathi literature due to its open-endedness and its potential for varied interpretation.

Contents

The novel presents the story of Pandurang Sangavikar, a young man with rural upbringing who moves to Pune for higher education. He feels isolated in his new social setting. Due to persistent feeling of estrangement, he returns home, only to encounter further disillusionment, where he experiences her sister's death, his father's domination and his own financial dependence.[5]

The novel has been written in an epistolary fashion, where it reads like a number of diary entries. The language of the protagonist, Sangvikar, is an instrument in divulging his worldview. He uses a Marathi dialect spoken in rural Maharashtra. Despite the pessimistic undertones, there is an element of humour throughout the novel. Another technique employed by the author is that the narration describes "historical investigations" often undertaken by Sangvikar and his friend Suresh Bapat, which ultimately uncover to them the absurdity and pathos of their conditions.

The narration style is influenced by The Catcher in the Rye.[6]

Theme

The book is influenced by existential philosophy,[5] as the ideas of existentialism such as obsession of birth and death, dread, alienation, and absurdity are clearly exposed in this novel. Similar to other existential novels, Kosla also explores the life of an individual and disclose numerous questions regarding the meaning of life and the values of existence. As seen in the existential novels, here also, Pandurang tells his life story from the first person point of view. This is considered as the first existential novel in Marathi literature.[7]

Reception

Kosala is widely regarded as a modern classic[8] and a path-breaking novel[3] which left its mark on the sathottari (post-1960) Marathi fiction.[2] The novel received immediate critical acclaim after its publication and heralded a new trend in Marathi literature.[5] Since its publication the novel is considered a trendsetter in Marathi literature due to its open-endedness and its potential for varied interpretation. It has been the most appreciated and widely interpreted novel by critics including Dilip Chitre, Narhar Kurundkar, Chandrashekhar Jahagirdar, Vilas Sarang, Sukanya Aagase, Rekha Inamdar-Sane and Vasudev Sawant. Chandrashekhar Jahagirdar wrote that, "It was only Kosla, which responding as it did to a crisis in the cultural consciousness of Maharashtra, that opened up new, native possibilities of form and meaning and thus sought to change the direction of both literary taste and fictional tradition".[9]

Translation and adaptation

"Kosla" has been translated into many Indian languages and also into English. The available translations of "Kosla" are as follows:

  • Kosla (Hindi), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (1983)
  • Kosheto (Gujrati; tr. Usha Sheth), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (1995)
  • Kosla (Kannada), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (1995)
  • Palur Vah (Assami), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (1996)
  • Kosla (Punjabi), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (1996)
  • Cocoon (English; tr. Sudhakar Marathe), published by Macmillan Publishers India, Chennai (1997)
  • Need (Bengali), published by Sahitya Academi, New Delhi (2001)
  • Kosla (Urdu), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (2002)
  • Koshapok (Odia), published by National Book Trust, New Delhi (2005)

Kosala has been adapted into a play, Me, Pandurang Sangavikar, directed by Mandar Deshpande.[10]

References

  1. ↑ The Book Review. C. Chari for Perspective Publications. 2000. p. 31.
  2. 1 2 Nerlekar, Anjali (2016). Bombay Modern: Arun Kolatkar and Bilingual Literary Culture. Northwestern University Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-8101-3275-7 – via Project MUSE. (subscription required)
  3. 1 2 "Jnanpith award for Marathi author Bhalchandra Nemade - india". Hindustan Times. 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  4. ↑ R. P. Malhotra (2005). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Asian Novels and Novelists: A-I. Global Vision Publishing House. p. 551. ISBN 978-81-8220-067-8.
  5. 1 2 3 Nalini Natarajan; Emmanuel Sampath Nelson (1996). Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-313-28778-7.
  6. ↑ Nandgaonkar, Satish (2015-02-06). "Marathi novelist Bhalchandra Nemade chosen for Jnanpith award". The Hindu. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  7. ↑ Khaladkar, Dattatraya Dnyandev (2010). "Existentialism in Marathi Novels" (PDF). Existentialism in the Selected American and Marathi Novels: a Comparative Study (Ph.D). Kolhapur: Department of English, Shivaji University. pp. 144&ndash, 145.
  8. ↑ Lal, Mohan (1991). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Navaratri-Sarvasena. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. pp. 27, 274. ISBN 81-260-1003-1.
  9. ↑ Digole, D. P. (July 2012). "Bhalchandra Nemade's Kosla: A Narrative of Revolt and Trapped Anguish". Labyrinth: An International Refereed Journal of Postmodern Studies. 3 (3): 21–29. ISSN 0976-0814 – via Literary Reference Center Plus. (subscription required)
  10. ↑ Banerjee, Kaushani (2016-07-31). "Pratibimb Marathi Natya Utsav: A mix of commercial and experimental plays - art and culture". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
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