'Regionalisation, need of the hour in literature'

Dr EV Ramakrishnan speaking at a seminar on 'locating Indian literature in the contemporary context' at Kerala Varma College

Finding new locations for Indian Literature in our culture can be made possible only through its regionalisation, said Ramakrishnan, critic and professor of Gujarat University.

He was delivering a lecture on 'Locating Indian literature in the contemporary context' at Kerala Varma College yesterday.

Ramakrishnan said that most of our studies on literature are either textual or pedagogic. "All Indian languages radically reoriented themselves for rediscovering their potential during the time of colonisation.

In ancient India, Sanskrit had supremacy among the other languages but very soon it came to an end. We could see similar incidents in the history of some other languages of the world too, he said.

Writers of those days had strong dislikes towards the Brahminical influence and so they wrote in regional languages. Titans like Gandhi and Ambedkar, who started writing in Gujarati, were the best examples, he pointed out. Folklore should not be reduced to the level of a museum piece. It had always been a source of inspiration for major literary works. Ezhuthachan would not have written Kilippattu if folklore had not been there, he added.

The programme was organised by the Centre for English Studies and Research of the college. Principal KP Sudha, Prof PN Prakashan and Prof NR Anilkumar spoke on the occasion.