A comparative study of Nissim Ezekiel and A K Ramanujan as canonical post colonial Indian English Poet

Abstract

Indian English poetry is broadly divided into two periods: pre-Independence Indian English poetry and post-Independence Indian English poetry. Well-known pre-Independence Indian poets include Kashiprasad Ghose, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Toru Dutt, Aru Dutt, Sarojini Naidu and Sri Aurobindo. Post-Independence Indian English poets include the names of Nissim Ezekiel, Kamala Das, A. K. Ramanujan, Jayanta Mahapatra, Shiv K. Kumar, Keki N. Daruwalla, and R. Parthasarathy. This thesis gives a very comprehensive analysis of the poetry of Nissim Ezekiel and A.K. Ramanujan and justifiably puts forth their status as canonical Post-colonial Indian English poets. newlineChapter 1 highlights the diachronic study of Indian English Poetry and shows the roles of Nissim Ezekiel and A.K. Ramanujan in heralding a new dawn for Indian English poetry. Ezekiel laid the foundation of post-colonial Indian English poetry. He was ably supported by A. K. Ramanujan in building the poetic tradition in India. Chapter 2 deals with the themes in the poetry of Nissim Ezekiel and A. K. Ramanujan. While Ezekiel s poems are famous for themes of marriage, marital quarrels, Ramanujan s poems laid emphasis on Indian myths, folklore and history. newlineThese two writers use English in their own way. Indian English poets particularly Nissim Ezekiel and A.K. Ramanujan bring everyday conversational English language into the realms of their poetry. Chapter 3 deals with the new Indian idiom used by the poets. Both Ezekiel and Ramanujan were influenced by T.S Eliot and W.B Yeats. For e.g, Ramanujan wrote about Tamil and Kannada tradition living in USA but refused to be identified as an expatriate Indian poet. As Eliot wrote about America in his Four Quartets, Ezekiel and Ramanujan wrote about India living abroad. Like Eliot, both Ezekiel and Ramanujan brought everyday conversational language into the realms of their poetry. newline newlineIn the concluding chapter an attempt has been made to highlight the main issues of modern Indian English poetry and the challenges faced by the modern