“If I return this time I must return greater...”

Kunwar Narain: His Reminiscences and Retellings of the Past

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.22.2020.01.02

Keywords:

Kunwar Narain, Hindi poetry, Hindi short story, autobiographical motifs

Abstract

“If I return this time I must return greater...” Kunwar Narain: His Reminiscences and Retellings of the Past

Kunwar Narain (1927-2017), an eminent Hindi poet and writer, in his interviews, introductions to published works and public speeches discusses at length matters connected to his writing, poetry and aesthetics, but is somewhat reluctant to share details of his private life. The article is divided into two parts: the former studies the few and far between references Narain made to his own life in his para-textual writings and the latter close reads four of his poems and a short-story that refers to his trips to Poland bringing out autobiographical motifs.

PlumX Metrics of this article

References

Dabral, M. 2017. Kunwar Narain: The Poet of Love and Deep Reflection. (Translated from Hindi by Sneha Chowdhury). http://indianculturalforum.in/2017/12/04/kunwar-narain-the-poet-oflove-and-deep-reflection.

[Hindi original: http://indianculturalforum.in/2017/11/22/प्रेम-और-दार्शनिकता-का-कव/:] Access date: 10.06.2018.

Heine, J. 2004. Pablo Neruda, Poet of the People. http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/15/stories/2004071501261000.htm Access date: 20.08.2018.

Long, M. 2015. The Auto-Bio-Thanato-Heterographical. In: C. Colebrook (ed.). Jaques Derrida: Key Concepts. New York: Routledge: 10–18. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315744612-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315744612-2

Miller, N. K. 1994. Representing Others: Gender and the Subjects of Autobiography. In: Differences, 6 (1): 1–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-6-1-1

Narain, K. 1999 [1998]. Āj aur āj se pahle. Nayī Dillī: Rājkamal prakāśan.

—. 2007 [1971]. Pāṭhakõ se. In: K. Narain. Ākārõ ke āspās. Dillī: Rādhākr̥ṣṇa: 7–9.

—. 2007. R. Czekalska, A. Kuczkiewicz-Fraś (transl.). Przez słowa. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka.

—. 2008 [1965]. Bhūmikā. In: K. Narain. Ātmājayī. Nayī Dillī: Bhāratīy gyānpīṭh: 5-12.

—. 2008. No Other Worlds. Selected Poems. A. Narain (transl.). Delhi: Rupa.

—. 2010 [1977]. Mere lie kavitā likhnā ek anivāryatā hai. Interview with Vinod Bharadvaj. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāśan: 14–34.

—. 2010 [1979]. Sab pāṭhak ek hī tarah nahī ̃ hote. Interview by Vinod Bharadvaj. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāśan: 62–73.

—. 2010 [1988]. Kavitā ke sthāyī sarokār kam badalte haĩ! Interview by Vijay Kumar. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāsan: 35–45.

—. 2010 [1995]a. Apnī kāvya-racnā ke bare mẽ. [speech on receiving Sahitya Akademi Award]. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāsan: 106–109.

—. 2010 [1995]b. Kavitā vaktavya nahī ̃ gavāh hai [Speech at the Vyas Samman Awards]. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāśan: 112–114.

—. 2010 [1995]c. Śāyad phir kavī hī honā cāhū̃gā. Interview by Gautam Chaterjee. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāśan: 90–92.

—. 2010 [1998]. Nirāśā hotī hai, phir bhī nirāśvādī nahī ̃ hū ̃! Interview by Vinod Bharadvaj. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāśan: 93–96.

—. 2010 [1999]. Hindī kavitā kī bisvī ̃ sadī. [An opening speech at Kavitā sati, Bhopal]. In: V. Bharadvaj (ed.). Mere sākṣātkār. Kũvar Nārāyāṇ. Nayī Dillī: Kitābghar Prakāsan: 116–120.

—. 2010 [2008]. Pūrvakathan. In: K. Narain. Vājaśravā ke bahāne. Dillī: Bhāratīy gyānpīṭh: 7-10.

—. 2013. Kalā jaṭil hotī hai. In: K. Narain. Śabd aur deśkāl. Nayī Dillī: Rājkamal prakāśan: 43–47.

—. 2017a. Kunwar Narain: “Poetry Is by Nature a Free Art”. The Hindi Poet Reflects on His Adventures in the Wonderland of Words. The Poet in Conversation with Apurva Narain and Arundhathi Subramaniam. http://indianculturalforum.in/2017/11/30/kunwar-narain-poetry-is-bynature-a-free-art-hindi/. Access date: 15.07.2018.

—. 2017b. Lekhak kā cinemā. Nayī Dillī: Rājkamal prakāśan.

—. 2017c. Na sīmāẽ na dūriyā̃. Viśva kavitā se kuch anuvād. Dillī: Vāṇī prakāśan.

—. 2018. Becain pattõ kā koras. Nayī Dillī: Rājkamal prakāśan.

—. 2020. The Play of Dolls. Stories. J. Vater and A. Narain (transl.). Gurgaon: Penguin Books.

Narajan, K. 2013. Wiersze. D. Stasik (transl.). Warszawa: Dialog.

Stasik, D. 2014. My Intimate Neighbour: Kunwar Narain’s Poetics of Trees. In: Pandanus, 14 (2). Nature in Literature, Art, Myth and Ritual: 21–36.

Downloads

Published

2020-10-15

How to Cite

Browarczyk , Monika. 2020. “‘If I Return This Time I Must Return greater. ’ : Kunwar Narain: His Reminiscences and Retellings of the Past”. Cracow Indological Studies 22 (1):19-54. https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.22.2020.01.02.