The Ivan Denisovich of Delhi—an Indian Story of Survival?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.17.2015.17.11

Keywords:

Hindi short story, Hindi prose, Russian prose, Solzhenitsyn, Uday Prakash, malenkij čelovek

Abstract

The paper looks at a short-story by modern Indian writer Uday Prakash: unfolding at the onset of 1985, it describes a few hours from the life of a poor proof-reader who struggles for survival in Delhi’s Ber Sarai district. Apart from the obvious deliberate connection the author builds between his character and the famous hero of Solzhenitsin’s story, in Uday Prakash’s prose, one can discover other, more subtle literary bridges linking Hindi and Russian literature. Thus, some features of Uday Prakash’s characters point out at the similarities between the typical heroes of his prose and the so-called malenkij čelovek or “little man”—one of the keyconcepts originating from classical Russian literature.

PlumX Metrics of this article

References

Consolaro, A. 2011. Resistance in the Postcolonial Hindi literary Field: Mohan Dās by Uday Prakāś. In: Orientalia Suecana LX (2011): 9–19.

Dobroljubov, N. A. 1963. Sobranije sočinenij v devjati tomax. T. 9. Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoje izdatel’stvo xudožestvennoj literatury.

Dubjanskaja, T. 2014. Molčanije indijskogo Ivana Denisoviča. Indijskaja socialnaja paradigma w rasskaze Udaja Prakaša. In: Russkaja literatura v stranah Azii i Afriki. N.Lidova (Ed.). Moskva: IMLI RAN: 40–50.

Jackson R. L. 1997. The Mask of Solzhenitsyn: Ivan Denisovich. In: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Critical Companion. A. Klimoff (Ed.). Evanston: North Western University Press.

Močulskij, K. 2000. Velikije russkije pisateli XIX v. Sankt-Peterburg: Aleteja.

Prakāś, U. 2001. Hindustānī Ivān Dānīsovic kī zindagī kā ek din. In: U. Prakāś. Tirich. Naī Dillī: Vāṇī prakāśan: 68–88.

Prakāś, U. 2006a. Dattātrey ke duhkh. Naī Dillī: Vāṇī prakāśan.

Prakāś, U. 2006b. Mohan Dās. Naī Dillī: Vāṇī prakāśan.

Prakāś, U. 2006c. Paul Gomrā kā skūṭar. Naī Dillī: Vāṇī prakāśan.

Prakash, U. 1997. Ein Tag im Leben des indischen Iwan Denissowitsch. In: Die Horen, Zeitschrift für Literatur, Kunst und Kritik. Bd. 42 (4). Ausgabe 188: 54–65.

Prakash, U. 2004. Rage, Revelry and Romance. Transl. by R. A. Hueckstedt. New Delhi: Srishti.

Prakash, U. 2007. Der goldene Gürtel. Erzählungen. Aus dem Hindi von Lothar Lutze. Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag.

Prakash, U. 2008. The Girl with Golden Parasol. Trans. by J. Grunebaum. New Delhi: Penguin Books.

Prakash, U. 2009a. Doktor Wakankar. Aus dem Leben eines Aufrechten Hindus. Roman. Aus dem Hindi von Andre Penz. Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag.

Prakash, U. 2009b. Das Mädchen mit dem gelben Schirm. Roman. Aus dem Hindi übersetzt von Ines Fornell, Reinhold Schein und Heinz Werner Wessler. Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag.

Prakash, U. 2013. Mohandas. Aus dem Hindi übersetzt von Gautam Liu und Ines Fornell. Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag.

Prakash, U. 2014. The Walls of Delhi. Three Stories. Trans. by J. Grunebaum. New York–Oakland: Seven Stories Press.

Prakash, U. 2014b. Odin den’ iz žizni indijskogo Ivana Denisoviča. Perevod z hindi T. Dubjanskoj. In: Russkaja literatura v stranax Azii I Afriki. N.Lidova (Ed.). Moskva: IMLI RAN: 51–66.

Prakash, U. 2015. Die Mauern von Delhi. Aus dem Hindi übersetzt von Anna Petersdorf und Barbara Lotz. Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag.

Stark, U. (ed.) 2006. Mauern und Fenster. Neue Erzählungen aus Indien. Hg. Ulrike Stark. Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag.

Solzhenitsyn, A. 1991. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Trans. by H.T. Willets. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Solzhenitsyn, A 1997. Radiointervju k 20-letiju vyxoda “Odnogo dnja Ivana Denisoviča” dla Bi-Bi-Si. In: A. I. Solženicyn. Publicystika: V 3 t. T. 3: Statji, pis’ma, intervju, predislovija. Jaroslavl: Večern’aja Volga.

Solzhenitsyn, A 1999. Odin den’ Ivana Denisoviča. Matrenin dvor. Sankt-Peterburg: Azbuka.

Internet sources:

“Another Subcontinent”, online: http://www.anothersubcontinent.com/up1.html, accessed on: 15.10.2014.

The blog of Uday Prakash. online: http://udayprakash05.blogspot.de/2012/06/review-walls-of-delhi.html, accessed on: 30.06.2015.

Grunebaum, J. A Conversation with Uday Prakash, 26 March 2015, online: http://www.musicandliterature.org/features/2015/3/26/a-conversation-with-udayprakash>, accessed on: 01.07.2015.

Downloads

Published

2015-12-21

How to Cite

Dubyanskaya, Tatiana. 2015. “The Ivan Denisovich of Delhi—an Indian Story of Survival?”. Cracow Indological Studies 17 (December):213-29. https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.17.2015.17.11.