Political Thinking of Marx and Modern Indian Literature

Abstract

The period of the modern Indian literature starts with the first movement for independence in the mid-19th century. The early modern Indian literature, however, was greatly influenced by both adoption of the Western thoughts and ideas on the one hand and their rejection on the other. Marxism in Indian literature was first noticed during the Indian Independence Movement, when the theories of Communism and Socialism had entered the pre-Independent scenario in an overwhelming manner. Marxism is the political doctrine and practice that has been derived from the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. “Marxism” essentially represents an economic political theory, under which the eye of law is considered a tool of tyranny and dominance and which the “ruling class”-the heavyweights in power-utilizes against the “proletariat”the blue-collared servants. The Marxist movement was especially conspicuous in Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam, but its impact was felt all over India. The literary works of P. Y. Deshpande, V. S. Khandekar, V. V. Hadap, G. T. Madkholkar and of Kusumagraj, Anant Kanekar and V. R. Kant, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Krishna Chander, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Bishnu Dey reflect the influence of Marxism upon Indian literature. This article represents development of modern Indian literature and impact of Marxism in modern Indian literature.