A. K. Ramanujan
A. K. Ramanujan | |
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Born | 16 March 1929 Mysore, Princely State of Mysore, India |
Died | 13 July 1993 (aged 64) Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Language | English, Kannada, Tamil |
Nationality | Indian |
Education | Doctorate in English Literature |
Alma mater | University of Mysore, Deccan College, Indiana University |
Notable works | The Striders; Second Sight |
Notable awards | MacArthur Fellowship, Sahitya Akademi Award and Padma Shree |
Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan (16 March 1929 – 13 July 1993) popularly known as A. K. Ramanujan[1][2] was an Indian poet and scholar[3] of Indian literature who wrote in both English and Kannada. Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, professor, a philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright.[4] His academic research ranged across five languages: English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit. He published works on both classical and modern variants of this literature and argued strongly for giving local, non-standard dialects their due. Though he wrote widely and in a number of genres, Ramanujan's poems are remembered as enigmatic works of startling originality, sophistication and moving artistry. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award posthumously in 1999 for his collection of poems, The Collected Poems.
Biography
Childhood
Ramanujan[5] was born in Mysore City on 16 March 1929. His father, Attipat Asuri Krishnaswami, an astronomer and professor of mathematics at Mysore University, was known for his interest in English, Kannada and Sanskrit languages. His mother was a homemaker. Ramanujan also had a brother, A.K. Srinivasan who was a writer and a mathematician.
Education
Ramanujan was educated at Marimallappa's High School, Mysore, and at the Maharaja College of Mysore. In college, Ramanujan majored in science in his freshman year, but his father, who thought him 'not mathematically minded', persuaded him to change his major from science to English. Later, Ramanujan became a Fellow of Deccan College, Pune in 1958–59 and a Fulbright Scholar at Indiana University in 1959–62. He was educated in English at the University of Mysore and received his PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University.[6]
Career
Ramanujan worked as a lecturer of English at Quilon and Belgaum; he later taught at The Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda for about eight years. In 1962, he joined the University of Chicago as an assistant professor. He was affiliated with the university throughout his career, teaching in several departments. He taught at other US universities as well, including Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, and Carleton College. At the University of Chicago, Ramanujan was instrumental in shaping the South Asian Studies program. He worked in the departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Linguistics, and with the Committee on Social Thought. A.K.Ramanujan is a well known writer in Indian writing in English. He wrote all his poetry in America but the heart of his poetry is India and Indian culture. His experiences about the American lifestyle seems to affect very little in his verses. He has written his earlier poems in Kannada like "Vachans" from [[Kannada]] in Speaking Shiva and some of the love lyrics. In 1976, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri,[7] and in 1983, he was given the MacArthur Prize Fellowship (Shulman, 1994).[8][6] In 1983, he was appointed the William E. Colvin Professor in the Departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, of Linguistics, and in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and the same year, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. As an Indo-American writer Ramanujan had the experience of the native as well as of the foreign milieu. His poems such as the "Conventions of Despair" reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east and the west. He was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 for his Collected Poems.
A. K. Ramanujan died in Chicago, on 13 July 1993 as result of adverse reaction to anaesthesia during preparation for surgery.[9][10]
Contributions to Indian subcontinent studies
A. K. Ramanujan's theoretical [11] and aesthetic contributions span several disciplinary areas.[12] In his cultural essays such as "Is There an Indian Way of Thinking?" (1990), he explains cultural ideologies and behavioral manifestations thereof in terms of an Indian psychology he calls "context-sensitive" thinking. In his work in folklore studies, Ramanujan highlights the inter-textuality of the Indian oral and written literary tradition. His essay "Where Mirrors Are Windows: Toward an Anthology of Reflections" (1989), and his commentaries in The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical Tamil Anthology (1967) and Folktales from India,[13] Oral Tales from Twenty Indian Languages (1991) are good examples of his work in Indian folklore studies.[6][14]
Controversy regarding his essay
His 1991 essay "Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation" courted controversy over its inclusion in the B.A. in History syllabus of the University of Delhi in 2006. In this essay, he wrote of the existence of many versions of Ramayana and a few versions that portrayed Rama and Sita as siblings, which contradicts the popular versions of the Ramayana, such as those by Valmiki and Tulsidas.[15]
The comments written by A K Ramanujam were found to be derogatory by some Hindus[16] and some of them decided to go to court for removal of the text from the Delhi University curriculum. ABVP, a nationalist student organisation opposed its inclusion in the syllabus, saying it hurt the majority Hindu sentiment, who viewed Rama and Sita as incarnations of gods and who were husband and wife. They demanded the essay be removed from the syllabus. In 2008, the Delhi High Court directed Delhi University to convene a committee to decide on the essay's inclusion. A four-member committee subsequently gave its 3-1 verdict in favor of its inclusion in the syllabus.
The academic council however, ignored the committee's recommendation and voted to scrap the essay from its syllabus in Oct 2011.[17] This led to protests by many historians and intellectuals, accusing Delhi University of succumbing to the diktat ("views") of non-historians.[18]
Selected publications
His works include translations from Old Tamil and Old Kannada, such as:
- Translations and Studies of Literature
English
- The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical Tamil Anthology, 1967
- Speaking of Siva, Penguin. 1973. ISBN 9780140442700.
- The Literatures of India. Edited with Edwin Gerow. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974
- Hymns for the Drowning, 1981
- Poems of Love and War. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985
- Folktales from India, Oral Tales from Twenty Indian Languages, 1991
- Is There an Indian Way of Thinking? in India Through Hindu Categories, edited by McKim Marriott, 1990
- When God Is a Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others (with Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman), 1994
- A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India, 1997
Essays
Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation[19]
Collected Essays of A. K. Ramanujan[20]
Poetry in English
- The Striders. London: Oxford University Press, 1966[21]
- Relations. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1971
- Selected Poems. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1976[22]
- Second Sight. New York: Oxford University Press,[23]
- The Collected Poems. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997[24][25]
Kannada
- Samskara. (translation of U R Ananthamurthy's Kannada novel) Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1976
- Hokkulalli Huvilla (translated to English - "No Flower in the Navel"). Dharwad, 1969
- Mattu Itara Padyagalu (translated to English - "And Other Poems"). Dharwad, 1977
- Kuntobille (translated to English - "Hopscotch")
- Mattobbana Atma Charitre (translated to English - "Yet Another Man's Autobiography")
- Haladi Meenu (Kannada Translation of Shouri's English Novel)
- A. K. Ramanujan Samagra (Complete Works of A. K. Ramanujan in Kannada)
- A. K. Ramanujan Avara Aayda Kavitegalu
- A. K. Ramanujan Avara Aayda Barahagalu
Appearances in the following poetry Anthologies
- Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets (1976) ed. by R. Parthasarathy and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi[26]
- The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets (1992) ed. by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi[27][28]
- The Golden Treasure of Writers Workshop Poetry (2008) ed. by Rubana Huq and published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta[29]
Further reading
- Guillermo Rodriguez, When Mirrors are Windows: A View of AK Ramanujan’s Poetics ( OUP, 2016)[30]
References
- ^ "Guide to the A.K. Ramanujan Papers 1944-1995". lib.uchicago.edu. lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ "A.K. Ramanujan: a lonely hero". livemint.com. livemint.com. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ "Ramanujan, Attipat Krishnaswami". scholarblogs.emory.edu. scholarblogs.emory.edu. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ Kulshrestha, Chirantan (1981). "A. K. Ramanjan: A PROFILE". Journal of South Asian Literature. 16 (2). jstor.org: 181–184. JSTOR 40873731.
- ^ "A K Ramanujan (1929 – 1993)". indiaonline.in. indiaonline.in. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ a b c Attipat Krishnaswami Ramanujan, Biography and works Emory University.
- ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013.
- ^ "MacArthur Foundation : A. K. Ramanujan". macfound.org. macfound.org. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ Lambert, Bruce (16 July 1993). "Attipat K. Ramanujan, 64, Poet And Scholar of Indian Literature". The New York Times. nytimes.com. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "OBITUARY-A K Ramanujan". Economic and Political Weekly, Economic and Political Weekly, Economic and Political Weekly, Economic and Political Weekly, Economic and Political Weekly. 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 28 (23, 23, 23, 23, 23, 31). epw.in: 7, 7, 7, 7, 7–8, 8, 8, 8, 8. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "A. K. Ramanujan's theory of translation". nptel.ac.in. nptel.ac.in. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ "Reading The Small Print : The literary legacy of an Indian modernist". caravanmagazine.in. caravanmagazine.in. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ Narayan, Kiran (2008). "Showers of Flowers: A. K. Ramanujan and an Indian Folktale". Jung Journal. 2 (1). jstor.org: 5–22. doi:10.1525/jung.2008.2.1.5. JSTOR 10.1525/jung.2008.2.1.5.
- ^ Daruwalla, Keki N. (17 March 2018). "Under the Ramanujan tree". The Hindu. thehindu.com. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ Parashar, Arpit and Vishwajoy Mukherjee (24 October 2011). "Which version of 'Ramayana' would Ram read?". Tehelka. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ "Ramayana, an 'epic' controversy". BBC News. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ "DU to scrap Ramanujan essay on Ramayana that incensed right wingers". First Post. New Delhi. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ "Academics Upset by Oxford's Stopping Essay on Indian Epic". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ "Three Hundred Ramayanas". publishing.cdlib.org. publishing.cdlib.org.
- ^ "Three Thoughts on Translation" (PDF). trans-techresearch.net. trans-techresearch.net. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ Raffel, Burton (1966). "Reviewed Work: The Striders by A. K. Ramanujan". Mahfil. 3 (2/3). jstor.org: 85–88. JSTOR 40874140.
- ^ Guptara, Prabhu S.; Ramanujan, A. K. (1978). "Selected Poems by A. K. Ramanujan". World Literature Today. 52 (2). jstor.org: 344. doi:10.2307/40132984. JSTOR 40132984.
- ^ Perry, John Oliver; Ramanujan, A. K. (1987). "Second Sight by A. K. Ramanujan". World Literature Today. 61 (2). jstor.org: 349–350. doi:10.2307/40143285. JSTOR 40143285.1986
- ^ "A.K. Ramanujan's 'The Collected Poems'". indiatoday.in. indiatoday.in. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ "The Collected Poems of A. K. Ramanujan". cse.iitk.ac.in. cse.iitk.ac.in. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ "Ten 20th Century Indian Poets". cse.iitk.ac.in. cse.iitk.ac.in. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ^ "The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets". cse.iitk.ac.in. cse.iitk.ac.in. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ^ "Book review: 'Twelve Modern Indian Poets' by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra". indiatoday.in. indiatoday.in. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ^ "Rubana Huq, ed. The Golden Treasury of Writers Workshop Poetry. Review : ASIATIC, VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1, JUNE 2009". journals.iium.edu.my. journals.iium.edu.my. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "Speaking of Ramanujan". indianexpress.com. indianexpress.com. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
External links
- 1929 births
- 1993 deaths
- Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education
- University of Chicago faculty
- English-language poets from India
- Writers from Mysore
- English-language writers from India
- MacArthur Fellows
- American people of Kannada descent
- American dramatists and playwrights of Indian descent
- Kannada-language writers
- Kannada people
- Fulbright Scholars
- Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda faculty
- 20th-century Indian translators
- Translators from Tamil
- Translators from Kannada
- Indologists
- Indian folklorists
- Scholars from Mysore
- 20th-century Indian linguists
- University of Mysore alumni
- Indiana University alumni
- Indian emigrants to the United States
- Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English
- Maharaja's College, Mysore alumni
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century Indian poets
- Poets from Karnataka
- American male writers of Indian descent
- Indian male poets
- American male poets
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- 20th-century American male writers