I had a debate with my friends about the authors who write novels in English.
For example, Ahdaf Souif from Egypt and Arundhati Roy from India.
A Novel, particularly is an English form; Arabs for instance had only poetry; the form is borrowed from the West.
So what do u call their novels ? Egyptian and Indian novels or English novels ?
I suppose so, some English might disagree.Quote:
Originally Posted by caddy_caddy
When you refer to (x) novels, the (x) is generally country of origin. You could say novels written in English, but English novels tend to refer to ones produced in England. So even if an Egyptian wrote in English, I would think it is an Egyptian novel.
Caddy, your question is germane to my context in Nepal too. Novel writing is not the product of the Nepalese literary genre. We too have a tradition of poetry and our great writers a couple of centuries ago were not novelists. Novels invaded the Nepalese literary domain only 100 years ago and prior to that we had epics, dramas and the like. Today novels are writtenQuote:
Originally Posted by caddy_caddy
within the western mold and though it is a borrowed genre of writing we call it ours culturally, socially and nationally. Today, particularly with the colonization of eastern countries, in fact both middle-east, southern east and far east nations, English is spreading like a wildfire and even if we loathe it there is no option. As a small boy I learned English in my early babyhood but could never master it though I have been reading English books for decades. Today globalization has furthered the use of English on a global scale. If I do write novels in English, in fact I have been planning, it would be absolutely Nepali. The spirit is Nepali; the theme is Nepali; the subject is Nepali; the background is Nepali; the characterization is Nepali; the writer is Nepali but the language is an imported one used by a Nepali keeping a larger community in mind.
Translations are also English lit. in a mammoth artistic sense, at least imo. Garnett's link to Dostoevsky, Rosner's link to Hesse, etc. etc.
Yes, literature is anything which is written, and English simply tells what language it is in. Everything written in English is English literature.Quote:
Originally Posted by caddy_caddy
They are usually seen as literature in English.
Really!? How about that!Quote:
Originally Posted by ralfyman
well, let's collect the criteria you mentionned in your posts:
The nationality of the author
the place of production
the subject matter of the novel itself
the language written in it
I subscribe to the nationality of the author and the subject matter of the novel itself.
For instance , Jibran khalil Jibran lived in the states , produced there and wrote in English .yet " they say " in the Congress Library they don't label his books under American Literature.
As Harold says , it's the spirit of the novel itself. The English novel was first known as the genre that propagates the ideology of the English bourgeoisie. So , following the same logic , Ahdaf Souif and Roy's novels would be Egyptian and Indian .
Find me one person who refers to The Great Gatsby as the "Great English novel." It has been called one of the greatest novels written in English, but not an English novel.Quote:
Yes, literature is anything which is written, and English simply tells what language it is in. Everything written in English is English literature.
yeh literature in English not English literature.Quote:
Originally Posted by ralfyman
Where did you get this from?Quote:
Originally Posted by caddy_caddy
from books
It is very misleading. In fact, two of the authors who are instrumental in the rise of the novel as a literary form - Defoe and Fielding - are highly critical of this ideology.
Why would anyone want to find such a person?Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Darnay
This thread is not about whether the Great Gatsby is great literature, but about whether literature in English is English literature, which is a tautology.