Key document: Extracts from “Halli lekhakacha lekhakarao hoto to ka?” [How does the writer become Mr Writer nowadays?] by Bhalchandra Nemade^*

* Bhalchandra Nemade is the author of six novels, ranging from Kosla (1963) to Hindu (2010), two collections of poetry and several substantial books of criticism. He occupied a significant place in Bombay literary life during the 1960s and is at the centre of the Marathi canon today. He was instrumental in establishing the little magazine Vacha, and is notable for his connections and collaborations with other writers in the intellectual and artistic milieu of the 1960s and after. He has received many honours – most recently the coveted Jnanpith Award for Literature in 2015 – and is noted for his defence of nativism or deshivad.

Abstract

This is a translation from Marathi of an excerpt from Bhalchandra Nemade’s 1968 essay, “Halli lekhakacha lekhakarao hoto to ka?” [How does the writer become Mr Writer nowadays?] published in the little magazine, Vacha. It expressed the frustrated idealism of a generation of writers at the time and is referenced repeatedly today when the revolt of the sathottari generation in Marathi literature is discussed. Along with Ashok Shahane’s 1963 essay, “Ajakalachya Marathi vangmayavar ‘ksha’ kiran” [An X-ray of contemporary Marathi literature], and, later, Raja Dhale’s “Satyakathechi satyakatha” [The true story of Satyakatha], Nemade’s essay became pivotal in representing rebellious young writers’ outlook on the writer’s craft.

Keywords:

• materialism
• commercialization
• Marathi literature
• publishing industry
• sathottari writing
• literary novelty

Notes

* Bhalchandra Nemade is the author of six novels, ranging from Kosla (1963) to Hindu (2010), two collections of poetry and several substantial books of criticism. He occupied a significant place in Bombay literary life during the 1960s and is at the centre of the Marathi canon today. He was instrumental in establishing the little magazine Vacha, and is notable for his connections and collaborations with other writers in the intellectual and artistic milieu of the 1960s and after. He has received many honours – most recently the coveted Jnanpith Award for Literature in 2015 – and is noted for his defence of nativism or deshivad.

1. This is in English in the original.