Anita Desai

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Anita Desai (born June 24, 1937 in Masuri ) is an Indian writer who writes novels and short stories. She is known for her sensitive description of the feelings of her female characters. Many of her novels involve tensions between family members or alienation from middle-class women. In her later works she also deals with German anti-Semitism , the fall of tradition and the western stereotypical views of India. She writes her works exclusively in English .

resume

She was born as Anita Mazumdar to a German mother and a Bengali father. She spoke German in the family and Hindi and Urdu with her friends and neighbors . She only learned the English language in elementary school. Even so, she was already writing in English at the age of seven and published her first stories at the age of nine. She studied at Queen Mary's Higher Secondary School and at the University of Delhi , where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1957 . The following year she married Ashvin Desai, a businessman with whom she had two daughters and two sons. One of her daughters, Kiran Desai , has also become a writer and won the Booker Prize in 2006 .

Anita Desai has lived in New Delhi , Kolkata , Mumbai and other Indian cities since the 1950s . She was a member of the Advisory Board for English of the National Academy of Letters in Delhi and the American Academy of Arts and Letters . She has taught at Girton College , Smith College in England and Mount Holyoke College in the United States . Since 1993 she has taught creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Every year she spent one semester there and the rest of the time in India. She is a member of the Royal Society of Literature in London.

To their works

Anita Desai made her debut in 1963 with Cry, the Peacock . However, she wrote short stories even before her wedding. In 1965 followed Voices of the city , a story about the three siblings Amla, Nirode and Monisha and their different lifestyles in Kolkata. Amla regards the city as a monster, Nirode sacrifices everything for her career and Monisha cannot withstand her overwhelming existence in the household of a rich old Kolkata family. The 1977 published Fire on the Mountain , which plays in Kasuli, describes the experiences of life of three women. It won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize.

In 1980, Clear Light of Day was published, in which Anita Desai interweaves the history of Delhi with a middle-class Hindu family. The main character is Bim Das, an independent woman who is a history professor. Pumice's memories of the family are certainly unsuccessful. She feels betrayed by her sister Tara. Her memories play out in the rotten family apartment in Old Delhi. Tara doesn't understand why Bim doesn't want to change anything when she rejects the hopeless atmosphere of the house. The summer of 1947 divided the family and the nation. Muslims and Hindus are divided. Desai describes the same events from the perspective of Tara and Bim. The work has autobiographical traits.

Many of the characters in their novels are descended from the Anglo-Indian bourgeoisie and their marital problems are in the foreground. Often times they choose escapist ways to cope with their boring life or the supposedly more comfortable life of the outside world. Where shall we go this summer (1975) tells the story of a woman named Sita who is pregnant with her fifth child. She flees from her wedding and goes to her late father's magical island estate. In The Zigzag Way (2004), Anita Desai separates from her family territories and focuses on identity and self-discovery in Mexico. Since the mid-1980s it has focused on the disadvantaged. In Custody (1984) is her ironic story about literary tradition and academic illusion. Only and Deven are the main characters. Only is a Urdu poet who is going through a difficult time and Deven is a Hindi professor who realizes that the beloved poet is not the genius he envisioned. The book was made into a film by Ivory - Merchant . In Baumgartner's Bombay (1987) she incorporates the German origins of one of her parents. A Jewish businessman who has retired from work flees Nazi Germany to India and lives there in poverty. He cares for stray cats. A German hippie appears and breaks Baumgartner's solitary existence.

In both books, Desai gives answers to criticism from western middle-class people. Their problems therefore affect the Western readers more than the Indian ones. In The Journey to Ithaca (1995), Anita Desai describes a pilgrimage to India by the two characters Mateo and Sophie, which finds its temporary destination with the mysterious "Mother" (The Mother). Although the two main characters are Europeans, the story of the "mother" (loosely based on the life of Mirra Alfassa, Sri Aurobindo's spiritual partner), who herself sought fulfillment in India, is basically an earlier version of the couple's story. The view of India here is more European than in Desai's earlier works. Fasting, Feasting (1999) shows the contrasting roles of American and Indian cultures, as well as the contrast between the roles of the two sexes. Arun studies in Massachusetts and his sister Uma lives in a small provincial town in India. Uma's attempts to leave home and get married end in disaster. The novella was a finalist for the 1999 Booker Prize .

bibliography

  • Cry, The Peacock, Peter Owen, 1963
  • Voices in the City, Peter Owen, 1965
  • Bye-bye Blackbird, 1968
  • The Peacock Garden, 1974
  • Where Shall We Go This Summer ?, Vikas (New Delhi), 1975
  • Cut on a Houseboat, 1976
  • Fire on the Mountain Heinemann, 1977 (German from Helga Pfetsch: Berg im Feuer, 1986)
  • Games at Twilight and Other Stories, Heinemann, 1978 (German by Reinhild Böhnke : Games in the Twilight)
  • The Peacock Garden, (illustrated by Jeroo Roy) Heinemann, 1979
  • Clear Light of Day, Heinemann, 1980 (German by Ellen Krahe: In the bright light of the day, 1996)
  • The Village By the Sea, Heinemann, 1982 (German by Dorothee Asendorf: The village by the sea - a family story from India, 1987)
  • In Custody, Heinemann, 1984 (German by Utta Roy-Seifert : The Guardians of True Friendship, 1987)
  • Baumgartner's Bombay, Heinemann, 1987 (German by Peter Torberg : Baumgartner's Bombay, List, 1993)
  • Journey to Ithaca, Heinemann, 1995 (German by Regina Schneider: Reise ins Licht, 1996)
  • Fasting, Feasting, Chatto & Windus, 1999 (German by Helga Pfetsch and Utta Roy-Seifert: Games in the Twilight, 2001)
  • Diamond Dust and Other Stories, Chatto & Windus, 2000
  • The Zig Zag Way, Chatto & Windus, 2004
  • Hill of Silver, Hill of Lead, Chatto & Windus, 2005

Awards

  • 1978 National Academy of Letters Award: Fire on the Mountain
  • 1978 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize: Fire on the Mountain
  • 1980 Booker Prize for Fiction ( shortlisted ): Clear Light of Day
  • 1983 Guardian Award for Children's Fiction: The Village by the Sea
  • 1984 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlisted): In Custody
  • 1989 Padma Shri
  • 1993 Neil Gunn Prize
  • 1999 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlisted): Fasting, Feasting
  • 2000 Alberto Moravia Prize for Literature (Italy)
  • 2014 Padma Bhushan

Film adaptations

  • 1992: The village by the sea ( The village by the sea )

literature

  • Anand, Amrit, Anita Desai: sense of the fabulous in her novels, 1st publ., New Delhi: Harman Publishing House, 2002. 158 p .; (English), ISBN 81-86622-52-7
  • Bhatnagar, Manmohan Krishna, The novels of Anita Desai: a critical study, New Delhi: Atlantic Publ., 2000. 280 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-7156-899-8
  • Budholia, Om Prakash, Anita Desai: vision and technique in her novels, Delhi: BR Publ. Corp., 2001. 276 p .; (English), ISBN 81-7646-193-8
  • Chakranarayan, Mohini, Style studies in Anita Desai, New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2000. 163 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-7156-910-2
  • Chakravertty, Neeru, Quest for self-fulfillment in the novels of Anita Desai, 1st publ., Delhi: Authorspress, 2003. 249 p .; (English), ISBN 81-7273-131-0
  • Choudhury, Bidulata, Women and society in the novels of Anita Desai, 1st publ., New Delhi: Creative Books, 1995. 116 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-86318-18-6
  • Dash, Sandhyarani, Form and vision in the novels of Anita Desai, New Delhi: Prestige, 1996. 94 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-7551-000-5
  • Dhawan, Rajinder Kumar, Special issue on Anita Desai, New Delhi: Bahri Publ., 1988. 164 pp .; (English)
  • Goel, Kunj Bala, Language and theme in Anita Desai's fiction, 1st publ., Jaipur: Classic Publ., 1989. 190 p .; (English)
  • Gopal, N. Raj, A critical study of the novels of Anita Desai, New Delhi: Atlantic Publ., 1995. 117 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-7156-577-8
  • Gupta, Ramesh Kumar, The novels of Anita Desai: a feminist perspective, New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2002. 267 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-269-0171-3
  • Indira, Sajja, Anita Desai as an artist: a study in image and symbol, 1st ed., New Delhi: Creative Books, 1994. 213 p .; (English), ISBN 81-86318-01-1
  • Kanaganayakam, Chelva, Counterrealism and Indo-Anglian fiction, Waterloo, Ont. : Laurier, 2002, 213 p .; ISBN 0-88920-398-9
  • Khanna, Shashi, Human relationships in Anita Desai's novels, 1st ed., New Delhi: Sarup, 1995. 150 p .; (English), ISBN 81-85431-60-4
  • Nityanandam, Indira, Three great Indian women novelists: Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande and Bharati Mukherjee, New Delhi: Creative Books, 2000. 111 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-86318-74-7
  • Singh, M. D, Problem of alienation in post-independence Indo-Anglian fiction, 1st ed., Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 2003. 187 p .; (English), ISBN 81-7977-049-4
  • Sharma, Kajali, Symbolism in Anita Desai's novels, 1st publ., New Delhi: Abhinav Publ., 1991. 176 pp .; (English), ISBN 81-7017-283-7
  • Shashipal, Existential dimensions: a study of Anita Desai's novels, Jaipur, India: Book Enclave, 2002. 134 p .; (English), ISBN 81-87036-96-6
  • Sinha, Ravi Nandan, Three women novelists: essays in criticism, 1st publ., Jaipur: Book Enclave, 2004. 202 p .; (English), ISBN 81-8152-062-9
  • Tiwari, Shubha [Eds.], Critical responses to Anita Desai, New Delhi: Atlantic Publ. & Distrib., 2004; (eng), ISBN 81-269-0343-0
  • Usha Rani, Psychological conflict in the fiction of Anita Desai, 1st ed., Chandigarh: Abhishek, 2002. 287 p .; (English), ISBN 81-85733-13-9

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Desai, Anita
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Masuri