Krupabai Satthianadhan

Krupabai Satthianadhan (* 1862 in Ahmadnagar , British India , † 1894 in Madras ) was an Indian writer. In some literary stories she is listed as the first woman to publish several novels in English in India in the 19th century . Her novels Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Life and Kamala: A Story of Hindu Life are counted as part of the educational novel , but also address the author's concerns about women's education and social reform.

Life

Krupabai Satthianadhan was born the thirteenth of 14 children of Haripunt and Radhabai Khisty. Her parents were Hindus who had converted to Christianity. Krupabai's father, a missionary, died early. Krupabai was heavily influenced in her youth by her brother Bhasker, who motivated her to study and aroused her love for Western literature. When Krupabai was 13 years old, her brother died. To cope with her loneliness after his death, she lived with two European missionaries for a few months . She later became a boarder at a mission school in Bombay , where she developed an interest in medicine . She won a scholarship to study medicine in England, but her health was too weak to withstand the climate change and the rigors of studying abroad. She was eventually admitted to Madhras Medical College, which was the first college to admit women to medical school. Krupabai finished her first year of college at the top of her class, but was then forced to drop out for health reasons.

In 1881 she stayed with her sister to recover, and there she met the Indian Christian Samuel Satthianadhan, whom she married in the same year. At the time of their marriage, Samuel Satthianadhan was director of a school in Madras , and later in Ootacamund . In 1886 the family moved back to Madras, where Samuel worked at Presidency College .

Krupabai wrote two novels during their marriage, one of which was published posthumously. She was also committed to the education of girls and women: she wrote articles on this topic in various newspapers, taught at an Indian girls' school and collected donations for the establishment of a school for Muslim girls.

Krupabai Satthianadhan died in 1894 at the age of 32.

Create

Krupabai Satthianadhan wrote first magazine articles, then two novels, Saguna: A Story of Native Christian Life and Kamala: A Story of Hindu Life . Saguna , an autobiographical novel, was published as a serialized novel in Madhras Christian Colleage Magazine in 1887 and 1888, and in book form in 1892. Kamala was also published as a serialized novel in Madhras Christian Colleage Magazine from 1894-1894 . After her death, Kamala appeared at Vradrachari & Co. in Madhras. In 1896 some of her texts were also published as Miscellaneous Writings . Three of her short stories were also included in Samuel Satthianadhan's work Sketches of Indian Christian Life in 1896 , which he published with his second wife Kamala.

Krupabai Satthianadhan has dealt with her reform concerns in her texts; In her magazine articles she campaigned for the emancipation and education of women and girls. She was also a pioneer of the “Indian new women's novel,” which portrayed women as independent, educated women who played an active role in public and private life. Krupabai Satthianadhan contributed with her articles and literary texts to the discussion in India, in which topics such as education for women, lack of choice in marriage, child marriages and the situation of widows as well as social reforms were debated.

Krupabai Satthianadhan was one of the first women to write English-language novels in India in the 19th century, but she was not the only Indian writer of the time. This is how the (non-English) novels Deepnirban and Chhinna - mukul by Swarnakumari Debi were written as early as 1870 and 1879. Other 19th century authors who wrote and published Satthianadhan at the same time as Krupabai were the poet Toru Dutt and the novelist Raj Lakshmi Debi, whose novels The Hindu Wife and The Enchanted Fruit were published in 1876.

Krupabai Satthianadhan's works were inaccessible for more than 100 years until Oxford University Press reissued her novels in 1998. At the same time, there was also greater scholarly interest in studying Krupabai Satthianadhan's works, and her novels were recognized as important Indian literary works in the English language in the 19th century. The reason for the reassessment was the increased interest in women writers who could hardly assert themselves in the male literary scene of the 19th century and whose texts were therefore not included in the canon of important literary works. In addition, there was a greater focus on English-speaking authors from the former British colonies , who have long been neglected by literary historians. In the course of this re-evaluation of the literary canon, Krupabai Satthianadhan's novels were rediscovered.

Works

First editions

• Saguna: a story of native Christian life . Srinivasa, Varadachari & Co., Madras 1895 (German: Saguna: From the life of an Indian Christian. With a foreword by Mrs. RS Benson. Authorized translation. HG Wallmann, Leipzig 1900).
• Kamala: the story of a Hindu life . Varadachari and Co., Madras 1894.
• Miscellaneous writings . Srinivasa, Varadachari et Co, Madras 1896.

Modern editions

• Saguna: the first autobiographical novel in English by an Indian woman. Edited by Chandani Lokugé. Oxford University Press, Delhi 1998, ISBN 9780195643657 .
• Kamala: the story of a Hindu life. Edited by Chandani Lokugé. Oxford University Press, Delhi 1998, ISBN 9780195644531 .

literature

• Ellen Brinks: Anglophone Indian Women Writers. 1870-1920. Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-4925-6 .
• Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (Ed.): A History of Indian Literature in English. Columbia University Press, New York 2003, ISBN 0-231-12810-X .
• Smriti Singh: Feminism and Postcolonialism in Krupabai Satthianadhan. Satyam Publishing House, New Delhi 2010, ISBN 978-93-80190-26-6 .
• Eunice de Souza (Ed.): The Satthianadhan Family Album. Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi 2005.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Meenakshi Murkherjee: The Beginnings of the Indian Novel . In: Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (Ed.): A History of Indian Literature in English . Columbia University Press, New York 2003, ISBN 0-231-12810-X , pp. 100 .
2. ↑ Smriti Singh: Feminism and Postcolonialism in Krupabai Satthianadhan . Satyam Publishing House, New Delhi 2010, ISBN 978-93-8019026-6 , pp. 1-5 .
3. ↑ Samuel Satthianadhan . Open University website. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
4. ^ Ellen Brinks: Anglophone Indian Women Writers . Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-4925-6 , pp. 61 .
5. ↑ Smriti Singh: Feminism and Postcolonialism in Krupabai Satthianadhan . Satyam Publishing House, New Delhi 2010, ISBN 978-93-8019026-6 , pp. 5 .
6. ^ Ellen Brinks: Anglophone Indian Women Writers . Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-4925-6 , pp. 61 .
7. ^ Ellen Brinks: Anglophone Indian Women Writers . Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-4925-6 , pp. 62-68 .
8. ↑ Smriti Singh: Feminism and Postcolonialism in Krupabai Satthianadhan . Satyam Publishing House, New Delhi 2010, ISBN 978-93-8019026-6 , pp. 10 .
9. ↑ Smriti Singh: Feminism and Postcolonialism in Krupabai Satthianadhan . Satyam Publishing House, New Delhi 2010, ISBN 978-93-8019026-6 , pp. 8 .