Friday, October 25th, 2019 Sphere of Knowledge and Experience in Literature: A Case Study of Nepali Literature

Description

This case study of Nepali literature shows how literature can reflect the expanding spheres of knowledge in societies like that of Nepal where multiple cultural modes prevail. I will present a study on the expanding sphere of Nepali literature in areas such as the choice of subject for writing, the growth of ‘print capitalism’ or printing and dissemination from the last decades of the 19th century, the role of literary journals in keeping up the creative and free spirit under the autocratic regimes, and the creation of the reading public. The presentation will show how in the first half of the twentieth century did Nepali poetry use romanticism as the important literary trend, and how the literary writers, critics and academics see and interpret modernism, and people understand it in common parlance. I will mention my own experience as a playwright in the selection of the motifs for the plays and how that reflects the sphere of creative writing, in terms of cultural diversity and plurality of subjects.

Abhi Subedi (PhD) received his higher education in Nepal and Britain. He is an essayist, literary critic, linguist, playwright, and poet. He has over two-dozen books on different subjects to his credit. Professor Subedi has taught since 1970. He writes on issues of freedom, culture, literature, arts and social transformations.