European Academic Research ISSN 2286-4822
ISSN-L 2286-4822
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Article Details :
Article Name :
On Henry Derozio’s Rightful Place in Indian English Literature
Author Name :
Goswami Shivdani Giri
Publisher :
Bridge Center
Article URL :
Abstract :
Indian English poetry begins with Henry Derozio (1809-31). Though he died prematurely at the age of twenty-three, he produced poetry in a huge variety of forms ranging from lyrics to songs, elegies, sonnets and ballads. He also wrote profusely in the contemporary journals as well as journals edited by him. His ballad, The Fakeer of Jungheera is one of the finest and most sustained effort in the entire range of Indian English poetry, and it alone suffices to establish him as an original poet. But it is unfortunate that he has suffered neglect at the hands of reviewers and critics despite all the brilliance of his genius. The paper attempts at an understanding of the circumstances of his life and death (his Eurasian or Anglo-Indian origin) which added to the prejudice that he was a mere imitator of Byron with occasional sparks of original genius. Unlike the recent years when Indians have won due recognition for their writings in English, the time when Derozio wrote poetry in English things were far from propitious. The English reader could not imagine a native or an Anglo-Indian native with English as his mother tongue. The paper also analyses the first Review of Derozio’s poetic volumes that set the trend for almost all subsequent evaluations of his poetry, with special reference to The Fakeer of Jungheera, reclaiming his rightful place in Indian English Literature.
Keywords :
Reviewers, Anglo-Indian Origin, Prejudice, Colonial Perspective, Byronic influence.
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