This anthology brings together essays, fiction and poetry that best represent the last two decades of literature in Kannada, lush in meaning and nuance.
Significantly, writers in Kannada have received the highest number of Jnanpith Awards, and this compilation amply demonstrates why they been singled out time after time for that distinction. The anthology includes established litterateurs like U.R. Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad and Chandrashekhar Kambar, as well as newer writers such as Sunanda Kadame. They have tackled a wide range of issues— globalization, caste, displacement, reality shows—that reflect the dramatic social and economic changes that have taken place over the last twenty years.
Srigannada is an anthology that holds a mirror before the diverse cultures and many societies that exist within the contemporary Kannada world.
While this collection provided invaluable insights into the wealth of writing by some of the most renowned Kannada writers, I found it a little difficult to switch between fiction, essays, plays and poetry.
A wonderful collection of short stories/extracts from Kannada novels that have been translated into English.
The only ones that did not strike a chord with me were the extracts from plays. My favourites from this collection, in no particular order were:
1. Ooru Keri by Siddalingaiah 2. An Indentured Spirit by K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi 3. Excellence, an Obsession by K. V. Subbanna 4. Comrade and Umma by Abdul Rashid 5. Imprints of Little Feet by Sunanda Prakash 6. Crossing the Stream by Shrinivas Vaidya
The translation has been done by various folks- as such there is no consistency - but that does not deter from the quality of the collection. Reading this makes one wish to be able to read the originals, but for being illiterate in the language.
The translation work is fantastic. A few stories suffer from a lack of context, though they can be enjoyed without it. The anthology does a good job capturing the vastness of the contemporary Kannada literary sphere.
Didn't exactly finish it but my copy has 30 odd pages missing. Certainly has turned me on towards stalwarts like Ananthamurthy and Karnad, along with someone not known outside Karnataka like Lankesh.