Intimate Asides (Selected Essays From Janantike)

This booklet presents a selection from Suresh Joshi's Janantike (Intimate Asides) rendered into English by V. Y. Kantak. The essays have a peculiar evocative quality. Their literary merit apart. they offer penetrating glimpses of his mind. They also articulate what may be called his faith as an artist. What's more, they project certain brilliant insights in literary theory which deserves to be fully invested and are sure to prove illuminating and productive. The Intro duction preceding the text elaborates this aspect at some length. And it also touches on Suresh Joshi's singular con tribution in this respect and its place in the larger national perspective: which in fact, is the motivation behind bring ing out this booklet as a token tribute howsoever inad equate in itself.

SURESH JOSHI had a unique position in contemporary ceative writing in Gujarati as well as in criticism. Apart from his poetry, fiction (especially short stories) and literary prose which made their mark in their own right, he came to be known for his radical views in the area of literary theory and literature, theory of literature, and new trends in prac tical criticism. The impact of world thought on him was to render his native talent with its cultural inheritance more dynamic and originative. It would appear that both in precept and practice he consistently stood for a rehabilita tion of the poetic art on a sound basis, and suggested the vital shift that is needed in our attitude towards it.
VY KANTAK (b. 1912), eminent academic and critic, retired from the M. S. University, Baroda, as Professor of English. He had been working there almost since its inception. He has also taught at the Utah University, U.S. and was for sometime Professor of English Literature at CIEFL. Hyderabad. He has written extensively for various literary journals in India and elsewhere.

How does a sensitive poetic intelligence cope with the peculiar situation he finds himself in, in India today? How would he respond to its mental climate, to the dominant features of the time spirit? How would he make his peace with it? Exposed to a spate of new compel ling poetic exemplars and fresh critical approaches how would he adjust his own sights? In particular, what would be his thinking like on issues of poetic function and the art of the poet? In this respect, Suresh Joshi's might strike one as a typical instance, and indeed something of a paradigm in itself.
It is the career, as poet and critic, of someone with sensibilities. firmly rooted in the soil of his own inheritance who discovers in the impact of the poetic genius of an alien cultural matrix unexpected affinities. What's more, such consonances enrich his own creative impulse and critical insight, one might say, at a more universal level of the aesthetic experience. Watching that process could be fascinat ing. His being perfectly at home with Sanskrit literature and aesthetics on the one hand, and Western literary movements and critical canons on the other was, needless to say, an immense advantage. As is but natural, he was drawn to a certain select group of Western poetic genius-Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarme, Valery, Kafka, Rilke, Sartre... and so on, with whose work he would respond in depth. The specific quality of their art and thought would indicate the broad trend of his own thinking as critic.
May be, we could even look for some vital mutations in critical concepts such an influence might eventuate, by way of a cross-cultural feralization. Which could possibly add a valuable innovation to the Indian tradition in literary criticism. A certain lack in that tradition has often been remarked on: While the general bias has been towards issues of pure aesthetics-Sahityashastras mainly gravitating round Rasa, Dhvani, Alankara, Riti and so forth-procedures of practical criticism in terms of responsive analysis and appraisal of individual literary work have been neglected, by and large. That was no part of the old Indian tradition, in modern eyes. Perhaps in reflection on critical issues like Suresh Joshi's one can sense a beginning being made to fill that want-even if it be only a muted sort of beginning. One realizes at any rate that his thinking in this direction is full of bright insights and possible new leads for a vigorous practical criticism as well.
A particular feature of his career calls for attention because of its implications for the consistent positions he took in criticism. In life, he always struck one as a lonely spirit, somewhat strangely at odds with and estranged from his fellows of the fraternity. He seemed ill at ease with the world as well. It was as if one felt like asking what was gnawing him inwardly-the source of his estrangement. No doubt. personal factors like problems of physical health contributed to the unease. He was racked by persistent asthmatic attacks throughout. Another source of constant strain was the feeling of displacement, even exile, caused by the early change over to the insipidities of urban living for better educational and career prospects. It was an estrange ment from the genial rustic setting of his tender, formative years. The loss was poignantly felt. That painful dislocation never ceased to haunt him it appears. In fact, both in his life and his literary work one can trace many an effort to recreate that "lost paradise" in some form or other. Such a nostalgic impulse would strike one as of a piece with the romantic movement the world over.... His sense of unease was however hardly the sort that could be explained away by ascribing it to physical factors. To say, it had strong "metaphysical" nuances would be closer to the truth. For that unease had to do with inner development, notably in the quality of convictions and maturing intel lectual and emotional make-up. In other words, presumably deeper impulses were at work.