V.S. Naipaul: An Introduction (An Old and Rare Book)

It has been noticed by the Author with her interaction with different groups of Honours students of English literature, University of Delhi that there is a lack of interest in the study of literature which does not belong to the mainstream literature-British or American. The recent concept of New Literatures in the English language is still a new one and has not gained sufficient currency and popularity. An introduction to the context of these literatures the geographical, cultural and historical background becomes useful when commencing the study of the authors from such regions.

The book V.S. Naipaul: An Introduction provides such a background to V.S. Naipaul. The chapter on Expatriate Literature analysing the expatriate sensibility throws light on some of the recent works written by expatriate writers. It also takes into account some of the recent critical perspectives and wherever it is felt necessary, a comparison with the Indian context and Indian issues has also been introduced.

This book, therefore, fills up a necessary gap in the study of V.S. Naipaul and may serve as a Handbook.

Yashoda Bhat served as a Reader in English, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. She has published two collection of poems and published a book on Aldous Huxley and George Orwell and has translated into English the late Prof. V.K. Gokak's Kannada novel Samarasave Jeevana. In addition, she has edited two books viz., The Image of Indian Woman in Indian Literature (1993). Beyond the Threshold: Indian Women on the Move (1995).

After her retirement, she has settled down at Dharwad, Karnataka and continues with her literary pursuits.

I have written this book V.S. Naipaul: An introduction under the U.G.C. scheme of University and College level book writing scheme and I have received funds from the U.G.C. for the completion of this project. Some of the suggestions made by the U.G.C. in writing this book were extremely useful.

However, I owe the genesis of this book to a class of Third Year Honours students of English Literature, in the University of Delhi. In my interaction with different groups of this class over some years, I noticed a lack of interest in the study of literature which does not belong to the mainstream literature British or American. The recent concept of New Literatures in the English language is still a new one and has not gained sufficient currency and popularity. An introduction to the context of these literatures - the geographical, cultural and historical background becomes useful when commencing the study of the authors from such regions. My objective in writing this book is to provide such a background to V.S. Naipaul. The chapter on Expatriate Literature analysing the expatriate sensibility throws light on some of the recent works written by expatriate writers. Although the recent trend is to explore a text per se, without much reference to the context, the necessity of such a background is also felt. It also takes into account some of the recent critical perspectives and wherever it is felt necessary, a comparison with the Indian context and Indian issues has also been introduced. This book, therefore, fills up a necessary gap in the study of V.S. Naipaul and may serve as a Handbook.

As the scope of this book is vast - from New Horizons in Ch. I to his non-fiction in Ch.VI, I have attempted to give the essence of the book in the last chapter In a Nutshell. V.S. Naipaul's book Beyond Belief was published after I had completed and submitted the manuscript of this book. I have included a note on it in the Appendix.

**Contents and Sample Pages**