Giriraj Kisor's Yatraem: A Hindi Novel Analysed.

• Author: JUNTUNEN, MIRJA
• Position: Review

Giriraj Kisor's Yatraem: A Hindi Novel Analysed. By THEO DAMSTEEGT. Gonda Indological Studies, vol. IV. Groningen: EGBERT FORSTEN, 1997. Pp. xiv + 354. HFl 110.

The book under review is one of the few that have undertaken to analyze a Hindi novel. For some reason, in-depth analyses of novels written in Hindi have attracted neither Western nor Indian scholars. Among Indologists there is a long tradition of presenting critical editions of older literary texts, but when it comes to modern literature and modern theories of literature, the lack of a similar effort is almost total.

Nevertheless, Theo Damsteegt undertakes the difficult and pioneering task of applying a particular method of analysis to a Hindi novel. That which he uses is the method of narratology as outlined by Mieke Bal, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, and Franz K. Stanzel, among others, in their respective works on the theory of narrative published in the 1980s. In addition, Damsteegt combines his analysis, which is based on a systematic textual description of the narrative situation and narrative layers, with a study of the connotations found in the novel and the story's cultural background. As he states in the preface, he has chosen one of several possible methods and the interpretation presented in his book is largely based on arguments rather than intuition.

The main part of the book (pp. 35-306) consists of the devanagari text of Yatraem and its analysis, which is divided into three parts: narratological observations, interpretation, and short language notes. The book ends with an almost complete Hindi-English glossary with page references (pp. 309-38), a glossary of narratological terms (pp. 339-46), and an extensive bibliography (pp. 347-54).

The novel analyzed here by Damsteegt was written in 1971 by Giriraj Kisor (b. 1937 in Uttar Pradesh), a prolific author with some thirty publications to his credit, of which the bulk are novels, short stories and plays. Yatraem ("Journeys") deals with the feeling of frustration aroused in a newly wedded man as a result of several failed attempts to have intercourse with his bride. Their first conjugal endeavor is interrupted on their wedding night at her request. Her refusal to continue the lovemaking throws the man into confusion and produces a feeling of insecurity in him. Later, in the mountains where they are to spend their honeymoon, the woman once again puts a stop to their sexual intercourse. Still another attempt at making love is...