The globalisation of South Asian literature

LONGLIST FOR THE DSC PRIZE 2019

South Asia has long been a political nerve centre. Over the last two decades, it has become a driver of economic growth and has also emerged as a strong literary hub. More people are now writing and reading about the lives of people here. Given its rich cultural history coupled with the new challenges and aspirations of its peoples, there are myriad stories to be told.

The spectrum and diversity of South Asian fiction writing has evolved substantially over the last 10 years, and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, now in its ninth year, has been a witness, and possibly a catalyst, to the changing trends in this literary landscape. The entries that the prize receives each year serve as a bellwether to the changing dynamics of fiction writing in and about South Asia.

Firstly, more women than ever before are writing about this region. Women authors, many of whom are first-time writers, are exploring themes like social equality, love, the pain of conflict and separation, evolving family structures, and other issues rooted in their own personal experience.

This year, 42 out of 90 entries to the prize, or 47 percent of the total entries received, were by women authors. That’s up from 35 to 40 percent in the first three years of the prize (2011-13). 40 percent of these women authors were debutants indicating that fresh stories are coming to the fore.

Speaking of new writers, many young debut novelists who break into the scene each year are making a lasting Akil Kumarasamy: Half Gods

Amitabha Bagchi: Half the Night is Gone

Devi S Laskar: The Atlas of Reds and Blues

Fatima Bhutto: The Runaways

Jamil Jan Kochai: 99 Nights in Logar

Madhuri Vijay: The Far Field

Manoranjan Byapari: There’s Gunpowder in the Air

Mirza Waheed: Tell Her Everything impression. Until three years ago, the share of debut authors whose works were in the running for the DSC Prize was between 25 to 30 percent. This year, it has gone up to 41 percent.

These authors are writing in an impactful way about a range of issues including migration and exile, borderless worlds, rapid globalisation, the environment and the future. Nadeem Zaman: In the Time of the Others

Perumal Murugan: A Lonely Harvest

Rajkamal Jha: The City and the Sea

Sadia Abbas: The Empty Room

Shubhangi Swarup: Latitudes of Longing

TD Ramakrishnan: Sugandhi alias Andal Devanayaki; Translated by Priya K. Nair

Tova Reich: Mother India

South Asia is linguistically and culturally diverse. A significant volume of the writing emerging from the area is written in local languages. These deserve to be translated in order to reach a wider readership.

The DSC Prize encourages translations and this year too, the prize received several translations into English of works originally written in languages like Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Assamese, Kannada and Hindi.

While local translated works are being recognized, an increasing number of authors who do not live in the region or “belong” to it are writing about South Asian life with familiarity and brilliance.

More publishers based outside the region are also finding it profitable to publish fiction pertaining to South Asia. The globalisation of South Asian literature is underscored by the fact that this year, of the participating publishers, about 30 percent were based outside South Asia in countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Singapore.

27 percent of the nominated authors are citizens of a country outside the region. More writers, whether based within or outside the region, are writing about it.

Clearly, a growing readership can look forward to more brilliant fiction writing from and about South Asia.

YOUNG DEBUT NOVELISTS ARE WRITING ABOUT ISSUES LIKE MIGRATION AND EXILE, BORDERLESS WORLDS, THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE FUTURE