South Asian literature

South Asia has many different languages that have been spoken due to its size and how long people have been inhabiting it.

South Asia has many significant authors that shaped the postcolonial period and response to the British establishment in the subcontinent.

Countries to which South Asian literature's writers are linked include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

During the high phase, the Bengali region was under Muslim rule, significantly influencing the literature during this period.

During this period of revitalisation, the Punjabi language and the Sikh identity were under heavy attacks from the British and Hindus.

[14] Authors like Vir Singh used the Punjabi language to critique and reinvigorate core values of Sikhism.

Vyasa (also known as Krishna Dvaipayana) was a legendary Indian sage and the writer of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, considered as one of the most significant writings in South Asian literature.

Tagore was awarded with the Nobel Prize in literature on the basis of his poetic prose ‘Gitanjali’ and his multifaceted talents.

[19] Tagore was the first non-European person to receive a Nobel Prize, causing him to become a ‘global phenomenon’, and was the ‘most prominent embodiment of how the west wanted to see the east’.

[15] Tagore was recognised as against the British Raj, seen through his renouncement of his knighthood after the Jallianwalabagh massacre of April 1919,[19] writing to Lord Chelmsford he said: 'The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part, wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings.'

Bangladesh's national anthem became Amar Shonar Bangla in 1971, written in 1905, it was a melody that protested the first partition of Bengal.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (also known as R. K Naranyan) is an Indian literary figure who was most famous for his work Malgudi.

It was significant because it had an accurate historical record and its ongoing evolution, whereby Naranyan expressed his support to the Indian independence movement.

[21] Naranyan’s style of literature aimed to depict modern Indian daily life, he did this through his characteristic simplistic, graceful and humorous approach.

Narayan received many awards during his career, the most significant being the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy in 1958 and the Padma Vibushan, the second highest honour for civilians in 2000.

[23] Post-Independence Voices in South Asian Writings edited by Alamgir Hashmi et al. Islamabad / New Delhi: Alhamra / Doaba, 2001.