Aijaz Ahmad

Aijaz Ahmad’s essay “Indian Literature: notes towards the category of Indian literature” looks into the complications
associated with the category of Indian literature by making references to D.D Kosambi and S.K Das. He argues on the
cultural and literary identity of Indian literature and sees it as a source of multiple languages. Indian literature is not a
distinct unity but a sum of various specific regional literatures created over a period of time.
Ahmad begins the essay by talking about the problems in constructing a category such as Indian literature; he makes a
reference to Kosambi “the outstanding characteristic of a backward bourgeoisie, the desire to profit without labor or
grasp of technique, is reflected in the superficial research.”Kosambi criticizes superficial research in India, it lacks efficacy
which can produce a better understanding of Indian literature. Ahmad calls this statement ironic because the texts
published in metropolitan countries display this characteristic of backward bourgeoisie. If Indian researchers are unable
to define Indian literature then first world researchers are also unable to define and categorize third world literature.
Ahmad then counters Kosambi by listing the reasons for poor classification of Indian literature.
The reasons Ahmad lists are that there is no institutional support, the institutions are very limited and the research is
done by individual scholars who dig up archives. The mediating language is English but it is not a fitting mediating
language. English is unable to do justice to the ambience, totality or experience of the native. European tradition can be
traced with the help of unified language, universities and libraries but Indian literature tradition can’t be traced since the
texts are looked in isolated ways. Ahmad ends the essay by mentioning Kosambi once again. He praises Kosambi saying
that “he was able to produce is a single sweep of narrative of the empirical facts of ancient India and theoretical
position, the very organic principle of narrativization from which narrative was to be assembled” Ahmad praises
Kosambi’s link between political purpose and study. Ahmad says that when we engage in Indian literature then the
insufficiencies are empirical and theoretical both and to achieve clarity in literature more writing should be done and
rewriting should be minimized.
Kosambi’s analysis and understanding of Sanskrit literature was informed by his commitment to a social and political
ideology rooted in Marxism. In his view, literature like science should be understood as a function of the age in which it
is produced. He tells us’ the great poet in a class society must not only express the position and aspirations of an
important class, but must also transcend the class barriers, whether implicitly or explicitly and to be sure his most
provocative statements on Sanskrit language and literature were about its class character statements he made in the
context of the works of both Bhartihari and vidyakara. The use of historical materialism in reading literature and
analyzing it from the class perspective is also seen in Kosambi’s study of the working class in the Amarakosha. Kosambi
links bhakti doctrine enunciated in the Gita with the rise of feudalism and asserts that to hold a feudal society and state
together the best religion is one which emphasizes the role of bhakti, personal faith even though the object of devotion
may have clearly visible flaws.
Indian literature is not one or many but rather a whole where many sub systems interact and S.K Das has taken a
systematic view of Indian literature which involves taking India literature together age by age and then viewing them
comparatively. Das adopts a methodologically pragmatic where he works through development of a chronological
history of literature. In this there are authors birth dates, translations, text composition, publication and classification in
genres. Through Das’ method it is known that Indian literature is neither a unity nor is it a total differential. For Das
Indian literature is something which expresses the Indian nation. Arnab chakladar says ‘Das disavows the nationalist
vision of one literature through written in many languages but his own formulation remains, finally, within a nationalist
framework’ [Pg 4]. Indian literature is complex; it’s related to geographical areas as well as with history. Ahmad does not
speak of geographical proximity like Das. Ahmad is more concerned with the problems in defining the category of Indian
literature however Das is concentrating on finding ways to construct such a category. Ahmad is conscious of the
difficulty of separating a unified conception of Indian literature from Indian nationalism.
Ahmad mainly provides us with three reasons for the under development of Indian literature, first, Indian literature
doesn’t mean combining other languages, India has been a polyglot and multilingual society, the language is not
particular to itself and one writer doesn’t write in only one language. Second is the problem of high brahmanical
texuality. The texts we give emphasis to are texts coming from brahmanical point of view. Third is canonization, certain
texts are privileged over others. Our sense of text is based on the dominant version of that text; plurality of text is not
given importance since we are aware of only the dominant idea.
Ahmad is a Marxist and he shuns the post-colonial situation adopted by Edward Said, for Ahmad Marxism is an effect of
orientalism, Ahmad wants to re claim post colonialism and literature plays an important role in it. Homogenizing of third
world literature is problematic. By categorizing Indian literature under third world literature deproduces them because
then they are seen as a representation only of nationalism; because of homogenizing of Indian literature under third
world literature, Ahmad proposes the difficulties faced by scholars in constructing a category of Indian literature. He
makes references to Kosambi and Das to explore and explain his idea of problematization of the construction of category
of Indian literature.

Aijaz Ahmad

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Aijaz Ahmad’s essay “Indian Literature: notes towards the category of Indian literature” looks into the complications

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