Guleri and His Role in the Formation of a Small Narrative Form in Hindi Literature

Abstract

The genre form of the story appeared in Hindi literature relatively late, in the first decades of the twentieth century. The formation and development of the short story genre in Hindi literature of the twentieth century attracts the attention of researchers both in India and abroad. In this regard, it is important to consider the work of Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, the author of one of the first stories written in Hindi. Together with famous writers Jayashankar Prasad and Premchand, Geleri is considered one of the founders of modern Hindi literature. He wrote mostly short stories. It is noteworthy that some sources drastically reduce their number, mentioning only three stories, although there are almost 20 of them. The writer’s stories attracted the attention of literary critics, who highly appreciated them. Some of Guleri’s stories have been translated into foreign languages, including Russian. The article examines one of the early stories of Ch. Sh. Guleri “She said”, in which the readers see almost the entire short life of the main character, from childhood to his heroic death. The article focuses on the content, characteristics of the artistic and stylistic features of this story, briefly examines its adaptation, and also characterizes a kind of literary continuation — the story of the famous Hindi writer Shailesh Matiani “She didn’t say”, which takes place during the Indo-Chinese conflict. Guleri’s story was translated into Russian in the 1950s, when Soviet-Indian relations began to develop actively.