Sociology Through Literature : A Study of Kaaroor's Stories

"This book presents a comprehensive study of nearly 100 of Kaaroor's short stories. Kaaroor Neelakanta Pillai is one among the Big Six of the 'new wave' in Malayalam literature which began in the mid-1940s. The Big Six and their immediate followers wrote about the common man, peasants, pavement-dwellers, fishermen, rickshaw-pullers, underpaid school teachers -- their lives, aspirations and vulnerabilities. By treating Kaaroor's stories as case studies, the book takes a sociological approach to understanding the representation of a wide array of themes: romantic overtones, erotic pursuits, marital episodes, issues of family, lives of children, behavioural patterns, shades of greed, the idea of spirituality and politics in Malayalam literature. With its annotated transcreation and detailed commentary, this book brings Kaaroor's works to the general reader, and will be useful to scholars and researchers of South Asian literature, English literature, linguistics, cultural studies, besides those interested in Malayalam literature and the Malayali/Indian diaspora across the world." -- Provided by publisher This book presents a comprehensive study of nearly 100 of Kaaroor Neelakanta Pillai’s short stories. Kaaroor is one among the Big Six of the ‘new wave’ in Malayalam literature which began in the mid-1940s. The Big Six and their immediate followers wrote about the common man, peasants, pavement-dwellers, fishermen, rickshaw-pullers, underpaid school teachers – their lives, aspirations, and vulnerabilities. By treating Kaaroor’s stories as case studies, the book takes a sociological approach to understanding the representation of a wide array of themes: romantic overtones, erotic pursuits, marital episodes, issues of family, lives of children, behavioural patterns, shades of greed, spiritual themes, and political episodes. With its technique of annotated transcreation and detailed commentary, this book brings Kaaroor’s works to the general reader, and will be useful to scholars and researchers of South Asian literature, English literature, linguistics, and cultural studies, besides those interested in Malayalam literature and the Malayali/Indian diaspora across the world. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Foreword 10 Preface 12 1 Introductory notes on the ‘Big Six’ 14 2 Romantic overtones 23 Appendix: arranged marriages: a note 35 3 Erotic pursuits 37 4 Marital episodes 49 5 On small children and teenagers 68 6 Families: sinking, troubled 89 7 ‘Sir’ stories 99 8 Sirs: the other side 110 9 Dictates of fate 117 10 Behavioural patterns 125 11 Some social issues 136 12 Political themes 147 13 Shades of greed 154 14 Profiles of the poor 162 15 Some uncommon people 176 16 Social dropouts 186 17 Spiritual themes 192 18 Some more episodes 201 19 Tuskers and mahouts 210 Appendix: elephants and temples 219 20 Kaaroor’s ‘Zoo’ 221 21 Sociology through literature: some endnotes 226 References 239 Index 241 This book presents a comprehensive study of nearly 100 of Kaaroor Neelakanta Pillai’s short stories. Kaaroor is one among the Big Six of the New Wave in Malayalam literature of the mid-1940s and wrote about the common man — life, aspirations and vulnerabilities.