LECTURE FOR WEEK (16-22 MARCH 2020)

INDIAN POETRY IN ENGLISH: AN

INTRODUCTION TO ROBIN S. NGANGOM

FACULTY INCHARGE: MS. JASMINE SHARMA

• This lecture discusses the features of Indian Poetry
in English (especially of the third phase: the
experimental phase)
• The three phases of Indian Poetry in English were
discussed in the last lecture.
• Further, the lecture introduces the poet, Robin S.
Ngangom, his writings style and the major aspects
of his poetry.
• Ngangom’s particular poem prescribed in the
syllabus will be dealt in the next lecture.
 INDIAN POETRY IN ENGLISH
The primary features of Indian Poetry in English of the
Experiment phase (during which Ngangom’s
writings are categorized) are as follows:
• Modernization
• Urbanization
• Industrialization
• Westernization
• Mobility
• Freedom of thought and expression
• Social Change
• Cosmopolitanism
• Realism
• Social progress was achieved through mass
education.
• Economic and social progress resulted in the
broadening of the middle sections of the society.
• Spread of English language played a significant role
in shaping the poetry of the experimental phase.
• Indianization of English language in the terms of
pronunciation, intonation, idioms, word order, free
verse and syntax.
• Rise in scientific temperament and modern
sensibility giving rise to agnosticism and atheism
among the educated intellectual Indians.
• Use of symbolism and stream of consciousness
technique in the poems.
ROBIN S. NGANGOM: AN INTRODUCTION

• Was born in1959 in Imphal,

Manipur.
• A bilingual poet and translator:
writes in both English and
Manipuri
• Has composed three volumes of
poetry:
1. Words and the Silence (1988)
2. Time’s Cross Roads (1994)
3. The Desire of Roots (2006)
• Prizes Won:
1. Udaya Bharati national Award
for Poetry
2. Katha Translation Prize
 FEATURES OF NGANGOM’S POETRY

• Confessional mode of poetry (turning inward)

• Carries autobiographical elements
• Showcases crisis of identity
• Deals with themes of alienation and exile
• Quest for the self
• Politically radical
• Comprises memories of childhood
• Deals with societal scrutiny
• Questions religion
 THANK YOU
(ALL QUESTIONS, DOUBTS,
SUGGESTIONS AND FEEDBACKS
ARE WELCOME)