Poverty, Social Problems and Cultural Diversity in R. Tagore, Narayan and Salaam Bombay Kate Liu, Fu Jen

Background n Caste system n Religious Conflicts n  Language Differences and Illiteracy n  Social Problems --poverty, internal migration, slums in Bombay, government inefficiency n  Colonialism -- in the background

Tagore: “ Flute Music” 1. A man in poverty-- u compared to a lizard; u save the cost of light u his office u his girl 2. The function of flute music

R. K. Narayan-- biography Pinchia Feng n born in Madras in 1906 n full name: Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Naranayanaswami-->1935 n Graham Greene n the Sahitya Akademi Award (1960) n A. C. Benson Medal (The British Society of Literature, 1980)

R. K. Narayan-- biography n in the U. S.--The English Speaking Union Book Award; Fellow of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1982) n a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament (1989)

Narayan the Writer n V.s. Naipaul (1999): “He wrote about people in a small town in South India: small people, big talk, small doings. That was where he began; that was where he was fifty years later. To some extent that reflected Narayan’s own life. He never moved far from his origins.” (“The Writer in India”)

Narayan the Story- teller n “I’d be quite happy if no more is claimed from me than being just a story-teller. Only the story matters, that is all. If readers read more significance into my stories than was meant originally, then that’s the reader’s understanding of things. But if a story is in tune completely with the truth of life, truth as I perceive it, then it will be automatically significant.”

“Annamalai”-- narrative n narrative time and technique: How does the story start? How does it end? Does the story follow a chronological order? n narrative point of view n letters within the story: What do they tell us?

“Annamalai”-- regional color n How does Narayan characterize Annamalai and the peasant community in (southern) India ? n Can we call “Annamalai” a story of regional color? n Can you think of any example in Taiwanese literature that is similar to this story?

“Annamalai”-- language n language and class n linguistic hegemony: English vs Tamil

Salaam Bombay: The migrants in a city (1) I. Chaipau: u his name (Krishna) u his family and home address u his “family” in the city

Salaam Bombay: The migrants in a city (2) n Manju’s family n Chillum n The ghetto boys -- sleep by the railroad station

Salaam Bombay: a series of betrays 1. Chillum -- a drug pusher and addict Baba His wife & Manju Krishna The Sweet Sixteen

Salaam Bombay: survival n How do Krishna and the other kids survive? n Skin chicken, n rob an old man, n serve in a rich man’s wedding party

Salaam Bombay: social factors n State intervention: Chiller Room n drug, prostitution and Bollywood n traces of collonial influence: u cricket, tourists, statues, movies n Religion: helpless. E.g. Ganesh