Page 160 - DENG503_INDIAN_WRITINGS_IN_LITERATURE

Indian Writings in Literature Digvijay Pandya, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 20: Premchand: Godan—Introduction to the Text

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
20.1 Text—Godan
20.2 Summary
20.3 Key-Words
20.4 Review Questions
20.5 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Know the life and works of Premchand.
• Discuss the introduction to Godan.

Introduction

Premchand was the pen name adopted by the Hindi writer Dhanpatrai who was born on 31 July
1880 at Lamati near Varanasi. His early education was in a madarasa under a Maulavi, where he
learnt Urdu. When he was studying in the ninth class he was married, much against his wishes.
He was then fifteen. In 1919, while he was a teacher at Gorakhpur, he passed his B.A., with
English, Persian and History. He had a second marriage with Shivarani Devi, a child-widow, who
wrote a book on him, 'Premchand Gharmein' after his death.
Premchand's literary career started as a freelancer in Urdu. In his early short stories he depicted
the patriotic upsurge that was sweeping the land in the first decade of the present century. Soz-e-
Watan, a collection of such stories published by Premchand in 1907, attracted the attention of the
British government. In 1914, when Premchand switched over to Hindi, he had already established
his reputation as a fiction writer in Urdu. Premchand was the first Hindi author to introduce
realism in his writings. He pioneered the new art form - fiction with a social purpose. He wrote of
the life around him and made his readers aware of the problems of the urban middle-class and the
country's villages and their problems. He supplemented Gandhiji's work in the political and social
fields by adopting his revolutionary ideas as themes for his literary writings.
Premchand was a prolific writer. He has left behind a dozen novels and nearly 250 short stories.
Sevasadan was his first novel. He believes in the principle: 'hate the sin and not the sinner.' His
best known novels are Sevasadan, Rangamanch, Ghaban, Nirmala and Godan. Three of his novels
have been made into films.
Besides being a great novelist, Premchand was also a social reformer and thinker. His greatness
lies in the fact that his writings embody social purpose and social criticism rather than mere
entertainment. Literature according to him is a powerful means of educating public opinion. He
believed in social evolution and his ideal was equal opportunities for all.
Premchand died in 1936 and has since been studied both in India and abroad as one of the
greatest writers of the century.

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