V. C. Sreejan is a literary critic writing in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. Born in 1951, he retired in 2007 after working as Reader in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Government Brennen College, Thalassery Brennen College is an educational institution in Kerala, affiliated to the Kannur University. It is located in Dharmadam, Thalassery of Kerala state, India. The college evolved from a school established by the English philanthropist Edward Bre ...

. He has published eleven books in Malayalam. In 2003 he was awarded the Kerala Sahithya Akademi's C.B. Kumar Award' for his work ''Arthantharanyasm''.

Works

* ''Chinthayile Roopakangal'', (1991) is a collection of articles on the role of metaphors in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

and

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mo ...

. It includes two introductory essays on

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

.The last two essays discuss novels by

O. V. Vijayan Ottupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan (2 July 1931 – 30 March 2005), commonly known as O. V. Vijayan, was an Indian author and cartoonist, who was an important figure in modern Malayalam language literature. Best known for his first novel ''Khasakki ...

and

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

. * ''Pravachakante Maranam'', (1993) includes an early piece on the absurd (1972), an essay on Bertolt Brecht's theatre, an introduction to Brecht's ''

Threepenny Novel ''Threepenny Novel'' (german: Dreigroschenroman) is a 1934 novel by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht, first published in Amsterdam by in 1934 as ', and now as '. It is similar in structure to his more famous ''The Threepenny Opera'' ...

'', a study of Ambikasuthan Mangad's story and an essay on the politics of

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

. * ''Kathayum Pratyayasastravum'',(1993) contains an introduction to Western

Marxist literary criticism Marxism was introduced by Karl Marx. Most Marxist critics who were writing in what could chronologically be specified as the early period of Marxist literary criticism, subscribed to what has come to be called " vulgar Marxism." In this thinking ...

, and an introduction to

structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...

. It includes an essay on the ''

Dhvani In Indian aesthetics, a rasa ( sa, रस) literally means "nectar, essence or taste".Monier Monier-Williams (1899)Rasa Sanskrit English Dictionary with Etymology, Motilal Banarsidass (Originally Published: Oxford) It connotes a concept in Indian ...

'' theory which argues that Dhvani is the same as

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

in the broad sense of the term, an essay on the ideological underpinnings of some short stories and essays on

T. Padmanabhan Thinakkal Padmanabhan (born 5 February 1931), popularly known as T. Padmanabhan, is an Indian short story writer of Malayalam literature. He is a recipient of several awards including the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary award of t ...

and

Paul Zacharia Paul Zacharia, popularly known mononymously as Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, essays, columns and children's books, Zacha ...

. * ''Vaakkum Vaakkum'', (1996) is devoted to the reading of poems by Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon,

P. Kunhiraman Nair Panayanthitta Kunhiraman Nair (4 October 1905 – 27 May 1978), also known as Mahakavi P, was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. He was known for his romantic poems which detailed the natural beauty of his home state of Kerala in South Ind ...

K. Ayyappa Panicker Dr. K. Ayyappa Paniker, sometimes spelt "Ayyappa Panicker" (12 September 1930 – 23 August 2006), was a Malayalam poet, literary critic, and an academic and a scholar in modern and post-modern literary theories as well as ancient Indian aesthe ...

and

Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan M. R. Ramakrishna Panikkar (22 March 1935 – 31 March 2008), popularly known as Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan or Kadammanitta, was an Indian poet. He was born in Kadammanitta province of Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. His childhood experiences, ...

. The other works discussed include novels by

, V. M. Basheer and short stories by T. Padmanabhan and Zacharia. * ''Arthantaranyasam'', (1999) discusses the relevance of the classical Indian concepts of

and Rasa. It begins with an analysis of the theory of

and its relationship with the concepts of Freudian

Unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

and Marxian concept of

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

.It is argued that in their classical form Dhvani and Rasa are not useful in reading modern texts.Rasa is rejected as such, and the Dhvani theory is given a more prosaic interpretation along the lines suggested by Mukulabhatta. Instead of reviving these theories, these are to be destroyed and a new concept can be created out of their ruins. * ''Aadhunikotharam: Vimarsanavum Vikalanavum'', (1999) is a closely argued response to some

critics and writers who maintain that Malayalam literature has already entered into its post-modern phase. With reference to the Western writers, it is argued that this claim is not true. * ''Vimarsanatmaka Siddhantam'', (1999) is an expository book on the work of

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

. * ''Novel Vayanakal'', (2003) reads 12 Malayalam novels without using many critical tool borrowed from the west. Part of the text itself is taken as the model for reading and interpreting it. It brings out relays of meanings across the works. It reveals a current of non-religious

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

running through the works read. * ''Prathivadangal'', (2004) is a thoroughgoing criticism of Marxian philosophical concepts. * ''Arthavadangal'', (2006: Mathrubhumi Books, Kozhikode)contains essays on Death, Dhvani theory. Arthavadam, M. P. Paul and William Hudson, Appan Thampuran's ''Bhutarayar'', Venmani Mahan's ''Pooraprabandham'' etc. * ''Rahukalam'', (2007: Sign Books, Thiruvananthapuram) is a collection of essays on Joseph Muliyil's ''Sukumari'', Medieval Malayalam poetry, Asan's ''Duravastha'', N. Prabhakaran's ''Bhutabhumi'', poetry of Rafeeq Ahmed and Miguel de Cervantes's '' Don Quixote'' * ''Adikkurippukal'' (2018: Logos Books, Pattambi), a collection of book reviews. Forthcoming: ''Chinthayude Mayalokangal''(Kairali Books, Kannur)

Awards

Sreejan was awarded the C. B. Kumar Award in 2003, and the Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism in 2006, but declined them. He also was awarded the Narendra Prasad Foundation Award for criticism in 2007.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sreejan, V. C. 1951 births Living people Malayalam literary critics Malayalam-language writers Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award