Gururaja Shyamacharya Amur (8 May 1925 – 28 September 2020) was an Indian professor of literature, writer and critic in both the

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and English languages. He was a recipient of many prestigious awards including the Central Sahitya Akademi Award instituted by the Government of India.

Career

Amur was born in Bommanahalli village in the

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

district. He obtained his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in English from the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

and his PhD in English from the

Karnatak University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). As of 2014, ...

Dharwar Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

. His thesis was title
''The Concept of Comedy''
After his M.A., Amur worked as a professor of English at the

and

Marathwada University Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU), formerly Marathwada University, is located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It is named after B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian jurist and political leader. The university was established on 23 A ...

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

before he visited the

University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

as a Senior Fulbright scholar in 1972 and 1973. He was married to Shanta Amur and resided in Dharwad.

Awards

Nrupatunga Award The Nrupatunga Award is an award for excellence in Kannada literature in the Indian state of Karnataka. The award was instituted by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat and is sponsored by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bengalu ...

- 2020 * ''Masti Award'' in 2010 *

Pampa Award The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, La Pampa Province, La Pampa, ...

in 2006 * Da. Ra. Bendre Award in 2005 *

Rajyotsava Award The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Awards, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 November celebrated as t ...

in 2000 *

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1996 * ''Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award'' in 1993, 1994 * ''S. S. Malwad Prashasti'' in 1988 * Karnataka

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

in 1988

Death

Amur died on 28 September 2020 due to age related ailments at the age of 95.

Bibliography

Books

Kannada

* ''Ninda Hejje'' (2004) * ''Bendre Kaavya'' (2003) * ''Kannada Kathana Sahitya: Sanna Kathe'' (2003) *''Seemollanghana'' (2002) *''Kathanashastra'' (2001) *''Shantinath Desai'' (2000) *''Amrutavaahini'' (2000) *''Bendrekaavyada Pratimaaloka'' (2000) *''Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre'' (2000) *''Kaadambariya Swaroopa'' (1999) *''Viraata Purusha: Shriranga Saraswata Sameekshe'' (1998) *''Saatvika Patha'' (1995) *''Kannada Kathana Sahitya: Kaadambari'' (1994) *''Comedy'' (1993) *''Vyavasaaya'' (1992) *''Bhuvanada Bhagya'' (1991) *''Arthaloka'' (1988) *''A.N. Krishnarayaru'' (1987) *''Kannada Kaadambariya Belevanige'' (1983)

English

*''Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre'' (1994) *''Creations & Transcreations'' (1992) *''Forbidden Fruit, Views on Indo-Anglian Fiction'' (1992) *''A.N. Krishnarao'' (1987) *''Colonial Consciousness in Commonwealth Literature'' (1984) *''Essays on Comparative Literature and Linguistics'' (1984) *''Images and Impressions: Essays Mainly on Contemporary Indian Literature'' (1979) *''The Concept of Comedy: A Re-statement'' (1963)

Anthologies

Kannada *''Koralu Kolalu: Collection of critical articles on modern kannada poetry'' (2006) *''Anthology of Selected Plays of Sriranga'' (2005) *''Swatantryottara Sannakathegalu (2004) *''Avala Kathegalu'' (1999) *''Selected Kannada Short Stories'' (1993)

Essays

English * ''The River, the Lotus Pond and the Ruined Temple: An Essay on Symbolism in RK Narayan's Novels'' (1985) * ''Philip Roth's My Life as a Man: Portrait of the Artist as a Trapped Husband'' (1984) * ''The Beautiful and the Necessary: A Note on Emerson's Idea of Form'' (1983) * ''Marriage as Symbolic Strategy in Seeta, Esmond in India and The Serpent and the Rope'' (1981) * ''Theme, Structure, and Symbol in The Catcher in the Rye'' (1969) * ''Self-Recognition in The Serpent and The Rope'' * ''A Saint for Malgudi: A New Look at R.K. Narayan’s The Guide'' * ''Hellenic Heroines and Sexless Angels: Images of Women in Forster's Novels''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amur, G. S. 1925 births 2020 deaths Writers from Karnataka Kannada-language writers People from Dharwad district Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada Karnatak University alumni 20th-century Indian essayists Indian male essayists Indian literary critics English-language writers from India 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers