The vocabulary and habits of literary discussion
I can discuss a Hindi text using the standard critical vocabulary
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
The plot of this story is simple.
This poem is in the pathetic mode.
Premchand's characters come from the village.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| कथानक | plot | पात्र | character |
| परिवेश | setting | शैली | style |
| बिंब | image | प्रतीक | symbol |
| रस | the emotional flavour of a work | छंद | metre |
Classical Indian poetics classifies works by the emotion they produce - शृंगार, वीर, करुण and others. It is a live category in criticism and in film reviewing, and it has no equivalent in Western critical vocabulary.
Premchand's realism, the Nayi Kahani movement, and the essay tradition all get referenced without introduction. Knowing the names shortens a great deal of reading.
Apply this grammar in C2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTranslating ras as 'mood' or 'pathos' and losing the classification.
ras translated as mood
It is a classification, not a description; keep the term.
Canonical references missed
Premchand and Nayi Kahani are cited without introduction.
The plot of this story is simple.
Shared critical vocabulary.
This poem is in the pathetic mode.
ras is best kept untranslated.
Premchand's characters come from the village.
A reference made without introduction.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in C2 course exercises
Kamta Prasad Guru's grammar, the standard prescriptive reference for Hindi morphology and syntax.
R. S. McGregor's outline, the standard concise academic description of Hindi morphology.